The Future is Now

The drama of the space race becomes a focal point for Americans during the 1960s. There are frequent headline events involving rocket tests and astronaut training programs, although neither side has a major breakthrough.

Meanwhile, images of space travel, and visions of an amazing futuristic world, are suddenly showing up everywhere. It's almost as if man has already landed on the moon, and returned with shiny objects.

American cars are sporting ever-larger 'tailfins,' while chrome-plated accents grow more prominent each year. Men clearly lust after these new road rockets, sometimes offered as sporty convertibles.
Futurism, 1960s

  Brave New World
The images above portray an amazing new world, which seems on the brink of becoming reality. The motorcycle (top left) is actually a piece of 'concept art' from an earlier time, but the new cars are real. You can drive around in one yourself. Meanwhile, newly-available international air travel offers another path into the shining new future.

Tailfins and Chrome, 1950s

  Tailfins and Chrome
Americans seem to find these fantastic expressions of dynamism both manly and sexy. Under the hood, massive V8 engines deliver equally exciting, gas-guzzling performance. The tailfin phase is already peaking, but the preference for 'muscle cars' and big engines will continue until the price of a gallon of gasoline triples, by 1980. While it lasts, however, it's an intoxicating period for America, which is at the top of its game. As a popular song has it, She'll have fun, fun, fun, 'till her daddy takes the T-Bird away.


Interstate Highway System, 1955 map

  See the USA
Just as Americans are getting their hands on the new breed of road machines, a spanking-new, high-speed road system is unfolding in front of their very eyes. Construction of this expansive network is still in the early stages, but soon there will be few places you can't visit, in your hot new wheels. Traffic congestion, the bane of city travel, barely exists outside the beltways that conveniently skirt urban centers. The top is down, and the radio on.