"It is a delightful characteristic of these times, that new and
  cheap means are continuously being devised, for conveying the
  results of actual experience to those who are unable to obtain such
  experiences for themselves; and to bring them within the reach of
  the people ... New worlds open out to them, beyond their little
  worlds, and widen their range of reflection, information, sympathy
  and interest."

For the origin of this technology, we can look much further back in time than the 19th or even 17th century... back to pre-historic times at the origin of storytelling.

Storytelling was the first technology for "conveying the results of actual experience to those who are unable to obtain such experiences for themselves".