io9: retro futurism

A Cold War Musical Interlude With Tom Lehrer

Lynn Peril — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:09:17 PDT

Here, in a rare filmed performance from 1967, the brilliant political satirist, songwriter, and math professor Tom Lehrer performs his “tribute” to rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and his questionable past allegiances. Lehrer also famously set the periodic table to Gilbert & Sullivan, but alas, there isn’t a video of him singing it. If you’re unfamiliar with Lehrer, do yourself a favor and click through!

Martian Mother Writes "Atari Anonymous"

Lynn Peril — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

It's a common phenomenon, at least in commercials and sitcoms: Mom stresses out while her family has fun. In this ad from the early 1980s, a Martian family has loads of fun playing the Atari 2600 version of Asteroids—everybody but mom, that is. They won't eat, they won't do their chores, they just play that damn game, while she wrings her hands. Shazbot!

A Virtual Recreation of a Long Gone Sound & Light Show

Lynn Peril — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

The Philips Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair was designed by Le Corbusier and Iannis Xenakis as a "container" for a sound and light show highlighting the company's technology. The walls were adorned with 350 loudspeakers that broadcast avant-garde musician Edgar Varese's Poeme Electronique along three "routes" through the building, while images and colors were projected on the walls. Over two million people visited the Philips Pavilion, but when the fair closed, it was demolished. The Virtual Electronic Poem project used original plans and a stereo recording of Varese's score to create a virtual reality facsimile of the Poeme Electronique. I'd love to experience it in the immersive helmet, but click through for a 2-D sample.

Harryhausen Alien Is Silent But Deadly

Lynn Peril — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:23:09 PDT

This short, silent clip of Ray Harryhausen's stop-action Martian emerging from its crashed spaceship (a 1940s study for an unmade War of the Worlds) cries out for some Don Martin/Mad magazine-esque onomatopoeia - but all I've got is a SCHLOOMP and a couple of SPLATS. I know you can do better.

A Jetpack from the Real-Life Days of Steampunk

Lynn Peril — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Getting to the California gold fields after the discovery of the precious metal at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 wasn’t easy—by land or by sea. That's where this satiric 1849 print from Currier and Ives comes from. It's called "The Way They Go to California," and tweaks the ore-crazed “Forty-Niners” who rushed to claim a stake and prospect for gold. Currier and Ives depicted the 49ers taking some alternate forms of transportation to California . . . like a personal rocket, which you see in the upper right. Click through for a closer look at what, a century later, would no doubt have been a jetpack.

[Library of Congress LC-USZ62-104557.]

Bendy-limbed Outer Space Toys Conquer Earth in 1967

Lynn Peril — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Inspired by and built in the same scale as Major Matt Mason, the Outer Space Men were a short-lived group of action figures from Colorforms (the same company that made those vinyl stick-on sets that I couldn’t get enough of). Series 1 consisted of seven bendable plastic figures, ranging from the tiny-yet-popular Alpha 7 from Mars (price: $1.00) to Colossus Rex from Jupiter (at $2.00, the most expensive). A second series was planned but never made it to toy store shelves. According to a recent promo video narrated by creator Mel Birnkrant, the Outer Space Men were billed as “astronauts from other planets”—that way kids could decide whether they were bad guys, good guys, or a little bit of each.

How a War Surplus Anti-Aircraft Gun Helped Inspire 2001: A Space Odyssey

Lynn Peril — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

In the late 1950s, animator John Whitney (perhaps most famous for assisting Saul Bass to create the opening title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo) built a mechanical analog computer using the mechanisms from several WW II anti-aircraft guns. He used the resulting “cam machine” to produce short experimental animated films, releasing a demo reel in 1961 under the title Catalog. 2001 special effects artist Douglas Trumbull saw Whitney’s Catalog and was inspired by the artist's slit-scan technique, using it for the animated sequences in 2001. According to writer William Moritz, Whitney submitted “a proposal for a monolith as a computer-generated effect that would have looked different from anything else in the film. He was turned down.” Nevertheless, Whitney became IBM’s first artist-in-residence in 1966, and is considered one of the forefathers of computer animation.

