Prophets of Zoom

by Alfredo Marcantonio

In the mid-1930s Stephen Mitchell & Son, a cigarette manufacturer based in Scotland, joined the craze for producing cigarette cards. It created The World of Tomorrow , an imaginative series of cards that set out to forecast the future. Each of the 50 cards uses a specially commissioned illustration or a still from a contemporary science fiction film to make a significant prediction about the way people will be living in years to come: the transport they will be using; the houses they will be building; the offices in which they will be working; and the modes of communication and sources of energy they will be employing. What is astounding, some 70 years on, is the extent to which these amusing predictions have come true. This novel gift book reproduces all 50 cards and compares them, on the opposite page, to a photograph of today s equivalent technology, proving just how amazingly accurate the original predictions were.

Brings together 50 fascinating predictions of the future made in the mid-1930s, from space travel to the advent of e-mail. A highly original gift book for readers of all ages. Engagingly written by a leading creative director, whose work in the field of advertising has won him numerous awards.

Genres: Technology

112 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly fun book taking a look at collectible cards which predicted the future back in the 1930s and comparing them to how things really turned out in the 2000s. Some ideas definitely translated to future realities quite well, others not so much. [So far from all that I've read, the world is zero for a million in predicting email.] What was extra underwhelming was how the photographs of the modern times were printed in such a way that they looked like they came from 20 years ago, 20 years ago (almost all the images had an aged 1970s or 1980s feel about them). Amazing job making stuff look older before it's time!

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neat idea, but not exactly mindblowing.