The November 24, 1930 Jefferson City Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, MO) ran this advertisement for an insurance company which assured readers that there would be no need for their services in the future. But until that day comes -- when traffic officers have nothing to do but knit, the flaws of human nature have vanished and automobiles glide silently and safely -- buy Aetna insurance!

Some day traffic officers will have nothing more to mind than their own knitting! Some day the modern automobile will glide silently, swiftly, hither and yon, marvelously protected by undreamed of devices for comfrot and safety. Some day the flaws in human nature will vanish as the morning dew before the rising sun, SOME DAY, but until the millennium -- ATENAIZE ! !

The AETNA COMBINATION AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE POLICY protects you ALL WAYS -- ALWAYS. No matter where an accident may occur or a claim develop -- an AETNA representative, of whom there are 25,000 from COAST-TO-COAST, is there to look out for your interests.

Let us explain this special feature of AETNA COAST-TO-COAST SERVICE TO YOU! ! ! YOUR LOCAL AETNAIZERS -- THE MEN WORTH KNOWING

Previously on Paleo-Future: 

• Have You A Little Robot? (1929)
• Robots Will Kill Music! (1930)

The May 9, 1897 St. Paul Globe (St. Paul, MN) ran an interesting article titled, "Strange Ships That Sail In The Skies." The article describes proposed flying vessels of the future, as well as newspapers around the United States that had were printing questionable accounts of flying machines already in use. Many of the illustrations from the article are similar to the flying machines we looked at from 1885.

I had no idea that so many newspapers reported -- with questionable intentions -- flying vessels throughout the country. If that's true, I imagine someone has written a book on this late-19th century phenomenon, no?

Mechanical Birds: Dreams of Flight in 19th Century Journalism. See? I already came up with a title for you. Go write the book. Yes, I'm looking at you. Just write it. I promise to buy a copy. But if you really want your non-fiction book to sell, make sure to put "...The Blankity Blank That Changed America Forever" in your subtitle. You'll thank me later. When you're rolling around in piles of money. Cuz that's a million dollar idea.

You can read, "Strange Ships That Sail In The Skies," in its entirety on Scribd.

This is the age of the airship. The evolution of the balloon to the flying machine is nearly complete, and it is not improbably that within a few years great aerial vessels for passenger service and monster engines of war and commerce will be seen sailing through space.

Recently the newspapers of the whole country have been exploiting stories of airships seen hovering over various towns and country places in districts very far apart. The testimony seems impeachable, especially in the face of so many witnesses, but certain details are always lacking to complete the evidence. Now it is a story of a wonderful vessel seen on the Pacific coast in the neighborhood of San Francisco or maybe Sacramento. Next a report comes of one having been seen in Nebraska, or a farmer in some Iowa county reports seeing a bright light and moving object in the air on a dark night. Then the scene shifts, and a man or a score of men report seeing a wonderful what is it from some other remote quarter of the United States.

Previously on Paleo-Future:

• Flying Machines (circa 1885)
• Going to the Opera in the Year 2000 (1882)

The May, 1969 issue of Science Journal features an article by Dr. Rodney Wendell Johnson about lunar colonies of the future. Dr. Johnson was the Advanced Planner for NASA's Advanced Manned Mission Program Office. The illustrations by Roy G. Scarfo that accompany the article are pretty amazing.

(Please excuse the semi-blurred scans. The magazine is too big to fit comfortably on my scanner and frankly I'm too lazy to scan it in pieces for you. Listen, you complain any more and I'll turn this rocket ship right around! I swear!)

[The illustration above] shows a semi-permanent base, a six man shelter landed by a direct flight from Earth and coupled to an expandable laboratory in the foreground.

Early lunar bases would grow from Apollo hardware. The picture [above], depicts Apollo lunar modules; that in the background carries a shelter and the other has landed a one man roving vehicle with a range of 8 km. This system would permit 14 day scientific missions in 1971-72, including geological drilling to about 35 m.

[UPDATE: Thanks to Winchell Chung for tracking down the illustrator of these great pieces as Roy G. Scarfo, who also illustrated the book Beyond Tomorrow: The Next 50 Years in Space.]