Plans for Space-Age Chemosphere on Display in Los Angeles

Lynn Peril — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

From now until October 12, Los Angeles-based io9ers can view architect John Lautner's original designs for the Chemosphere and other modernistic buildings at the Hammer Museum. Built in the Hollywood Hills in 1960, the space-age Chemosphere house looks like a flying saucer on its launching pad, perched atop a 30' pole and reached by its own funicular. Reminiscent of Bucky Fuller's Dymaxion House, "Lautner imagined dozens of his octagonal houses scattered across the Santa Monica Mountains, each in its own self-contained world enveloped in glass." That didn't happen, but the Chemosphere has made many appearances in t.v., movies, and comics (it's where Desolation Jones lives). Click through for a clip of Chemosphere's appearance in "The Duplicate Man," a 1964 episode of Outer Limits based on a short story by Clifford D. Simak.

"Bonding Humanity and Landscape in a Perfect Circle" [New York Times]

Lonely Computer Begs Uninterested Public to "Touch Me" in 1983

Lynn Peril — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

I had no idea that there was a personal computer with a touchscreen on the market twenty-five years ago, but indeed there was: the HP-150 from Hewlett Packard (also the first computer to use the rigid 3.5” diskette). While not a "true" touchscreen (it uses infra-red transmitters and receivers), it's still jarring to see a feature that seems so modern set in a tiny black screen with glowing green type (those I remember). Alas, like many things ahead of their time, the HP-150 was not a big seller. P.S. If, like me, you think the caterpillar-into-butterfly metaphor is rather twee, take heart: According to John Barry’s Technobabble (1993), HP allegedly spent $30,000 trying to get the butterfly to land in the perfect spot on the computer screen in another ad from this campaign. Oh, the travails of advertising in a pre-CGI era.

C3PO to Parents: If You Love Your Children, You Will Buy These Toys

Lynn Peril — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Pardon me while I have a MARF (momentary age-related freakout): I saw Star Wars in the theater when it first came out—and that was thirty-one frakkin’ years ago. Holy time warp! Anyway, here’s a commercial for the first round of Star Wars toys, in which C3PO speaks (and R2D2 whistles, gleeps, and trills) at parents, reminding them how much they and their kids loved the movie, and how those kids (i.e., boys) will love these toys . . . probably all collector’s items now (if you didn’t take them out of the box, that this).

“A Person-to-Person Call Via The Man in the Moon”

Lynn Peril — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Relentlessly cheerful narration and industrial animation are the highlights of this 1960 newsreel explaining how future telephone technology will bounce calls off artificial satellites. In the meantime, they practice bouncing a New Jersey-to-California call off the moon—and with only a 2.5 second delay on either end!

Are Russian Flying Saucers the Next Big Thing in Aviation?

Lynn Peril — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Imagine how the U.S. government would have reacted during the Cold War had they discovered the USSR was developing a flying saucer. The EKIP (“Ecology and Progress”; the project was also referred to as “Tarielka”) model aircraft looks nothing like a typical plane, and as you can glean from the narration on this clip from the 1980s or so, even well into the twentieth century western observers sounded a bit frightened by it. Though hampered by a lack of funding, Russian engineers are still hard at work on EKIP—you can see flight tests from the early 90s here (about 4-5 minutes in). Remember, EKIP is “the new generation of the transport means.”

Soviet Teens Rock Out to Tesla Coils and Theremin

Lynn Peril — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:00:32 PDT

I admit I have no idea what exactly is supposed to be going on in this clip from a film titled Komsomol, the name of the Communist Youth League. We’ve got Tesla coils snapping and sparking all over the place, commie teens little dreaming that their great-grandkids will shop for jeans in Red Square, deco television cameras (I think this dates to the 1930s, so perhaps they're just movie cameras), and to top it off, a Theremin performance. All in all, it kind of reminds me of that “Worker and Parasite” cartoon from the Simpsons (sorry, Annalee) but feel free to write your own scenario.

Futuristic 1980s Family Wins Sweepstakes Due to Rigorous Toilet-Cleaning

Lynn Peril — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:07:12 PDT

“From a better world” comes a happy, shiny, space-age jumpsuit-wearing family showing off their new Atari computer and video games, won because mom used the right stuff to clean up after them. Once again, Future Mom is stuck doing the dirty work. Screw the jetpack, what good is the future without a toilet-cleaning robot—or a husband who does housework?

IBM Slides Sold The Concept of "Online" in 1975

Lynn Peril — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:08:00 PDT

Square America is a web site devoted to American vernacular photography, found photos, and snapshots. In addition to a ton of great pix from the 1940s to the 70s, they are currently showing selections from a 56-image "pre-powerpoint IBM slide presentation with one foot in the future and the other stuck solidly in the 70s." There's no sound, so you'll have to imagine the tone telling you to move to the next slide, but the word "online" figures prominently. Click through for another couple of examples.

