The Big List of Time Travel Adventures

 1974



   “Big Game”
by Isaac Asimov
First publication: Before the Golden Age, 1974

Jack Trent hears a half-drunken story of time travel and the real cause of the dinosaur extinction.

Asimov wrote this story in 1941, but it was lost until I found it in the Boston University archives in the early ’70s. Okay, maybe that fan who found it wasn’t me, but it could have been!

 Jack looked at Hornby solemnly. “You invented a time machine, did you?”
   “Long ago.” Hornby smiled amiably and filled his glass again. “Better than the ones those amateurs at Stanford rigged up. I’ve destroyed it, though. Lost interest.” 




   “A Little Something for Us Tempunauts”
by Philip K. Dick
First publication: Final Stage, 1974

Addison Doug and his two fellow time travelers seem to have caused a time loop wherein everyone is reliving the same events with only vague memories of what happened on the previous loop.

 Every man has more to live for than every other man. I don’t have a cute chick to sleep with, but I’d like to see the semi’s rolling along the Riverside Freeway at sunset a few more times. It’s not what you have to live for; it’s that you want to live to see it, to be there—that’s what is so damn sad. 


   “The Marathon Photograph”
by Clifford D. Simak
First publication: Threads of Time, 1974

I feel for one character in this story: Humphrey, who wants no more than to figure out the various goings on—past, present and possibly future—in this out-of-the-way place where Andrew Thornton comes to fish and write a geology text, Andrew’s friend Neville Piper finds a cube with the a hologram of the Battle of Marathon alongside the bear-maulted body of the mysterious Stefan from the even more mysterious Lodge, and that long-lost mine that Humphrey has been researching is finally found without Humphrey ever being told of it.

 Humphrey did mind, naturally, but there was nothing he could do about it. Here was the chance to go up to the Lodge, probably to go inside it, and he was being counted out. But he did what he had to do with fairly good grace and said that he would stay. 


   “Master Ghost and I”
by Barbara Softly
First publication: The Tenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, 1974

A 17th century soldier inherits a house with a squatter from the future.

 “D-dark?” he stammered. “I’ll switch on the light.” 




   CBS Mystery Radio Theater
created by Himan Brown
First time travel: 31 Jan 1974

The fun mp3 files include radio news, weather, commercials and more from the 70s, all surrounding the mystery story hosted by E.G. Marshall. Here are the time-travel episodes that I’ve found so far, including two (in July 1976 and March 1977) by Grand Master Alfred Bester.
  1. The Man Who Asked for Yesterday (31 Jan 1974) to the previous day
  2. Yesterday’s Murder (27 Jun 1974) heroine redoes her life
  3. Come Back with Me (2 Jul 1975) hero relives favorite times
  4. Assassination in Time (26 Sep 1975) to Lincoln’s assasination
  5. The Lap of the Gods (25 Nov 1975) sea captain in the 1820s
  6. A Connecticut Yankee . . . (8 Jan 1976) to Camelot
  7. There’s No Business Like (19 Jan 1976) to 2076
  8. The Covered Bridge (23 Mar 1976) a feminist to the 1770s
  9. Time Killer (5 Apr 1976) before Great Depression
  10. Future Eye (19 Jul 1976) 2976 detective to 1976
  11. Now You See Them, Now You Don’t (12 Mar 1977) back from World War V
  12. A Point of Time (15 Nov 1977) overthrow dictator in 2200
  13. The Time Fold (16 Mar 1978) from 1979 to far future
  14. Time Out of Mind (18 May 1978) to World War II
  15. The Winds of Time (16 Oct 1978) heroine secures closure
  16. The Time Box (18 Feb 1980) to the 1880s
  17. The Man of Two Centuries (29 Apr 1981) Huron travels centuries
  18. The Old Country (24 Mar 1982) back to World War II

 This is our bicentennial year: a time to pause and count our blessings. And among the greatest of these are the men and women of letters who flourished in our native land, who created a literature that was both typically American and universally admired. 

—host E.G. Marshall in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court


   “If Ever I Should Leave You”
by Pamela Sargent
First publication: If, Feb 1974

A nameless narrator (called Nanette by an overly zealous copy-editor in the If publication) tells of time-traveler Yuri’s return as a dying old man and of the subsequent times when she visited him. I enjoyed that beginning part of the story, but the ending, as the narrator herself ages, spoke to me more deeply.

I met Pamela Sargent in Lawrence, Kansas, at Jim Gunn’s writing workshop. She was insightful and kind to the writers her came to learn from her and other talented writers.

 All the coordinates are there, all the places and times I went to these past months. When you're lonely, when you need me, go to the Time Station and I’ll be waiting on the other side. 




