Bearded Men of the 21st Century (1939)

The February 1, 1939 issue of Vogue ran this photo of the 21st Century man. The caption appears below. The picture can also be found in the book Exit to Tomorrow: World's Fair Architecture, Design, Fashion 1933-2005.

Gilbert Rhode banishes buttons, pockets, collars, ties. The man of the next century will revolt against shaving and wear a beautiful beard, says the designer of boilers, pianos, clocks, and metal furniture. His hat will be an an antennae - snatching radio out of the ether. His socks disposable, his suit minus tie collar and buttons.

See also:
Closer Than We Think! Throw-Away Clothes (1959)
Disposable Clothes Just Around Corner (1961)
Futuristic Hairdo Hit Women Like New Atom Bomb (1948)
Waitress of the Year 2000 (1939)
Fashion Wired for Sound in Year 2000 (1957)

Disposable Clothes Just Around Corner (1961)

The October 12, 1961 Evening Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) ran a story titled, "Disposable Clothes Seen Just Around The Corner." Excerpts appear below.

A research laboratory cuts its big laundry bill way down by sending dirty smocks, coveralls, etc., to the garbage pail. A housewife convinces her husband that her new party dress is a good bargain because she'll be able to wear it four times before throwing it away. Vacationers, ready to head home, stuff campsite trash and bedding into pillowcases and throw them into the campfire.

Disposable clothes are here - still being tested, but very much alive and kicking.

The article goes on to talk about the American public's issues with waste.

Part of the problem is one of salesmanship. Disposable clothes are still a novelty and command novelty prices. In addition, the American public is still hamstrung by the idea that waste is bad.

See also:
Closer Than We Think! Throw-Away Clothes (1959)
We Are Animals, Says Mr. Edison (1910)
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)
Big Laughs Coming (1922)

Taller Women by Year 2000 (1949)

The December 24, 1949 Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, MO) ran an Associated Press article titled, "Authorities Predict Gals Will 'Rise' to New Heights by 2000." An excerpt along with the piece in its entirety appear below.

"Nature seems bent on producing a new race of Amazons. Within the next 50 years you'll find the emancipated woman engaging actively in such sports as football, baseball and soccer. She'll think nothing of chopping the wood and acting as family car mechanic."

See also:
Women and the Year 2000 (1967)
Lives of Women to Improve (1923)
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)
Future Without Football (Daily Review, 1976)
Feminine Beauty (New York Times, 1909)

We Are Animals, Says Mr. Edison (1910)

The January 28, 1910 Decatur Review (Decatur, Illinois) ran portions of an interview with Thomas Edison titled, "We Are Animals, Says Mr. Edison: Inventor Predicts Cheaper Clothing and Less Manual Labor." The entire piece appears below.

In an interview published in the Independent, Thomas A. Edison speaks of future inventions and refers to the problem of getting the most out of fuel as one of the important problems of the day. He has something to say about the clothes of the future.

CHEAP CLOTHES.
"The clothes of the future will be so cheap," says Mr. Edison, "that every young woman will be able to follow the fashions promptly, and there will be plenty of fashions. Artificial silk that is superior to natural silk is now made of wood pulp. It shines better than silk. I think that the silk worm barbarism will go in fifty years, just as the indigo of India went with the production of indigo in German laboratories.

THINGS TO LEARN.
"There is much ahead of us. We don't know what gravity is; neither do we know the nature of heat, light and electricity. We are only animals. We are coming out of the dog stage and getting a glimpse of our environment. We don't know - we just suspect a few things. Our practice of shooting, one another in war is proof that we are animals. The make-up of our society is hideous.

NO MANUAL LABOR.
"Communication with other worlds has been suggested. I think we had better stick to this world and find out something about it before we call up our neighbors. They might make us ashamed of ourselves. Not individualism but social labor will dominate the future. Industry will constantly become more social and interdependent. There will be no manual labor in the factories of the future. The men in them will be merely superintendents watching the machinery to see that it works right. Less and less man will be used as an engine or as a horse, and his brain will be employed to benefit himself and his fellows."

Regarding the possibility of using radium as a fuel, Mr. Edison says that is only speculative.

