What looks like a cellphone in 1937 Mass. painting is again igniting time travel talk

Off Beat

Given that neither selfies or cellphones existed in 1937, conspiracy theorists went to the next obvious conclusion: Time travel must be real.

A painting of the 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony has gotten online attention once again, with both The Daily Mail and New York Post reporting on the bizarre conspiracy theory that the painting is proof time travel exists. 

The painting, made in 1937, of Native Americans and English colonists in Springfield, has generated online buzz from internet conspiracy theorists who say one Native American man in the painting looks to be holding a cellphone.

The 90-year-old painting, titled “Mr. Pynchon and the Settling of Springfield,” by Italian-American muralist Umberto Romano, is displayed in the state office building in Springfield. 

The Native American man is front and center of the painting holding a gray rectangle with what looks like a glow around the edges. The man appears as if he is taking a selfie, internet users said. 

Given that neither selfies or cellphones existed in 1937, and definitely not in the 17th century, conspiracy theorists went to the next obvious conclusion: time travel must be real. 

But could there be another explanation for what this man is holding? Well, historians have said it is much more likely the man is holding a mirror, a common trading item within the colonies at that time. 

This is not the first time the painting’s come into question. The theory started in 2015, when Boston College assistant history professor Daniel Crown wrote an essay in the Public Domain Review about colonial Springfield. Crown said his editor selected the 1937 painting as the article’s accompanying image and joked in the caption that it looked like a smartphone. 

The painting quickly gained traction and became a point of evidence for proof of time travel. Now, every few years internet users seem to rediscover the mysterious detail in the painting, but each time historians debunk the exciting theory. 

“This isn’t a matter of time travel, but rather déjà vu,” Crown said. “This painting has gone viral twice now because apparently we, as a global community, can no longer view a basic shape — the rectangle — as anything other than a smartphone.”