ALL SCI-FI

[bulldogtrekker]

How We Imagined The Future Of Transportation Would Look In The 1940s
Vincze Mikls, I09

These ads made for the Detroit-based Bohn Aluminum and Brass Corporation were largely dreamed up by legendary illustrator Arthur Radebaugh during the 1940s. Radebaugh's utopian visions and Bohn's desire to appear as a forward-looking company combine for a slick retrofuturistic view of transportation.

It's not a surprise that aluminum and brass are crucial to build these predicted technologies, which will make Bohn one of the most important technologies.






LINK:(many more images)
http://io9.com/how-we-imagined-the-future-of-transportation-would-look-1684754877

[Robert (Butch) Day]

Many more images at http://www.fulltable.com/vts/f/fut/b.htm
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Bud Brewster]

What a great article, BDT! Thanks for sharing it with us. I love the pictures.

My favorite of the bunch --



-- although I'm pretty sure that propeller would collide with the support for the train. The clearance seems inadequate.

No, wait . . . THIS on is my favorite!



This one is cool . . . but those 90?? turns on the expressway might be a problem.



This vehicle certainly has a tight cornering capability! Too bad it's a mile long . . .



Can't fault the view from this nifty monorail!



I love this one. I've always wondered why heavy farm equipment moves so slowly. Streamline it like this thing and you could thresh wheat and 80 mph!



"Interociter with electron sorter — ays a four-lane highway as the rate of a mile a minute!" Cal Mitchum ~ This Island Earth



A combination "stretch limo and fire engine". Very innovative! (Exclusively for fires on Wall Street.)



A cruise liner for people who don't like the outdoors!



Or even better, a rocket-powered catamaran cruise ship!



A draw bridge for astronomers!



Ummm . . . okay, I have no idea what this is . . .



Despite its suggestive shape, I think Freud would remind us that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar . . .



"How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm?" Easy! Make it look like a starship laying on it's side!



Damn, as soon as I saw the control tower in the background I thought of the starship in my own novel!





Thanks again, BDT.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[orzel-w]

Those guys knew what the future was supposed to look like.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Krel]

The future ain't what it used to be...Unfortunately.

Heavy Norman Bel Geddes influence in the designs, especially the ships: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=norman+bel+geddes+ships&qpvt=norman+bel+geddes+ships&qpvt=norman+bel+geddes+ships&FORM=IGRE

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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The link above to the website Krell provided has some great "futuristic" designs from the past!







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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Marvelous pix, thanks Bud.

Love train travel. Terribly neglected & undeveloped in the US.

Read somewhere that the airlines & trucking industries worked with politicians to see that our train system was denied $$$ so that those 2 industries could blossom while trains were left in the dust.

[Gord Green]

Over the road trucking became a reality in the USA with the construction of the Interstate Highway during the Eisenhouer administration in the 50's.

Railway shipping and transportation was more prominant in Britian and Europe where distances between destinations was less than in the spraling US.

So in a way it was "politicians" who encouraged the development of over the rode transportation.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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I seem to remember that during WWII, General Eisenhower was impressed by the German highways, and when he became president he initiated the expansion of the interstate highways in America.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

Eisenhower was a big proponent of an interstate road system long before WWII. After WWI he was assigned to lead a military expedition of trucks to cross the United States by road. The only way he was able to accomplish the task was to use the private roads that the railroad companies had built for track maintenance. There was no way to accomplish his task by using public roads, because the state roads didn't interlink. Eisenhower considered this a serious national security matter.

Railroads fell out of favor when Uncle Sam went after them for being monopolies, and made them unprofitable for passengers. Most interstate freight is still transported by rail, there is no truck that transport as much freight across land as a train.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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David, I added a reply to this thread just because I wanted to "bump" an old-but-interesting discussion you'd added a reply to, hoping you'd have something new to say!

I'm glad I did, because that item from American history is both fascinating and important to know! Please feel free to share information like that anytime you wish.

You're well-written comment gave me a vivid mental image of General Eisenhower rolling along at the head of that convey while a loyal sergeant with him struggled to read a road map and help Ike figure out where the hell they were!

And your historical tie-in to the government's battle with the railroad industry was another piece of history which I found fascinating! When it comes to railroads, I'm a little like Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Trains are just too damn cool.

Keep 'em coming, sir! The story-teller in me can't get enough of that stuff!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)