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I Have Seen the [retro]Future
Art from the 1950s envisioned a future with robots. Are we there yet? Credit: Blue Lantern Studio / Corbis I first encountered the future during a family trip to Disney World’s EPCOT Center in the...
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Burbank’s Aerial Monorail of the Future
J.W. Fawkes's "Aerial Swallow" circa 1912 (Los Angeles Times) The city of Burbank, California was incorporated in 1911 with a population of just 500. Today the population is just over 100,000 and the...
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Arthur Radebaugh’s Shiny Happy Future
Arthur Radebaugh's jetpack mailman of the future ("Closer Than We Think" October 4, 1958) Whenever people discuss retro-futurism the first things that often come to mind are flying cars, jetpacks,...
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Boxing Robots of the 1930s
The Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots toy is both a vivid and lukewarm memory of my childhood. I remember playing the plastic fighting game with my friend Matt (apparently Matt was quite a popular name for boys...
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Giant Automatic Highway Builders of the Future
"Highways by Automation" by Arthur Radebuagh (Washington Star, August 3, 1958) After President Eisenhower pushed legislation in 1956 that would radically expand the U.S. highway system, artists began...
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Moving Sidewalks Before The Jetsons
The New York subway system's moving sidewalk of the future by Goodyear (1950s) I recently heard someone assert that the 1962/63 TV cartoon show “The Jetsons” invented the concept of the moving...
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50 Years of the Jetsons: Why The Show Still Matters
The Jetsons title slate from 1962 It was 50 years ago this coming Sunday that the Jetson family first jetpacked their way into American homes. The show lasted just one season (24 episodes) after its...
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Revisiting Epcot Center on its 30th Birthday
Commemorative ticket from EPCOT’s opening day on October 1, 1982 EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982 as the single most expensive private construction project the world had ever seen. It was...
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Disney Kills LucasArts, My Childhood
Holographic home computer game of the future from the 1981 book Tomorrow’s Home by Neil Ardley Yesterday the most important company of my childhood killed the second most important company of my...
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