050271 - 050671 | Central Power & Light Company Ad.
Update 100718
This ad also appeared in the 050271 and 050571 issues of the
Victoria Advocate.
Original Information 012018
In 1971 The Central Power & Light Company (which we believe is now
CPL Retail Energy, a subsidiary of
Direct Energy) ran an ad that used a photo of a Futuro as what appears to be an appropriate image to back up the ad's tag line "How To Look Ahead Of Your Time".
Other than the attribution "Futuro II Vacation House, Courtesy Futuro Corporation, Philadelphia, PA." there is no actual mention of the Futuro in the ad. It was carried in several publications; the examples below are from the 050271 issue of the
The Corpus Christi Caller Times and the 050671 issue of the
Eagle Lake Headlight respectively.
102870 - 122770 | Futuro Offered As Contest Prize
In late 1970 the Arrow Company (now part of
PVH) offered a Futuro as the Grand Prize in a contest for college students. The contest involved writing a caption for an early 1900's "
Arrow Collar Man" poster.
The student who wrote the best caption would receive a Futuro along with $5000 for site and installation costs.
We have never come across any documentation which indicates that the prize was ever actually awarded.
Multiple publications included reports on this contest. In each case the text was generally short and carried the same information. The articles included either a photo of the Futuro displayed at the
Philadelphia International Airport in 1969 or a photo of a Futuro being transported by helicopter.
Among these articles were the following (left to right, top to bottom):
- The Longview Daily News | 102870 Issue
- The Longview Daily News | 110970 Issue
- The Record Argus | 110970 Issue
- The Lowell Sun | 110970 Issue
- The Tipton Daily Tribune | 111670 Issue
- The Decatur Herald | 112770 Issue
- New Castle News | 112870 Issue
- The Argus | 122770 Issue
081269 | Opening Of Futuro Exhibit In Philadelphia
The Futuro Corporation Of Philadelphia had a Futuro House on display at 20th & The Parkway in Philadelphia between August 1969 and April 1970. The Futuro exhibit was opened 081169 by the cities mayor.
Short reports (text no photos) on this event were published in the 081269 issues of the
Standard Speaker (
Hazleton, PA) and the
Warren Times Mirror & Observer (
Warren, PA). While the article was the same The Standard Speaker used the title "Unveils Space-Age House at Phila." whereas the Warren Times ran the headline "Philadelphia's Mayor Tate Cuts Ribbon To Open Space Age House".
The mayor is reported to have suggested that the Futuro might be the answer to Philadelphia's housing needs and is quoted as follows:
"
One of the most important crisis the city is facing is decent housing. Although this thing looks like a play toy, something like it could be the answer to the housing problems of the future."
As with all of the enthusiastic expectations and predictions for the Futuro Mayor Tate's thoughts never came to pass.
More on Futuros in the Philadelphia area in 1969 and the early 1970's can be found
here.
051469 - 061069 | Article By Dorothea M. Brooks Of UPI
A UPI syndicated article by Dorothea M. Brooks on the Futuro House appeared in multiple publications for a period of several weeks starting in mid May 1971. The article was general in nature and provided information about the Futuro as well as about the Futuro Corporation of Philadelphia and its president Leonard Fruchter who owned the US manufacturing and distribution rights for Futuro.
In most cases the article was not accompanied by a photo; where it was the photo was typically of
Futuro #001 located at the time in
Hirvensalmi, Finland.
As a syndicated article the content was of course the same from publication to publication; not so the title under which it ran. Among the many titles used are the following:
- A Flying Saucer Sighted? No; A Vacation Home Being Sited
- Fiber-Glass Vacation House Looks Like Flying Saucer
- Flying Saucer-Like, Plastic Vacation Homes Available
- Flying Saucers? No - Vacation Housing
- Futuro Resembles Flying Saucer
- Look! Up In The Sky! A New House!
- Modernistic House Resembles Saucer
- New-Type Home Has Flying Saucer Look
- No Flying Saucer; Just Vacation House
- Space-Age Summer Home Delivered By Helicopter
- Spaceships Set Style For Vacation Retreats
Some examples of the article can be found in the following publications:
- Arizona Republic | 060169 Issue
- Eau Claire Leader | 051569 Issue
- Fort Lauderdale News | 051769 Issue
- Hartford Courant | 051869 Issue
- Simpson's Leader Times | 051469 Issue
- The Daily Herald | 061069 Issue
- The Daily Telegram | 051469 Issue
- The Vidette Messenger | 051669 Issue
The article also appeared in some publications attributed to UPI only rather than to Dorothea M. Brooks; examples of this can be found in the following:
- Bennington Banner | 060769 Issue
- Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph | 051869 Issue
- Elk Grove Herald | 061069 Issue
- Linton Daily Citizen | 051569 Issue
- The Kingston Daily Freeman | 051669 Issue
- The Times Recorder | 051869 Issue
033170-042370 | AP Wire Photo Of Futuro In Arcadia, Florida
On 033070 the AP Wire Photo shown below was distributed. The
copy in our collection comes from the archives of the
Baltimore Sun.
The text attached to the wire photo reads:
"
(TP7) ARCADIA, Fla., March 30--LOOK FOR THE LITTLE GREEN MEN--You might find some and then maybe you won't but this "flying saucer" has prompted all sorts of conjecture. It "landed" recently at the Nocatee-Owens Bridge site on the Peace River near Arcadia and is a pilot model of a fiberglass house built by a New Jersey construction company. It is 26-feet in diameter. (AP Wirephoto)(rk21930) 1970"
This Futuro is the one seen in the Futuro article "
Portable Playhouse" published in the September 1970 issue of Playboy magazine and more information can be found on the "
Concept, Design & Manufacturing" page.
While we have not to date been able to find this photo as it appeared in the Baltimore Sun it was, as might be expected for something from the AP, published in a large number of newspapers around the country. A selection of these can be found below; almost all are from 033170 though a few are later. Top to bottom, left to right they are:
- Alton Evening Telegraph | 033170
- Arizona Daily Star | 033170
- Battle Creek Enquirer | 042370
- Fitchburg Sentinel | 040270
- Fort Lauderdale News | 033170
- Idaho State Journal | 033170
- Muncie Evening Press | 033170
- News Press | 040170
- Orlando Evening Star | 033170
- Pensacola News Journal | 040170
- Quad City Times | 033170
- Star Gazette | 033170
- Statesville Record And Landmark | 040170
- Tallahassee Democrat | 033170
- Tampa Bay Times | 033170
- Tampa Bay Times | 040170
- The Billings Gazette | 033170
- The Central New Jersey Home News | 033170
- The Courier News | 033170
- The Greenville News | 033170
- The Indianapolis News | 033170
- The Journal Times | 033170
- The Kokomo Tribune | 040270
- The Lincoln Star | 033170
- The Miami News | 033170
- The Montana Standard | 040270
- The Montgomery Advertiser | 040570
- The Newark Advocate | 040170
- The News Messenger | 040270
- The Santa Fe New Mexican | 033170
- The Times Herald | 040170
- Wausau Daily Herald | 033170