It's 1975 And This Man Is About To Show You The Future [Square America]

The Martians Are Coming - and They Want Your Oldsmobile

Lynn Peril — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

"Trail of the Rocket" is a 1951 promo film for Oldsmobile's new "rocket" engine. Johnny and his singing partner Lucille, whose show just happens to be sponsored by Olds, are invited on a factory tour. But before they get there, Johnny snoops around his friend's laboratory, where he's experimenting with interplanetary TV signals. Before you can say "don't touch that," Johnny discovers a pair of Martians (resembling Fred Mertz and Mr. Peepers) planning a visit to earth. Click through to learn what Martians hate most about earthling culture.

Splashdown with G.I. Joe in 1965

Lynn Peril — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

G.I. Joe's 2001-esque trip into space was not his first time in orbit (though it was his first visit to space with lifelike hair). Back in 1965, Joe, wrapped in a foil suit, rode a Mercury capsule into imaginary outer space. Because the capsule floated, realistic splashdowns could be accomplished—as long as you could talk mom into letting you set up the inflatable pool in your bedroom, like the lucky guys in the commercial. A 45 rpm record, with sound clips from John Glenn's orbital flight, made it even more ... dare I say? ... lifelike.

G.I. Joe -- Space Oddity

Lynn Peril — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

I love the visual and audio reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey in this early 1970s commercial for the new G.I. Joe Talking Astronaut. I’m not sure how many kids watching Saturday morning TV picked up on them, though their parents (who held the purse strings) probably did. Also gotta love the constant reference to "lifelike hair!"

It's Not a Toy Train, It's a Rocket Launcher!

Lynn Peril — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Imagine the scene: it’s 1962 and the space race is all the rage. You, on the other hand, are a venerable manufacturer of toy trains and your product line is beginning to look a little staid and boring next to all the brand new outer-space doodads and gizmos on the market. Luckily, you are unafraid to tweak your product line to appeal to new audiences. Sometimes this strategy fails miserably: Back in 1957, it turned out little girls did not want a pink toy train. Grafting the exciting new space technology on to an old-fashioned flat car is a more successful gambit, especially because your consumers can’t really have fun with the Mercury Capsule Launching Flat Car unless they also have the new Cherry Picker Car—and the Heliport, too. Ka-ching!

Venus the Meanest and a Little Menace Named Venice Visit Earth

Lynn Peril — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Leave it to Bob Clampett, the man behind the surrealistic "Porky in Wackyland" (1938), to come up with a very odd little Beany and Cecil early-60s cartoon (they always creeped me out a little bit) called "Invasion of Earth by Robots." Of course, it turns out the robots just want to have a picnic, and that robot women spend all their time on the phone... Click through for another weird Beany and Cecil moment.

. . . while little Venice plays with his moron ball.

Watch the whole crazy thing here.

Cylinder-Headed Man of Future Has Back Eyes, Not Hair

Lynn Peril — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:00:00 PDT

Do you suffer from back pain, fallen arches, trick knee, or any of the myriad structural aches and pains to which the human body is subject? Fed up with just such fallibilities, in 1956 Mechanics Illustrated asked a group of scientists, engineers, and designers to redesign the male human body. Click through for a closer look at what they came up with.

An industrial designer suggested enclosing the spinal column “with a tube of semi-flexible cartilage,” greatly increasing its “load-carrying capacity” and protecting it from injury. Moving the brain to the chest cavity put it closer to the “fuel supply . . . a fundamental principle in industry.” Thus the head becomes “a mere conning tower,” the chest gets bigger and, given the knee bone is connected to the shin bone, before you know it, you've got what MI's caption writer described as a:

Cylinder-head digging the conventional-type girls with his back eyes has his brain in his outsize chest, his mouth near entrance to stomach. Other advanced features: moveable trumpet ears with radar antennae behind them; heavy-duty midsection muscles; congestion-proof snout; strong, flat, toeless feet; no nasty hair.

Science Redesigns the Human Body [Modern Mechanix]

Colonel Cosmic Brings Lube Job to Mars

Lynn Peril — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:30:37 PDT

Destination Earth is a nifty little piece of cold-war-era propaganda produced by the American Petroleum Industry in 1956. As the story opens, Mars is a dictatorship under the heel of Ogg the Magnificent, who sends Colonel Cosmic to Earth to find a way to deal with the friction that causes problems with the state limousine (apparently the Martians can’t apply their space vehicle technology to their cars). Luckily, Cosmic lands in the U.S. of A. and discovers the secrets behind our handsome land yachts and happy people (who shoot at him upon landing and departure): lubrication and liberty.

