this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
39 points (97.6% liked)

Raygun Gothic

98 readers
5 users here now

Raygun Gothic refers to any creative work from 1900 through about 1959, predicting the future before it became possible. Think rockets and rayguns, flying cars and futuristic cities - especially if the vision never quite panned out in reality. We find this aesthetic in product design, book covers, films, radio & TV. "A tomorrow that never was". The same style as in the Fallout games, The Jetsons and so on but focused on the time period through the 50s.

See also: Raygun Gothic at TVTropes

Post and discuss anything with these aesthetics.


Community Rules

Also worth checking out:

founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS
 

Forget where I found this...

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] klu9@piefed.social 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Did a reverse image search for it.

Getty has it but just says "photo by Getty".

A blog also has it and says "photo courtesy of RAND Corporation".

A search for "RAND corporation self-driving car" led to this report with the image on the cover. Opening the PDF led to this:

Cover image: Advertisement from 1957 for “America’s Independent Electric Light and Power Companies” (art by H. Miller). Text with original: “ELECTRICITY MAY BE THE DRIVER. One day your car may speed along an electric super-highway, its speed and steering automatically controlled by electronic devices embedded in the road. Highways will be made safe—by electricity! No traffic jams…no collisions…no driver fatigue.”

[–] perishthethought@piefed.social 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] klu9@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

You're welccome