Window to the Future: The Golden Age of Television Marketing and Advertising

'Window to the Future' is a humorous, eerily prescient look at the ads and graphics that helped sell TV to the public from the early days of electronics up to the 1970s. Brimming with vintage advertisements featuring retro graphics and wholesomely outdated scenarios, Window to the Future also features such mid-century celebrities as George Burns, Walt Disney, and Ronald Reagan the actor endorsing the latest Westinghouses and Zeniths (best tag line from an ad: "Imagine Bob Hope - on Television!"). Glamorous images of dapper men and elegant women hosting cocktail hour in front of their new black and white console contrast with holiday advertisements of happy families on Christmas morning unveiling the newest member of the household: a state-of-the-art colour television. The 150+ print advertisements, magazine covers, and catalogue images show the evolution of how we think about television: first as a (promised, but not yet extant) scientific wonder, then as technological marvel, status symbol, mother's little helper, social catalyst, and all-consuming pastime. This trip down a pixilated memory lane points to the days of television's youthful innocence.