Ford Says Electric Cars “Commercially Feasible” By 1977

Lynn Peril — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Move over, EV Smart Car, here comes your granny—the Ford Comuta! Two test models of the tiny (80 inch long) electric car were built by Ford in 1967 and demonstrated in the U.S. and Britain. Powered by batteries located in the wheel hubs, the Comuta’s top speed was a mere 25 mph.

Six months prior to its introduction to the press in 1967, Ford president Arjay Miller said that electric cars like the Comuta “could be available in five to 10 years.” According to the New York Times in 1967,

The major advantage of any proposed electric car is that it gives off no smog-producing fumes. But Detroit automakers claim improvements in their standard engines will eliminate the fume problem over the next few years.

Got right on that problem, they did. The Times also noted that another “possibility being considered by Ford is a car that carries an ordinary motor for highway driving and electric motor for city movement”—which of course only took another 37 years for Ford to produce.

Invite the Neighbors In for a Quick Shave at the House of the Future

Lynn Peril — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:20:00 PDT

We’ve already discussed Disneyland’s new, improved (i.e., more corporate) Microsoft/HP House of the Future AKA Innoventions Dream Home. Here’s a quick tour of the original Monsanto House of the Future (plenty corporate in its own right, of course—everything was plastic!). There's even what looks like a communal toothbrush and shaving stand and a chirpy narrator inviting strangers to use it all. P.S. There’s also a peek of Tomorrowland, circa 1957, at the beginning of the clip—wish I could hop in the wayback machine!

Great Moments in Martian-Earthling Relations: Tim O’Hara Meets Uncle Martin

Lynn Peril — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:25:40 PDT

Let’s get it out at the start: My Favorite Martian was no Lost in Space. The latter had Robot, after all, and Dr. Smith, not to mention cool mod spacesuits. Despite its title, MFM had little-to-no outer-space trappings (at least as I remember it) and the lamest laugh track this side of Gilligan’s Island. If, however, you spent much of your childhood watching whatever was on the tube on Grandma’s house, you might be interested in the money shot from the My Favorite Martian pilot episode in 1963: The moment when reporter Tim O’Hara sees something strange in the sky, and meets the foil-jumpsuit-clad alien he later comes to know as Uncle Martin. Yuks ensued for the next three seasons.

Lady Astronaut or Lady Alien? Either Way, She's Got Vodka For You

Lynn Peril — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Ahh, Friday. Time for a cocktail—or two. Who better to serve up your afternoon Moscow Mule than a female alien masquerading as an astronaut (which just goes to show they can be both)? This 1965 ad for Smirnoff vodka also proves that back in the first flush of America's now-curdled romance with the space program, they really would use outer-space iconography to sell anything—even if the connection didn't make a whole lot of sense. Click through for the whole picture.

In Dystopian 1975, The Government’s “Snooping Machine” Watches Us All

Lynn Peril — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:27:25 PDT

Writing in Playboy in 1968, Alan Westin predicted that in just seven short years, improved techniques in computerized data gathering would result in “a record-control society that could make George Orwell’s Oceania almost look like a haven of privacy.” We've got a few spookily familiar moments from his dystopian vision of the future, below.

Westin's predictions:

Typical citizen Roger M. Smith commutes to work on a turnpike. When he reaches the tollgate, “his license plate is automatically scanned by a television camera and his number is sent instantaneously to an on-line computer containing lists of wanted persons, stolen cars, and traffic-ticket violators.” If the scan registers a hit, “police stationed 100 yards along the turnpike will have the signal before Smith’s car reaches that position.”
Meanwhile, back at the tollgate, Roger “places his right thumb in front of a scanning camera. At the same time, he recites into the unit’s microphone” his name and national I.D. number, “the initial performance of a ritual that will be repeated” throughout the day.
That’s because voiceprint, thumbprint, and I.D. number will be used in lieu of cash. “Money has been eliminated except for pocket-change transactions.”
One “byproduct of the cashless society is that every significant movement and transaction of Roger Smith’s life has produced a permanent record in the computer memory system. As he spends, uses and travels, he leaves an intransmutable and centralized documentary trail behind him.”
In 1975, for every person in the U.S., there are “four master files”: educational records, employment history, financial history, and the all-important “national citizenship file. . . . a unified Federal-state-local dossier that contains all of Roger’s life history that is ‘of relevance’ to Government. In 1975, that is quite a broad category.”
Westin went on to describe how new “laser memory system” technology meant that “a single 4800-foot reel of one-inch tape could contain about 20 double-spaced typed pages of data on every person in the United States—man, woman and child.”

