- 7/8/2025
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00:24The second Monsanto-sponsored attraction at Disneyland, the House of the Future,
00:28was a free walk-through exhibit located outside the entrance to Tomorrowland.
00:32The attraction stood on a 256-square-foot raised platform
00:36surrounded by contemporary gardens in a winding pool
00:39that collectively covered about a quarter of an acre.
00:42The pool wasn't just there for aesthetic.
00:44Its water was part of the building's cooling system.
00:47From above, the 1,280-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath house
00:51was shaped like a graceful plus sign.
00:53Its four compartmentalized modules were each 8 feet tall and 16 feet long
00:58and extended from a central core outwards over open air.
01:02The smooth, streamlined modules could be supplemented with additional modules
01:06to accommodate the expanding family.
01:08An optional rotating platform enabled inhabitants to spin their house to face any direction.
01:15During its decade-long existence,
01:17this House of the Future welcomed some 20 million guests,
01:20more than the entire population of California at the time.
01:22Instead of a fun Disney-designed attraction,
01:25guests found a serious mass-produced tract home
01:28designed by MIT and Monsanto engineers
01:31to show off technology advances for Monsanto's plastic division.
01:35One of the strengths of the house was, in fact, its strength.
01:38When it came time to dismantle the entire structure in 1967,
01:42engineers discovered that the four extended wings of the house
01:45had drooped less than a quarter inch, despite all the heavy traffic.
01:49The two-week demolition had to be done by hand with crowbars and saws
01:53because the wrecking ball swung at the house nearly bounced off its sides.
01:58The furniture was made of vinyl and urethane, curtains made of nylon.
02:02The most talked-about feature was the microwave oven.
02:04Nobody believed you could bake a potato in three minutes,
02:07said attendant Dick Mahoney.
02:09Welcome to Monsanto's Plastics Home of the Future.
02:14As you entered this experimental model home,
02:17perhaps you noticed that the house itself is constructed entirely of plastics.
02:22Despite the graceful, lightweight appearance of the suspended wings of this house,
02:26each one is able to support more than 13 tons.
02:30The floors on which you are walking, the gently sloping walls around you,
02:34and even the ceilings are made of plastics.
02:38Furnishings and equipment, as well as the house itself,
02:41are almost 100% man-made.
02:45Hardly unnatural material appears in anything like its original state anywhere in the building.
02:51The home of the future is the only one of its kind in the world.
02:54The project was conceived more than 10 years ago during a plastics research program
02:59financed by Monsanto at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
03:05In effect, you, the visitor, are part of this continuing research program.
03:11You are one of more than 20 million visitors who have walked through this home.
03:16Yet, scientists and engineers who make periodic tests
03:19find that the house remains structurally sound.
03:22Imagine any other house having more than 20 million guests
03:27and still being able to boast the showroom freshness and sparkle you see here.
03:33The architects who designed this house
03:35sought to develop a plan which would be logical
03:37from the standpoint of everyday family living.
03:40Yet, at the same time,
03:42they were determined to create a home
03:44free from the preconceived notions
03:47of a house made from conventional building materials.
03:50Constructed of a few large parts instead of many small ones,
03:54the design takes advantage of the almost unlimited flexibility
03:58of plastics in building.
04:01Incidentally,
04:02about 25% of all plastics produced in the United States today
04:06go into construction.
04:08And that figure increases each year.
04:12In addition to its dramatic departure from architectural tradition,
04:16see how the home gives you a completely different feeling of flow
04:20in its interior design.
04:22How one area blends effortlessly into another.
04:24The floor of distinctive new Cambrian vinyl corallon
04:29features a thick vinyl sub-layer
04:31cushioned for underfoot comfort and quiet.
04:34Soft, gently curving surfaces
04:37replace conventional square, sharply angled room lines.
04:41Bright new ideas also are incorporated
04:44in the design and the shape of the furniture.
04:48Handsome, functional design
04:49has been combined with traditional beauty and elegance.
04:52Throughout the house,
04:54there is a sense of uncluttered space
04:56without loss of warmth and charm.
04:59Gracious living and convenience
05:01are combined as never before.
05:05The versatility and the beauty of man-made fibers
05:07is demonstrated everywhere.
05:10Acrolan is used in the luxurious
05:12and highly practical rugs and carpeting
05:14and in the colorful and durable upholstery stretch fabrics.
