Describing the 21st Century to someone in 1950s Phoenix


Since I enjoy time-traveling, today I'm wondering what questions that someone in 1950s would ask of me if I suddenly appeared there from the 21st Century.

As I write this, it's almost the year 2020, which has got to sound pretty futuristic to someone in the 1950s. I suppose that they would have a lot of questions for me, beginning with why I'm not wearing a silver jumpsuit.

Silver jumpsuits in "The Forbidden Planet" (1956)

It seems as if every movie that I've ever seen from the 1950s, and the comic books, that shows the future shows everyone dressed in jumpsuits, usually all silver. I can't help but think that my wearing Levis blue jeans would come as a bit of a disappointment to someone in the 1950s. I guess I could show them that the rivets were taken off of the back pockets, but that's not much of a change. There is some sort of stretchy material in them to make them more comfortable, but it probably wouldn't get a gasp of amazement from them.

I suppose that they would imagine that traffic problems would be long-gone, either with flying cars or jet-packs. I could mention that more freeways are being built, and maybe that would be impressive. Maybe not. If they asked me about dogs I guess I'd have to tell them that there are special parks where they can run around off-leash, but otherwise people have to walk behind them with a plastic bag in their pocket. Say, I could mention that the buildings are taller! And the doors of grocery stores do open automatically for you!

I'm sure that my dental work would impress them, if they're interested in that. I got a couple of crowns last year, and they look like natural teeth, not the fillings that I had before. Well, that's not exactly flying cars and jet packs, but it's something.

I guess I could talk about the internet, or the popularity of cat videos on YouTube. How about Google Street View?


Image at the top of this post: Cheese n Stuff in the 1950s, 5042 N. Central, Phoenix, Arizona.
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