Westin remains a leading authority on privacy issues.

Qazar Quantor Rocks the Star System With Zolar X!

Lynn Peril — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

We’ve written about elfin outer-space glam band Zolar X before, but just discovered what appears to have been a short-lived video podcast. Here, most recent member Qazar Quantor discusses his intergalactic origins and the first time he saw Zolar X, who dazzled L.A.’s 1970s glitter rock scene dressed in spacesuits, pixie haircuts, and prosthetic ears, and reformed in 2005. Starmen on Sunset, a documentary about the band, is scheduled to be completed this year. I can hardly wait!

Home Ec in Outer Space with Andy Astronaut and Mandy Martian

Lynn Peril — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Calling all crafty retro futurists: it’s time to heat up the glue gun and go back in time to make some SPAAAAACE PUPPETS! Just think of all the zero gravity fun a little girl could have with Andy Astronaut and Mandy Martian. Plus, this is a rare example of a 1960s-era outer-space toy aimed at girls. Of course, it was a lesson in home economics, too. All you need is some fabric, scraps of felt and yarn, a plastic cup (for Andy’s helmet, of course), a sock, and the ability to sew—which I don’t have. [How to Make Space Puppets via Black Olives On My Fingertips]

Giant Cassette Tapes Will Crush the MP3 Revolution

Lynn Peril — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Sandwiched between the reel-to-reel tape and the rise of the cassette as we used to know it, there was, for a brief moment in 1958, what RCA Victor called “A Revolutionary New Triumph in Tape.” Looking for all the world like a mix tape accidentally irradiated in an atomic blast, RCA’s invention “never really caught the fancy of the tape-buying public” as the New York Times delicately explained in 1964. It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying—as this clip from an RCA promotional film shows.

The Fembot Doll Kicked Ass in 1977!

Lynn Peril — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:47:42 PDT

In 1977, I was a snotty 16-year-old who had just discovered punk rock. Keeping up with the latest 45s left little time for TV, and anyway, I’m sure I looked down my nose at anything as “silly” as The Bionic Woman. And toys associated with that show? Not cool at all. Well, I was wrong about that, because now I want, want, want this awesome fembot doll—if for no other reason than to let her kick B****e’s perfect plastic ass. True, the pneumatically built fembot has to turn into a “Mystery Lady” every once in a while, but how many opportunities did little girls have, then or now, to role play with a hard-fighting agent of evil? Such a refreshing break from the usual fashion model or mommy. Even bionic woman Jaime Sommers was a good girl, after all.

The Great Metropolis of 1960 and What Criswell Found There

Lynn Peril — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

General Motor’s Futurama was one of the most popular exhibits at the 1939 World’s Fair. Over 10,000,000 people rode through a miniaturized version of the not-so-far future of 1960. Among them perhaps, was a small boy named Jeron Criswell King. Or maybe he just saw the filmed version, because he liked one of the lines of narration enough to make it his very own catch phrase. Take a look, then, at the Great Metropolis of 1960—you know you’re interested—because the future is where we are going to spend the rest of our lives.

Dr. Smith Unleashes A Cacophonous Concretion of Alliterative Abuse

Lynn Peril — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

I love “Lost in Space”—the campy 60s TV series, of course, and not the godforsaken 1998 movie. If you’re a fan, you know that one of the high—or low—points of the show was the ongoing battle of wits between the Robot and Dr. Zachary Smith. Robot led in the smarts department, but the thesaurus-packing Smith was never at a loss for an interpretive insult. Here, then, is a montage of Dr. Smith at his finest (though Robot gets a few zingers in there)—a small slice of the mind-boggling nine-minute original.

1964 Teen Mag Predicts Inflatable Sofas, Glass Houses, and GPS

Lynn Peril — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:09:00 PDT

Co-ed was “The High School Magazine for Homemakers” from the 1950s to 1970s. In 1966, it took a peek at future household technology. Home computers figured prominently (“Imagine having a mechanical secretary to keep budgets, figure your income tax, or plan your menus!”), along with home video recorders. Not surprisingly, the balance of the items featured in the article “Tuning in Tomorrow” were aimed at the future housewives of America.

