January 8, 2010: "The Future Won't Wait"

[Werner Weiss]

This week, Yesterland shines the spotlight on the Monsanto House of the Future.

In 1960, Monsanto Chemical Company issued an 8-page promotional booklet: "The Future Can't Wait." That booklet is now the newest additon to Yesterland.

Link to "The Future Won't Wait" (new)

The most visited attraction page at Yesterland in 2007, 2008, and 2009 was the one about the Monsanto House of the Future. I've updated the article. There are even three additional vintage photos.

Link to Monsanto House of the Future (updated)

Finally, although the Monsanto House of the Future has been gone for 42 years, it keeps popping up in one form or another. I've updated the article.

Link to Homage to the House of the Future (updated)

Please discuss these pages and the Monsanto House of the Future here.

[danyoung]

Thanks for the retro look, Werner. I always wanted to go into the House of the Future, but the lines were always too long for my dad to let us wait in.

[ttrocc7007]

Right up until Pixie Hollow was built, you could still find a couple of the original supports for the house covered by foilage. Since I don't actually visit the 'Hollow', I don't know if they're still there. I pointed them out to a Tour Guide on the 'A Walk In Walt's Footsteps Tour.' CMs didn't know any trace of the place still existed.
Love these updates Werner!
I think there may be a painting of its exterior on the mural of Innoventions, and inside the current Innoventions 'House Of The Product Placement.. er Future' there is a small coffee table built to resemble that original house.

[Werner Weiss]

I think there may be a painting of its exterior on the mural of Innoventions, and inside the current Innoventions 'House Of The Product Placement.. er Future' there is a small coffee table built to resemble that original house.

I'll have to look for it the next time I'm at Disneyland. I'm always on the lookout for homage to the House of the Future.

UPDATED: I looked at my photo library and found a photo with the House of the Future on the exterior Innoventions mural. I just added it to the "Homage to the House of the Future" article.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

[mark]

Awesome article- somewhere on my blog, I have concept art for this; just cant find it- and cant type today either...

Coffee will change this- I hope!

[MarkTwain]

Thanks for the article, Werner. Interesting to know that the original House of the Future had the same problems staying up-to-date as the original does.

[Athlonacon]

I kind of wonder how many of those chemicals and plastics are now known to cause cancer. It seems like *anything* causes cancer nowadays if you find the right study, but chemical companies in the 1950's just seemed to push innovation over safety back then. It's just funny how much they seemed to be pushing plastics back then. Nowadays we just take plastic for granted.

[Steve DeGaetano]

One word: Plastics.

(it had to be said).

[Leofoenget]

How far into the future was it supposed to be?

[Werner Weiss]

How far into the future was it supposed to be?

Good question...

When Tomorrowland opened in 1955, it has supposed to represent the future several decades later -- the year that Halley's Comet would return -- 1986.

The House of the Future opened in 1957. So let's add 2 years to 1986 to make it 1988.

My wife and I bought our current house in 1988. It's made of wood and it looks a lot more like Colonial Williamsburg than like Tomorrowland.

[JohnnyQuest]

One thing I've never heard described is how it all worked when you were inside. Did they have a cast member to walk groups through? Did they have a fake family like Innoventions? Did the moving parts demonstrate themselves continuously? Inquiring minds want to know...

[Werner Weiss]

One thing I've never heard described is how it all worked when you were inside. Did they have a cast member to walk groups through? Did they have a fake family like Innoventions? Did the moving parts demonstrate themselves continuously? Inquiring minds want to know...

It's been a long time since I went through the House of the Future, but, if I remember correctly, it was a continuous walk-through on a single path.

[Leofoenget]

HOW funny. I just looked at the house again, and off in the corner of the boy's room was a CA salt map. This must be a true vision of the future, my son did one of those in school last year!

[Werner Weiss]

HOW funny. I just looked at the house again, and off in the corner of the boy's room was a CA salt map. This must be a true vision of the future, my son did one of those in school last year!

That's funny!

I did one of those salt-and-flower relief maps of California when I was in elementary school — back when the House of the Future was still part of Disneyland.