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Synopsis
A look at the ways in which Americans over the last one hundred years have visualized the technology of the future
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From the Back Cover
Enormous skyscrapers will house residents and workers who happily go "for weeks" without setting foot on the ground. Streamlined, "hurricane-proof" houses will pivot on their foundations like weather vanes. The family car will turn into an airplane so easily that "a woman can do it in five minutes". Our wars will be fought by robots. And our living room furniture - waterproof, of course - will clean up with a squirt from the garden hose. In Yesterday's Tomorrows Joseph J. Corn and Brian Horrigan explore the future as Americans earlier in this century expected it to happen. Filled with vivid color images and lively text, the book is an eloquent testimony to the confidence - and, at times, the naive faith - Americans have had in science and technology. The future that emerges here, the authors conclude, is one in which technology changes, but society and politics usually do not. The authors draw on a wide variety of sources - popular-science magazines, science fiction, world fair exhibits, films, advertisements, and plans for things only dreamed of. From Jules Verne to the Jetsons, from a 500-passenger flying wing to an anti-aircraft flying buzz-saw, the vision of the future as seen through the eyes of the past demonstrates the play of the American imagination on the canvas of the future.
About the Author
Joseph J. Corn is senior lecturer in the department of history at Stanford University. He is the author of The Winged Gospel: America's Romance with Aviation, 1900-1950. Brian Horrigan is a curator with the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.Originally published in 1984 to accompany an exhibition by the same name organized and circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
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- PublisherSimon & Schuster
- Publication date1984
- ISBN 10 0671541331
- ISBN 13 9780671541330
- BindingPaperback
- LanguageEnglish
- Number of pages158
- Rating
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
Published by
Simon & Schuster, New York, 1984
ISBN 10: 0671541331
ISBN 13: 9780671541330
Used
Soft cover
Seller: Good Tomes, Taylors, SC, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. The soft covers are well worn. A back corner has been removed or torn off. The rest of the book is in pretty good condition. Note: This is a pretty interesting take on what people thought the future would look like. Seller Inventory # 000211
Quantity: 1 available
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.2. Seller Inventory # G0671541331I3N00
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
Seller: Goodwill of Silicon Valley, SAN JOSE, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: acceptable. Supports Goodwill of Silicon Valley job training programs. The cover and pages are in Acceptable condition! Any other included accessories are also in Acceptable condition showing use. Use can include some highlighting and writing, page and cover creases as well as other types visible wear such as cover tears discoloration, staining, marks, scuffs, etc. All pages intact. Seller Inventory # GWSVV.0671541331.A
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
Published by
Summit Books, N Y, 1984
ISBN 10: 0671541331
ISBN 13: 9780671541330
Used
Trade Paperback
Seller: Pistil Books Online, IOBA, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This softcover book has been bound into card covers with a linen spine by an institutional library. Minimal library marks; interior pages clean and unmarked, tight binding. 158 pages. Many illustrations. "From toy ray guns to individual flying platforms for infantrymen, from Hollywood miniatures used as props for science fiction movies to Buckminster Fuller's 1928 Dymaxion House, Yesterday's Tomorrows' is a dazzling, amusing, and fascinating look at the ways Americans in the last one hundred years have imagined the technology and lifestyle of their future. The authors, guest curators for the current major Smithsonian exhibition, 'Yesterday's Tomorrows,' present a vivid array of architectural models, industrial prototypes, toys and games, original drawings, and illustrations to examine and interpret in text and pictures the American proclivity for speculation on the future and faith in material progress" [back cover]. Seller Inventory # 156328
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
Seller: Sheila B. Amdur, Coventry, CT, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Good. Small piece removed from bottom of spine, with top edge of spine pulling. xvii, 158 pp with extensive color and black and white illustrations. Slight spotting first and last pages, ink name top of half title page. Dramatic color pictorial covers. Exhibition at the Smithsonian about how the future was visualized by authors and others. Seller Inventory # 023319
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
Published by
Simon & Schuster, 1984
ISBN 10: 0671541331
ISBN 13: 9780671541330
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Seller: Engel Books, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. 1st Edition. 1st printing of Summit Books edition from 1984 of the Smithsonian exhibition catalog. Lovely Softcover w/very minor shelfwear, Inside pages are clean with no writing or marks. Not Ex-Library, Photos gladly provided. Seller Inventory # 001602
Quantity: 1 available
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
Published by
Summit Books, 1984
ISBN 10: 0671541331
ISBN 13: 9780671541330
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Seller: Remarks Used Books, Pittsfield, MA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 1st printing of Summit Books edition from 1984 of the Smithsonian exhibition catalog. "From toy ray guns to individual flying platforms for infantrymen, from Hollywood miniatures used as props for science fiction movies to Buckminster Fuller's 1928 Dymaxion House, YESTERDAY'S TOMORROWS is a dazzling, amusing, and fascinating look at the ways Americans in the last one hundred years have imagined the technology and lifestyle of their future. The authors, guest curators for the current major Smithsonian exhibition, 'Yesterday's Tomorrows,' present a vivid array of architectural models, industrial prototypes, toys and games, original drawings, and illustrations to examine and interpret in text and pictures the American proclivity for speculation on the future and faith in material progress. With special emphasis on visions that have not yet come to pass---at least, not as predicted---this 'history of the future' shows the sometimes whimsical, often brilliant conceptions of homes, cities, transportation, communication devices, and weapons that have shaped the American imagination of the future." [publisher copy] Former remainder is a bright, clean & tight copy, unread in Very Good condition, w/small black unobtrusive remainder mark on book's tail near spine, w/very minor shelfwear for a 36-year-old paperback, o/w pristine & intact; no creases in spine, no age toning on pages, quite presentable & collectible. Seller Inventory # RUB862
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Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future by Joseph S. Corn Brian Horrigan
Published by
Summit Books, New York, 1984
ISBN 10: 0671541331
ISBN 13: 9780671541330
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Heartwood Books and Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Katherine Chambers(Editor) (illustrator). First Edition. Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future by Joseph S. Corn Brian Horrigan A firm clean copy. Minor rubbing to corners. Bright dust jacket. Minor edgewear to top of front panel. Not price clipped. First Edition with full number line 1-10. BOOK. Seller Inventory # HCX18489-1
Quantity: 1 available