Cold War Dreams

I've been browsing through a copy of the Official Guide to the New York World's Fair 1964/1965, and some of it is quite a hoot. For example, the book describes two futuristic dream houses on display at the fairgrounds. The "Formica World's Fair House" was "the first house to use Formica laminated plastic on exterior walls . . . . Formica products are used throughout--on furniture, cabinets and interior walls, with contemporary styling." According to the Guide, "the one-level house is for sale from listed builders across the country." I wonder if any real-life Barbie and Ken types actually bought themselves a plastic-laminated house. I suppose it would make cleaning up easier . . . . Then there is/was the "Underground World Home," described, with admirable understatement, as "something really different in housing." Fair-goers were offered a 20-minute tour of this house/bunker, during which they were told about all the advantages of living in a hole in the ground: "more control of air, climate and noise than conventional houses" as well as "protection from such hazards as fire and radiation fallout." The house "occupies most of the area inside a rectangular concrete shell," and its mole-like inhabitants could gaze from their windows at "scenic murals" on the shell's walls. It sounds like an absurd cold-war relic, but, on the other hand, it might be just the thing for these terrorized times. After 9/11, my wife (who worked in 7 World Trade Center) did want to move to a bunker for a while . . .