The Consumer Electronics show is always a great glimpse into the future for tech geeks and this year’s show is no exception.

But for a glimpse back into the future of the past, I turn to this WWII ad from General Electric, a leader in radio, television and the new field of electronic research.

 Your Future in Electronics

 Appealing to the lady of the house, this 1942 ad held out a high tech future for the post-war housewife.

Imagine! General Electric hinted, some day GE Electronic tubes may actually answer  m’ ladys front door!

 Breathlessly the ad paints a picture of a typical harried housewife whose days are filled answering an endless stream of visitors who appear at her front door.

“There’s another peddler!” the copy begins.”There’s the milkman!…Laundry ready lady?…B-R-E-A-D M-A-N!…some day it may be possible for you to turn a switch, and see and talk to the front door from any part of the house!

 “This television “busybody” does not exist today,” the disappointed reader is informed, “and if it did, would cost too much to be practical. “

 That breathtakingly world of electronic wonders may someday come true thanks to the new science of Electronics., they assured the anxious reader, promising that  one day soon, electronic tubes will  clean air of dust; electronic lamps will kill germs and keep vegetables and fruits fresh for months.

In fact, thanks to research and development it was entirely possible right now to build such a device with electronic tubes.

But this was wartime

For now these startling new electronic devices were helping to defeat the enemy.

These were closely guarded war secrets, GE confided in the reader, but assured us that  scientists were already seeing many possibilities for new products that will make our lives safer and happier when peace comes.

“And American industry is famous for finding new ways to make the things you want at a reasonable price.”

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

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