Is Equestria based off of 1890's America

[Corgis 574]

Ever since I started watching MLP I have always gotten a feeling that the show was set in a 1890's Ponifyed version of America.  The tec fits well with the 1890's as there is no electricity, rail travel / stage coach is a popular transpiration mode and printing presses are used for newspapers which are the main form of media.  Also things like the Buffaloes, the Flim Flam brothers and early Manehatten remind me a lot of the 1890's.  

 

Of course things later in the show like DJ Pon3, some parts of Manehatten and places like the Bowling Ally or certain dinners don't fit well but for the most part it seems very similar to 1890's America.

 

Anybody else think the setting was biased off of 1890's America?

[Jeric 46,835]

I don't believe it was set up to be presented as an analog to any specific time period. Instead it incorporates aspects of familiarity, fantasy, and even a little cultural history to craft a world that we would acknowledge more easily could exist.

 

Lucas, Tolkein, and CS Lewis use this concept in their respective fantasy epics.

[Daring_Do 552]

Nah, it's kind of a blend of stuff.

 

Especially in the early seasons, there was a really big Hellenic (ancient Greco-Roman) theme going (Spike even references the princess having a golden apple tree!)

 

But Ponyville is a medieval timber-framed village, and Canterlot is obviously named for Camelot from Arthurian legend.

 

Faust apparently didn't want to include a train in Over a Barrel, btw.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Daring_Do

[cider float 2,535]

Maybe the writers think it would be too tacky to thrust anything too far in the future so suddenly and only add them in less conspicious ways. The arcade machines for example aren't a reoccurring theme but came out almost in a blink during a song... and almost anything happens in songs.

[silvadel 1,393]

Anything that specifically fits well with pony society, you could be okay even up to the early 1970s.  Thus the camera in Amending Fences -- it looks right out of a 1973 catalog. 

 

Anything that does not fit well with pony society, you might not even hit the 1890's.

 

Anything that is neither tends to be more along the lines of the 1930s.

 

(Oh and as for electricity -- they have a hydro-electric dam -- they have it available)

Edited July 5, 2016 by silvadel

[On-Locoweed 108]

The Dream of the 1890s is alive in Portland Equestria.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Equestria has motion pictures with sound. We saw this in "Hurricane Fluttershy". They also have X-ray equipment in their hospitals. We saw this in "Read it and Weep". "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" depicted technology of a vacuum tube level linked with magic. In summery, there is no real correlation between Equestria's level of technology and Earth's.  

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

Equestria has a mix medieval and 1910's America culture, with some further things for the occasional joke and stuff 

[cmarston1 5,952]

Nope.

It is too fantasy based.

[Corgis 574]

Interesting.  I thought it was very close to 1890's America with some exceptions but it looks like I'm wrong.  

[ph00tbag 108]

The culture of Friendship is Magic is really all over the place. In terms of aesthetics, you have classical Greco-Roman in Cloudsdale, medieval Near-East in Canterlot, Old West in Appleloosa, medieval Central European in Ponyville, Art Deco in Manehattan, and something completely unheard of in the Crystal Empire. Technologically, there's a smattering, as well. Stuff like quills, velum paper, etc., are all pre-Industrial Revolution. Trains, cheap stainless steel, and rolled printing presses are all late 19th Century, but there's actually a lot of mid-to-late 20th century stuff, too, like the hydroelectric dam, the battery-powered flashes on the compact cameras, everything about Vinyl Scratch, and the construction equipment.

The material culture of MLP is definitely more a tool for the show's whimsy, than a hard-and-fast element of the world-building. This is unfortunate, since the roughly Industrial Revolution tech level was apparently part of Lauren Faust's intent, but even then, she acknowledged that reference to modern technology was acceptable for gags. As time has gone on, the tech level's value to world building just wasn't that great, so gags took control.

[weesh 690]

the relationships are a recognizable blend of modern time based cultures.  They are a bit on the naive/pure side, which makes sense considering the target audience.

The aesthetics are all over the place as @ph00tbag says.  

[sweetolebob18 724]

Well, Ponyville seems to be pre WWl.  However, the tech level is REALLY weird.  It is almost like there is a tech ceiling in a given area & you don't even remember higher tech items there.   That could be why they use steam engines for locomotives -they work in more areas.  I remember one episode in S1, the ponies were pulling the train it was like the steam engine didn't work.

[silvadel 1,393]

Actually the longer the show exists the more modern the technology seems to be.