The Groceries Come to You! A trip to the store will be aided by “memory belts” that could “learn” and “remember” coded information. This “could mean that you would step up to a switchboard, push the proper buttons—and the items you select would come to you on a conveyor belt.”
Glass Houses! “House-making machines” might “drive up to your lot and wind endless fine threads of glass to make a cone- or mushroom-shaped house. It’s possible that your may one day look back to your ‘square’ teen years, when you lived in a cube instead of a curved house.”
Inflatable Sofas! “Easy-go furnishings, things that can be transferred with little effort, will be necessities for your mobile family. You might own an inflatable sofa that can be folded up inside a small cabinet, tables that can be collapsed, expanded, raised, or lowered, . . . storage pieces that become suitcases.”
Big Brother Watches Little Brother! “In the future portable TV cameras will establish complete communication throughout the house. . . . Metal reception tags will be sewn inside a child’s clothing and a family radarscope will ‘beep’ his presence within a ten-block area.”

And my favorite innovation:

“Picture yourself making draperies from a can of ‘fiber spray’!” Because who cares about a jetpack when curtains come in a can?

Mutant Monster Chickens Stalk “The Farm of Tomorrow” (1954)

Lynn Peril — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Modern machinery and any number of tasty hybrids populate “The Farm of Tomorrow,” the last (whew!) of Tex Avery’s “of Tomorrow” cartoon cycle. We’ve already got cloning and embryo transfer technology—it's only a matter of time until a giant-drumsticked chicken shows up on your dinner table.

“The T.V. of Tomorrow” Broadcasts From Mars in 1953

Lynn Peril — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Stuffed full of rapid-fire sight gags and visual puns like the others in the series (but no mother-in-law jokes), the whole of Tex Avery’s “The T.V. of Tomorrow” is definitely worth a watch. But the piece-de-resistance comes in the form of the world’s first television transmission from Mars. What strange form of life exists on the Red Planet? Watch and see.

Tex Avery Drives into the Future With “The Car of Tomorrow” (1951)

Lynn Peril — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:20:00 PDT

One quick sight gag follows another in Tex Avery’s “The Car of Tomorrow” (1951), his second foray into predicting our future (hint: parking problems solved!). Don’t miss his depiction of modern marketing’s annoying practice of “pink-wrapping” items to make them allegedly more appealing to women (on the other hand, the “fender panties” remind me of the frilly trim on 60s TV’s Batgirl’s motorbike).

Tex Avery Introduces “The House of Tomorrow” in 1949

Lynn Peril — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:20:00 PDT

An in-house tanning bed (complete with spatula-like flipper), self-adjusting chair, three-way TV set (anticipating the Food Network, Playboy Channel, and Nickelodeon, to boot), a disturbingly efficient electric razor, and some rusty mother-in-law jokes are all part of "The House of Tomorrow" envisioned by animation genius Tex Avery in 1949. "The House of Tomorrow" was the first of four cartoons showing various aspects of life in the future—keep your eyes peeled for more to come.

Streamlined Cars Blaze at 120 mph in 1930s Future City

Lynn Peril — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:20:00 PDT

Here's a brief, animated glimpse of a future city where torpedo cars rocket along on elevated highways. It comes from a 1930s industrial film on automotive streamlining, hence the awed tone of wonder in the narrator's voice when he describes the completely streamlined car of the future - alas, "entirely impractical" on today's streets.

A-Blasts Propel the Atomic Pulse Rocket Into Space (1960)

Lynn Peril — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:33:27 PDT

“This is the Atomic Pulse Rocket, a pot-bellied ship nearly the size of the Empire State Building, propelled by a series of atomic blasts.” Sure, it sounds like a bad idea now but back then it was on the cutting edge: it only needed “a thousand atomic blasts—each equal to 1,000 tons of TNT” to push the 75,000 ton behemoth out of Earth’s atmosphere. Once transit speed was reached, things went green: power was then provided by “solar batteries plating the wing and body surfaces.”

Inside the rocket, living quarters are situated in the rim of a pressurized wheel-like cabin which revolves to provide artificial gravity. Radio and radar antennae revolve with it. Tubular hydroponic “gardens” on either side of the rim grow algae to produce oxygen and high protein food.

If that wasn’t enough, the Atomic Pulse Rocket “could transport payload to the Moon at $6.74 per pound, less than one quarter the prevailing air freight charges over equivalent distance.” Or so said this ad for American Bosch Arma Corporation—the folks who brought you the “inertial guidance system for the ATLAS ICBM” missile.