Category Archives: Futurism

February 1959: Television Recorder! TV Set as Flat as a Picture! Amazing Predictions for the Future!

Posted on February 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This post originally appeared on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org. February 1959: Speaking of the future, RCA’s David Sarnoff describes an astounding “television recorder!” “Westinghouse’s Gwilym Price expects [recorded] tapes to reproduce shows in three dimensions … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Education, Futurism, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

February 1959: Burbank Installs Time Capsule

Posted on February 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This post originally appeared on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org. Feb. 1, 1959: Burbank installs a time capsule in the “new” Magnolia Boulevard Bridge. It was scheduled to be opened Feb. 5, 2009. This is one … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Futurism, History, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Jan. 4, 1959: Grocermat – The Supermarket of Tomorrow!

Posted on January 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

I love “futurism” stories like this one, featuring a 7-Eleven for the Jetsons.  In sports, football coach Earl “Curly” Lambeau says the split-T offense is dead. He also thinks college ball should put the goal posts back on the goal … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, 2009, Futurism, Sports | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Shopping Guide

Posted on December 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

Several people have suggested that “Never Built Los Angeles,” which has yet to be added to the Daily Mirror library, would be an excellent holiday gift. The book by Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin with a forward by Thom Mayne … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Futurism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

1947 World Inventors Exposition at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium

Posted on October 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

An EBay vendor has listed a program from the 1947 World Inventors Exposition. According to ads in The Times, this is where the Tucker automobile had its “premiere public showing.”   Bidding on the program starts at $19.95. I wrote a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Aviation, Futurism, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Found on EBay – Hotel Lankershim

Posted on September 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

This rather wonderful postcard showing an artist’s conception of what the future might look like has been listed on EBay. Built in 1902, the Hotel Lankershim was often described the city’s largest unreinforced building. After the 1971 Sylmar quake, the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1902, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Found on EBay, Futurism, Preservation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Scarlett’s Costumes Nearly ‘Gone With the Wind’

Posted on August 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Crane bathroom fixtures. Credit: Life magazine, April 29, 1957.   We grew up in a sterile, cookie-cutter home, on a sterile, cookie-cutter street, in a sterile suburb of Chicago, where all the people were white and all the bathrooms … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, African Americans, Architecture, Fashion, Film, Futurism, Hollywood, Interior Design, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Call From the Past

Posted on June 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

Maybe it’s not enough for your cellphone to have a ringtone that’s an  old-school phone. Maybe you need an iPhone docking station that looks like an old phone. These are made by Freeland Studios in the regular (left, $195) and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Futurism, Interior Design, Retro | Tagged , , | 3 Comments