Previously on Paleo-Future:

• The Challenge of Outer Space (circa 1950s)
• Von Braun's Blueprint for Space (1950s)
• Man and the Moon (1955)
• Space Suit (1956)
• The Complete Book of Space Travel (1956)
• Rocket Ship (1956)
• Mars and Beyond (1957)
• Exploring Space (1958)
• Closer Than We Think! Space Coveralls (1960)
• Space and National Security (1963)
• Air Force Predictions for 2063 (1963)
• Moon Settlement by 2007 (1985)

The September 11, 1960 edition of Arthur Radebaugh's Closer Than We Think envisioned a type of disaster response vehicle that could seemingly accomplish many of the things people still complain about whenever governments respond to crises. With a decimated infrastructure those "terra tires" (crushing cars, mind you) would certainly come in handy. It's interesting that the illustration gives no clue as to what horror these people must be running from; an uncharacteristically chilling image from pop-utopian Radebaugh.

Tomorrow's methods of coping with catastrophes will make our present-day equipment as obsolete as the horse-drawn drays that handled the San Francisco fire havoc in 1906.

New king-size disaster wagons will face up to any kind of upheaval -- atomic, atmospheric or volcanic. Their low-pressure "terra tire" doughnut wheels will permit movement across any kind of terrain, traffic or wreckage. Supplies will include hospital equipment, pharmaceuticals, blood, dehydrated food and the like.

Such wagons are now in the planning stage for military purposes. Compare also the enormous vehicles already in use as missile carriers, also those used in the mining and logging industries.

Next week: Sub Squelcher

Previously on Paleo-Future:

• Closer Than We Think! (1958-1963)
• Will War Drive Civilization Underground? (1942)
• Technology and Man's Future (1972)
• Newton the Household Robot (1989)

This illustration by Alexander Leydenfrost appeared in the fiftieth anniversary issue of Popular Mechanics (January, 1952). It depicts "science on the march" and even includes a chart explaining the various elements of the image.

Previously on Paleo-Future:

• Atomic Power Plant of the Future (1939)
• The Domination of Space (1950s)
• The Future of the Helicopter (1955)
• Our Friend the Atom (Book, 1956)
• Disney's Magic Highway (1958)
• Nuclear-Powered Aircraft (1960)

Last month we looked at this photo in a book of 1960's advertisements. It's not immediately clear what women in space helmets have to do with refrigerators, but like we've discussed, positioning a product as "futuristic" means that as a consumer you're able to "buy tomorrow."

Own a piece of the future... with our widget.

Today we have an ad that looks to be from that same Frigidaire campaign. It appeared in the May 5, 1966 issue of Life magazine and touts the Gemini 19 refrigerator-freezer. I'm at a loss trying to think of products today that might co-opt language of the space age. When did the idea of living in space lose its luster?

Ad via Flickr and Google Books.

Previously on Paleo-Future:

• "And This Button Annihilates the City" (1965)
• Refrigerators... In Space! (1965)
• 1999 A.D. (1967)

It doesn't get much better than saucy French futurism, does it? These illustrations of futuristic flying machines from 1901 are quite similar to both the German and French personal flying machines we've looked at from this era.

I find the electric lights adorning her hat and dress quite beautiful. Early electric light and the way it was described in such poetic terms at the turn of the twentieth century truly leaves me in awe. Strangely enough, I caught myself asking, "but where is the power source for those lights?!?!!" all the while ignoring how absurd a system of dangerously placed propellors and wings would be for human flight. 

If my universal language translator can be trusted (actually, I used Babelfish), "au siecle prochain," means "in the next century," and "comment on suivra les femmes," translates to, "how women will be followed." The illustration below appears to be of a lover making his hasty escape out the window, as madame's husband arrives home. 

Below are images from previous blog posts on German postcards (circa 1900) and French prints (1910). A special thanks to Scott Lesch for the black and white images above.

Previously on Paleo-Future:

• Flying Machines (circa 1885)
• Boy's Flying Machine of the Twentieth Century (1900)
• Postcards Show The Year 2000 (circa 1900)
• French Prints Show the Year 2000 (1910)
• What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years (Ladies Home Journal, 1900)