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A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food

One of the interesting science fiction ideas of the late nineteenth century is food in some sort of compact form. I encountered this (yes, AI-generated) visualization of compact food:

One of my favorites is the compact food pastilles from The Senator's Daughter, by Edward Page Mitchell, published in 1879:

"He took from his waistcoat pocket the small gold box, scarcely larger than a watch, and opened the cover. In the palm of her white hand he placed one of the little pastilles.

"Eat it," said he. "It will satisfy your hunger."

See also the sheep's lozenge from The Fatal Curiosity, or, A Hundred Years Hence (1877) by James Payn, the food pills from A Strange Trip (1885) by John Baker Hopkins, nutritious pellets from Looking Forward: A Dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999 (1899) by Arthur Bird, food tablets from John Jone's Dollar (1915) by H.S. Keeler, concentro from Armageddon: 2419 A.D. (1928) by Philip Frances Nowlan, wine pellets from Redmask of the Outlands (1934) by Nat Schachner and dainties from Prelude to Foundation (1988) by Isaac Asimov.

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