American Futurism in the Atomic Era: Popular Technological Visions and Marketed Conceptualizations of the Future during the Cold War

This thesis examines the significance of marketed visions of the future following the Second World War on the American public. Visions, predictions and forecasted depictions of the world of the future, collectively referred to as futurism, highlighted the ways in which "tomorrow" would improve the quality of life for the average American citizen through innovative transportation methods, sustainable urban environments, space exploration, and other technologies to ease the burdens of daily life. This thesis argues how these visions were used as a tool to promote consumerism, maintain nationalism, and by the late 1950s through the 1960s, stimulate interest in the space program. The later was a government sponsored goal that represented the metaphorical strength of the nation and capitalism as an ideology. On July 20, 1969, two American astronauts landed on the surface of the Moon. For the American population, this moment involved a lead up which predated the creation of NASA and President Kennedy’s announcement of getting American citizens to the Moon before the Soviets. Businesses, media corporations, government agencies, and artists utilized futurism to encourage Americans in their fiscal support, which would aid in these visions becoming a reality. Marketed futurism began in the 1920s and continued through the Second World War. However, the arrival of the Atomic Age, Red Scare tactics, and fears for the national economy during the Cold War, provided an atmosphere which made these visions a plausible reality for the average American. The overtly positive connotations of futurism are in reaction to the altered perceptions of science and technology following the world’s public introduction to nuclear technology. Therefore, the democratization of science in the mid-twentieth century, as well as changes to the public discourse regarding science and technology, provide an important aspect to the contextual equation which explains why futurism was pushed on the public and why Americans were so receptive to it throughout the space age. While this thesis can stand alone as a textual document it was originally composed on the digital platform, Scalar, and is best viewed there with the accompanying media and non-linear structure. Media components and links referenced in this thesis are included in the full site:  http://scalar.calstate.edu/american-futurism-in-the-atomic-era/index.