From 1968 to the present day, firefighters have gone through a bit of a “public perception makeover” (please note, despite my use of quotation marks, this is not an accepted phrase). After the September 11th tragedy, the status of firefighter has changed dramatically from “hated enemy of the police department” to “hero.” This is all part of the grand circle of life, as will be evinced in the future when the status of firefighter changes once again to “book burner in our dystopia society.”

The Wonderland of Knowledge shows one element of this gradual evolution, visually displaying their roots into the futuristic supermen we know today (and will eventually come to fear).

From the caption: “SUITABLE CHANGE: Asbestos-suited firemen, above, have greater protection than the fire fighter of the past, right.”

From Wikipedia: “The inhalation of toxic asbestos fibers can cause serious illnesses, including malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.”

GREATER PROTECTION FROM WHAT, WONDERLAND? Surely not the slow and steady march of death. Past Firefighter on the bottom there might die as a burning support beam collapses onto him, but he will die heroically, and more importantly, quickly. Future Firefighter gets to inhale asbestos as he works all day.

Distant Future Firefighter lives in a society in which mankind is suppressed by a watchful government that uses his “mechanical hound” to locate contraband books hidden in the households of intellectuals who think they are better than the masses.