Crabtree envisions the paint-by-numbers gimmick. The first successful paint-by-numbers was Palmer Paint's Craft Master marketed in 1951. It sold 12 million units that year.
Murdoch gerryrigs a innovation on how to receive wirephotos. In actuality, the first halftone wirephoto was transmitted by Western Union in 1921.
There was a commercial telefax between Paris and Lyon in 1865. A scanning system was patented in 1880. It is surprising that Monsieur Guillaume did not inform Murdoch of this.
This episode takes place in 1898.