4.3 | The Threat of the Future

Authors such as Harrison Brown who wrote his book The Challenge of Man's Future: An Inquiry Concerning the Condition of Man During the Years that Lie Ahead in 1954 warned the public of the threat of a fuel shortage. There had been a short-lived threat in 1943 during WWI, building material restrictions had been imposed multiple times, and the U.S. was entering into the Cold War. There was an anxiety among Americans of the threat of developing countries catching up to the U.S. with regard to industrialization and 1949 was the first year that the U.S. was importing more petrolium products than were exported. Furthermore, Brown and others predicted fuel shortages to come in 20-30 years, accurately foreseeing what was to come. Books such as these were highlighted in the first Climate Control issue of House Beautiful wherein this image was featured.


Image from October 1949 issue of House Beautiful magazine.