NEW FUEL.
"Radium has great power," he adds. "It has no appreciable limit or end. It is not combustible. A carload of radium would have as much energy as all the millions of tons of coal mined in the United States in a year. I have a spinthariscope, which contains a tiny bit of radium of a size that will go through the eye of a needle. It has been shooting off millions of sparks for six years that I have had it, and I expect it will be shooting sparks the same way for thousands of years. Some day we might find immense deposits of it, then it will be a problem how to handle it without dangerous consequences."

See also:
Edison Battery Solves Old Problems (1909)
Moving Sidewalk (1900)
In the Twentieth Century (Newark Daily Advocate, 1901)

Futuristic Hairdo Hits Women Like New Atom Bomb (1948)

As we see over and over again, the abstract concept of "the future" has been sold many different ways over the years. An article from the September 27, 1948 Daily Register (Harrisburg, IL) titled, "Futuristic Hairdo at $35 Per Do Hits Women Like New Atom Bomb," seems to describe post-War hopes and anxieties for the seemingly undefined "future."

Men, the women are at it again. This time it's nothing as mild as demanding the vote or wearing pants.

In a shuddering world, "modernism" has reached the feminine hairline.

From Broadway to Park Avenue, the girls have gone slightly mad over something called "the futuristic, non-objectivism" hairdo. It's in six different colors and at $35 a do.

The creator of this hair-raising hairstyle is a diminutive, red-haired coiffurist who has a booming 200-pound voice in 100-pound frame. His trademark is Mark.

"Women," Mark said with a majestic wave of his thin hands, "need, positively need, to be lifted from the slough of sameness they have fallen into in the past century."

See also:
Fashion Wired for Sound in Year 2000 (1957)
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)
Waitress of the Year 2000 (1939)
Evening Fashions of the Year 1952 (1883)

Flowers by Alice (Part 4, 1992)

According to part 4 of Flowers by Alice, in the future, all brides are ditzy Valley Girls with neck spasms. Be sure to check out part 6 of the concept video Connections for AT&T's version of wedding planning in the future.

See also:
Flowers by Alice (Part 1, 1992)
Flowers by Alice (Part 2, 1992)
Flowers by Alice (Part 3, 1992)
Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future (Part 6, 1993)

Fashion Wired for Sound in Year 2000 (1957)

The May 15, 1957 Chicago Tribune ran a piece titled, "Tell Future of Fashions in Exhibit." The story described the apparel on display at Marshall Field at the time, which depicted the fashions of the year 2000. An excerpt appears below.

Most of the designers represented agreed that the fashionable woman of the future will be wired for sound, with sending and receiving equipment built into her costume. Fabrics will be treated to be warm in winter and cool in summer. Some will screen the sun to allow tanning without burning while others, used in bathing suits, will make them unsinkable.

See also:
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)
Waitress of the Year 2000 (1939)
Evening Fashions of the Year 1952 (1883)

Evening Fashions of the Year 1952 (1883)

This illustration is from a beautiful 1981 edition of the 1883 Albert Robida book Le vingtième siècle. La vie électrique. The edition I've linked to is in French and doesn't include any color pictures such as the one above. For an English translation check out The Twentieth Century (Early Classics of Science Fiction), but again, the illustrations are in black and white.

See also:
Going to the Opera in the Year 2000 (1882)

Railroads on Parade (1939)

The play Railroads on Parade was featured at the 1939/40 New York World's Fair. It told the story of railroad transportation progress from the 1820s until 1939, and into the future. The photo below depicts a "woman of the future" from the cast and can be found in the book Dawn of a New Day, published in 1980.



See also:
All's Fair at the Fair (1938)
Memory of 'Tomorrow' (New York Times, 1941)
Donald Duck's "Modern Inventions" (1937)
Metal Man Comes to Life (1939)

Closer Than We Think! Throw-Away Clothes (1959)

Apparently the ability to throw away your clothes is worthy of more attention than the commuter helicopters everyone's flying around in the future.

This strip ran in the October 25, 1959 Chicago Tribune.

