The Atomic Age

Have you ever had that “ah-ha” moment of realizing that two things that you thought were completely separate were actually related?  I love learning about new things, because it seems to fill in missing puzzle pieces for me and complete the story.   

Case in point, whenever I think about the term "atomic decorating", images of clean lined furniture, lots of pink and turquoise, and starburst clocks pop into mind.  I just thought it had to do with a certain type of decor in the 1950s, like colonial revival.  In the book I'm reading, though, it talks about this time period being known as "the atomic age".  Atomic energy, or nuclear power, had been created, and people thought it would be a legitimate and cheap fuel type in the future.  In fact, people thought that it would be too cheap to even charge for.  So the decorating at this time took its cue from science and brought in different elements like starbursts and other futuristic designs that would get people ready for this “space age”.  People thought that in a few years it would be like "The Jetsons".  A robot maid would sure be nice.  

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What I found even more interesting was that Ford had made a prototype of a new type of car in the 1950s called the “Nucleon”.  They were going to take out the normal combustible engine that ran on gas and replace it with a pint-size atomic reactor in the trunk.  People thought that it would save tons of money in gas and be better for the environment.  A prototype was never actually built, though, because people soon realized the terrible effects that even a small fender bender would have, not to mention the radiation exposure to drivers. 

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It really made wonder what someone from the 1950s would think of our world today.  We may not have flying cars yet, but we are able to talk to someone halfway across the world and see our loved ones hundreds of miles away while we talk via Skype or Facetime.  I wonder what our world will look like in 50 years and what cool new gadgets we'll have.  Jet packs would be cool.  Sky's the limit!