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Futurama at 1939 NY World's Fair

A look at pre-World War II futuristic utopian thinking, as envisioned by Norman Bel Geddes for General Motors. This was designer Bel Geddes masterpiece -- the "Futurama" exhibit in GM's "Highways and Horizons" pavilion at the World's Fair, that imagined the distant future of a faraway time 1960.

This future of skyways aka freeways and sprawling suburbs was put on hold because of World War Two but it came roaring back after the War. This compelling vision became synonymous with the American Dream.

It's still compelling developing countries like China to urbanize and hit the road in automobiles. We don't see any smog in Bel Geddes utopia but LA discovered and now China is finding out that translating World's Fair ride into reality has some drawbacks.

For a quick read about this famous exhibit -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama_(New_York_World's_Fair)

QT - On to New Horizons

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: General Motors Corporation, Department of Public Relations

http://youtu.be/sClZqfnWqmc

2014-07-19T23:36:14Z

Standard YouTube License
This video represents licensed content on YouTube, meaning that the content has been claimed by a YouTube content partner.

Standard YouTube License
This video represents licensed content on YouTube, meaning that the content has been claimed by a YouTube content partner.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sClZqfnWqmc/default.jpg