   Future Tense
created by Eli Segal
First time travel: 7 May 1974

Professor Eli Segal and his students at Western Michigan University created quality new productions of radio shows that were mostly taken from old episodes of X Minus One and Dimension X. According to otr.org, the first season of Future Tense 18 stories (13 based on X-1 scripts, two based on DX scripts, and 3 original scripts) and these first aired as 16 episodes in May of 1974. The second season had ten episodes (8 based on X-1 scripts and 2 original scripts) which aired in July 1976, At least three episodes involved time travel. Now why couldn’t I have gone to WMC?
  1. The Old Die Rich (7 May 1974) sleuth forced into time machine
  2. The Discovery of Morniel Mathaway (July 1976)    art critic from 25th century
  3. An Imbalance of Species (July 1976) from “A Sound of Thunder’

 Stay tuned now for excitement and adventure in the world of the future! Entertainment for the entire family produced right here in Kalamazoo. 




   “The Birch Clump Cylinder”
by Clifford D. Simak
First publication: Stellar 1, Sep 1974

When a contraption drops onto the Coon Creek Institute causing various objects to appear and disappear from out of time, Old Prather calls together three former students: someone with expertise in time travel (our discredited time-travel researcher and narrator, Charley Spencer), one who’s a mean-spirited, world-famous mathematician (Leonard Asbury), and with no preconceptions about the matter (the lovely composer, Mary Holland, who broken more than one heart on the campus).

 A time machine has fallen into a clump of birch just above the little pond back of the machine shops. 


   “Renaissance Man”
by T.E.D. Klein
First publication: Space 2: A Collection of Science Fiction Stories, 5 Sep 1974

When the new time machine randomly grabs a random man from the future, all the waiting bigwigs and reporters are delighted that they managed to catch a scientist for the six-hour interview.

 We knew we’d pull back someone from the Harvard Physics Department, because we’re here in the building right now. But it could have been just anyone. We might have found ourselve questioning a college freshman . . . Or a scrubwoman . . . Or even a tourist visiting the lab. 




  Dancers at the End of Time #2
The Hollow Lands
by Michael Moorcock
First publication: Oct 1974

Still in pursuit of Amelia Underwood, Jherek again travels to Victorian England where he runs into her husband (oh, yes, that quaint Victorian Mrs. nomenclature) and a disbelieving H.G. Wells.

 “No true Eloi should be able to read or write.” Mr. Wells puffed on his pipe, peering out of the window. 


   “Retroflex”
by F.M. Busby
First publication: Vertex, Oct 1974

Haldene tracks down a man named Cochrane, who turns out to be a killer from the future.

 The one calling himself Cochrane is not of this era, but of a time far forward. 


   “If This Is Winnetka,
You Must Be Judy”
by F.M. Busby
First publication: Universe 5, Nov 1974

Larry Garth skips from year to year in his life (not linearly, of course), waiting to meet his once and future wife, Elaine.

 He lit a cigarette and leafed through the cards and minutiae that constituted his identity in the outside world. Well . . . knowing himself, his driver’s permit would be up-to-date and all credit cards unexpired. The year was 1970. Another look outside: autumn. So he was thirty-five, and the pans clattered at the hands of Judy. 


The story also appeared in the 1979 anthology, The Gollancz/Sunday Times Best SF Stories

   “Let’s Go to Golgotha!”
by Garry Kilworth
First publication: Sunday Times Weekly Review, 15 Dec 1974

A typical family of four decide to go with their best friends to see the cruxifiction of Jesus.

 If you’re talking about time-tours, why don’t you come with us? We’re going to see the Cruxifiction. 






   Sesame Street
created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett
First time travel: 20 Dec 1974

From his early days, Kermit brought news reports to Sesame Street. I don't know when he first reported from back in history, so I’ll arbitrarily say that the first one was his interview of Christopher Columbus in Episode 700 shortly before Christmas in 1974.

In the 35th anniversary special, “The Street We Live On,” Grover takes Elmo on a trip through time to see how the street was in the past. Also, in a PBS special, “Elmo Saves Christmas,” the red guy visits a future Christmas.

 Columbus: But, say, what time is it?
Kermit: Oh, it’s about, ah, 1492. 



No Time Travel. Move along.
  The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, 1974 [time dilation ]

  Land of the Lost by Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft, 7 Sep 1974 [parallel universes ]

 

16 items are in the time-travel list for these search settings.
Thanks for visiting my time-travel page, and thanks to the many sources that provided stories and more (see the Links and Credits in the menu at the top). —Michael (main@colorado.edu)