Do your clothes need to be cleaned or washed? Are you tired of the old patterns or colors? In the future, if your answer to any of these questions is yes, you'll simply throw the old clothes away - and maybe kindle a camp fire with them.

Much of tomorrow's wearing apparel may be made out of treated paper, intended for use a few times, then for discard. The Quartermaster Corps is already investigating the use of such processed paper for parachutes, disposable uniforms, pup tents, and other shelters. It wears well, and its insulating qualities make it usable in all kinds of weather.

See also:
Closer Than We Think! (1958-1963)
Closer Than We Think! Monoline Express
Closer Than We Think! Lunar Mailbag (1960)
Closer Than We Think! Polar City (1959)
Closer Than We Think! Fish Bowl Swimming Pool (1958)
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)
Envision Odd Styles in 1950 (Hammond Times, 1939)
Commuter Helicopter (1947)

1999 A.D. Intro (1967)

In the future, kids will be so dumb that they'll forget the year (and spooky music will swell on cue).

How does the computer know everything? I mean like how . . . I mean like, how many times to exercise and all?

You can find 1999 A.D. on the DVD Yesterday's Tomorrows Today, released by A/V Geeks.

See also:
1999 A.D. (1967)
Online Shopping (1967)
Monsanto House of the Future (1957-1967)

Waitress of the Year 2000 (1939)

The photo below ran in the May 7, 1939 Chicago Daily Tribune.


What the waitress of the year 2000 may wear. Marjorie Hannon, W-G-N actress, models this costume, designed by the National Restaurant association for exhibit during Restaurant week, May 8 to 14. That metallic hair ribbon is an antenna for ultra shortwave radio which brings patrons' orders directly to tiny earphones concealed beneath her uniform. Pockets contain condiments for those who have time to eat a leisurely meal; concentrated capsules for those who haven't. Asbestos gloves prevent burns from hot plates.

See also:
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)

Envision Odd Styles in 1950 (Hammond Times, 1939)

The June 9, 1939 Hammond Times (Hammond, Indiana) ran a story titled, "Envision Odd Styles in 1950." Below is the article in its entirety.

Harvey T. Noyes, self-styled "man of 1950," publicly wears definitely futuristic clothes which he confidently predicts will be all the rage among men-about-town 11 years hence.

His ultra modern wardrobe was handsewn by his bride, who followed his instruction in designing clothes primarily for masculine comfort.

"There are too many pockets, buttons and creases in the clothes men wear now," said Noyes.

The outfit which created a sensation when he first wore it downtown comprised a wine-red satin blouse, a red corded silk ankle-length cape lined white green taffeta and caught at the throat with a red band, trousers that smacked of the medieval "tights" era and soft leather shoes with one lace which ties across the top.

His appearance, conservatively expressed, is colorful as he wanders through the shopping district doing errands for his wife.

"People laugh at me," he said. "But that doesn't bother me, because I feel just as much at home in my new outfit as I did in my other clothes."

Mrs. Noyes now is completing a wardrobe for herself. It is fashioned on the same futuristic principles.

See also:
Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)
The New Christy Minstrels (1966)

Miss A.D. 2000 (Chicago Tribune, 1952)

While browsing the Chicago Tribune archives this past weekend I came across this feature from May 4, 1952. It highlights fashion designs from Jacques Heim, Marcel Rochas, Madame Carven and Jacques Griffe.

"What will women wear in the year 2000? A photographer put the question to leading Paris couturiers, who took the wraps off their imaginations and produced these forecasts of future fashions."

My favorite vision of what we'd be wearing in the year 2000 is probably that of Marcel Rochas, whose clothes are pictured in the image below.

"Marcel Rochas envisions a spiral antenna headdress for thought transference; sunglass-shaped eye make-up; costume reminiscent of ancient armor; floating veils, and sandals of panther skin."

The New Christy Minstrels (1966)

I came across this New Christy Minstrels album cover in the Retro Records Flickr Group. Clothes of the paleo-future are often impractical but I really don't mind what this woman is wearing. The bug-eyed helmet is the only thing that seems absurdly unnecessary. Otherwise, it seems like pretty standard 1960's mod fashion.