June 12 - Monsanto House of the Future

Image copyright Disney

On this day, in 1957, the Monsanto House of the Future officially opened its doors to guests in Tomorrowland of Disneyland. The Monsanto Company (yes, THAT Monsanto) once upon a time had a plastics division and, like the well-meaning gentleman in The Graduate, thought plastics were not only pretty neat-o but represented the future. They just needed a way to show that concept off. When Disneyland opened and not only proved to be popular but was owned by a future focused guy (who was always looking for sponsorship cash), they knew they’d found their venue. Teaming up with architects and engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monsanto set about proving the versatility and durability of plastic to the fine folks of the late 1950s.

Image courtesy synergyenvironments.com

The team designed a house that had four identical wings coming off a hub, making it look a bit like a weird pinwheel from above. The entire house was raised up several feet on a central base beneath the hub and was constructed of some concrete, a little steel for support and a whole lot of glass reinforced plastic. Not only was the outside of the house supposed to represent the future of construction, but the inside was designed to be prophetic as well. The designers decided that this is what America would be used to right around 1987. Like most visions of the future, while some of it looks fairly ridiculous from our vantage point, they actually did get quite a few things right.

One of the big things the House of Future correctly predicted was microwave ovens. Even though they’d technically been around for over a decade at that point, and you could buy a home version for around $2,500 (the equivalent of $22,750 today), microwaves were still a novelty item in 1957. Now, you'd be hard pressed to find a home in America that doesn't have one and you can get one for under $50 (around $6 in 1957 terms). Other things they guessed right on include security systems, whole house intercom systems and fancy thermostats. The walk through attraction also got dishes and utensils made out of plastic right, sort of. Plastic forks are certainly a whole lot more, well let's just say it, ubiquitous today, but they aren't durable, everyday pieces of silverware that get washed in our sonic dishwashers and used over and over again. The things that might have been, am I right?

Image courtesy laughingplace.com

The Monsanto House of the Future was a huge hit with Disneyland guests. Nearly half a million traipsed through it in the first six weeks alone and over 20 million people experienced it during the 10 years it was open. But all futuristic endeavors can only stay around for so long before reality either makes them look dated or silly. In December 1967, the House of the Future became a thing of the past. But not before proving Monsanto's point about the durability of plastic, particularly in the house's exterior shell.  When a wrecking ball was brought in to knock the house down, it just kept bouncing off, doing almost no damage at all. Saws and drills and sledgehammers were tried next, to no avail.  Apparently, the large bolts holding the thing together broke, but the shell remained intact. Finally, each wing was looped with chains and squeezed down into smaller chunks of plastic that could be hauled away. And that was after sitting in the Southern California sun for a decade. Rumor has it that you can still see a remnant of the House, if you know where to look. Some day, when you find yourself in the Pixie Hollow area of the park, you might notice a large concrete planter painted green that looks like it could hold up the hub of a giant surreal looking pinwheel. You can then turn to your companions and say "Did you ever hear of the time Monsanto thought we'd all be living in plastic houses by now?"