05:19Note especially
05:19the deep fur-like pile of the curved sofa
05:23in the living room.
05:25Lovely, soft, sheer casement fabrics
05:27are in combinations of acetate, rayon, and nylon.
05:32Reliable and washable vinyl-improved materials
05:35are seen in other...
05:36In fabulous Disneyland Park
05:38at Anaheim, California
05:40where in Tomorrowland
05:42the future becomes the present
05:44Monsanto Chemical Company
05:46Plastics Division
05:47presents
05:48The Monsanto House of the Future
05:51Tomorrow always holds the promise
06:06of something new and exciting
06:07and this strangely graceful,
06:10bold, and creative building
06:12bears out that promise.
06:14But tomorrow is always built on today
06:16and that is where our story begins.
06:19A story of plastics
06:21the newest and most challenging category
06:24of building materials.
06:26Let's start here
06:27in one of today's mind-building developments.
06:30Inside new homes like these
06:32yes, and countless older homes
06:34a revolution has quietly been taking place
06:37over the past 10 or 15 years.
06:40So quietly, in fact
06:41that it has been all but overlooked.
06:44Plastic materials
06:45for more than 50 separate uses
06:47have moved in to stay.
06:50To name a few
06:51vinyl wire coatings
06:54styrene light diffusers
06:56vinyl floor coverings
06:58melamine countertops
07:00styrene tiling
07:02structural adhesives
07:05and outside in basic construction
07:08vapor barriers and insulation
07:10cold water pipes
07:12plastic-based paints
07:14and many, many more
07:15with new uses being found daily
07:17and new materials
07:18to meet the new demands.
07:21Yes, today this is the situation.
07:23More than 15%
07:24of the entire plastic industry's output
07:26goes into home uses
07:28functional and decorative.
07:29This is indeed
07:30a revolution.
07:32But since revolutions are
07:33by their very nature
07:34disorderly and disorganized
07:36Monsanto's plastics division
07:38here in Springfield, Massachusetts
07:39teamed up a few years ago
07:41with Massachusetts Institute of Technology
07:44to help give some form
07:46and direction
07:46to the spontaneous growth
07:48of plastics in modern buildings.
07:50The result came to be known
07:51as a plastics and housing
07:53research and development program.
07:55Its objective?
07:57To develop plastics
07:58as sound engineering materials
08:00and help the construction industry
08:02utilize new designs
08:04and materials
08:04to achieve production line
08:06methods and facilities.
08:07Actually, there were two possible ways
08:12of reaching the goal.
08:13A step-by-step approach
08:14or a dramatic all-out attack.
08:17The decision?
08:18To mount a dramatic attack.
08:20To research, design,
08:21and build a house
08:22to demonstrate
08:23how sound and imaginative use
08:25of plastics
08:26freed the builder
08:27and the home buyer
08:28from many restrictions
08:29imposed by more
08:30conventional materials
08:32and to obtain
08:33factual data
08:34of concern
08:35to both the building industry
08:36and the plastics industry.
08:38It was a bold decision,
08:40one requiring imagination
08:41and courage.
08:43And as the months passed,
08:45it became a massive,
08:46multi-company,
08:47cooperative project.
08:48One that would combine
08:49many materials,
08:50many technologies,
08:51many methods
08:52into a statement
08:53of what could be done
08:54with the first
08:55truly man-made materials,
08:57the materials called plastics.
08:58Then, an idea
09:09with three dimensions.
09:11The result of many months
09:13of planning,
09:13developing,
09:14testing,
09:15and construction.
09:16The Monsanto House
09:18of the future
09:18stands in Tomorrowland.
09:21An exciting,
09:22dramatic exterior.
09:24But,
09:24would people really
09:25be interested in it?
09:27Here's just a part
09:28of the answer.
09:30Five to ten thousand
09:31people a day
09:32who wanted to get
09:33an idea of what
09:34a home in the future
09:35might be.
09:35The Monsanto House
10:01Would I like it?
10:09What a dream.
10:10Imagine how wonderful it would be to live in a house like this.
10:14Just imagine.
10:16I'd be getting dinner in this kitchen.
10:22And what a kitchen.
10:24If you want more light, press a button.
10:26Any intensity of light through polarized plastic ceiling panels.
10:30Soft light, shadowless light.
10:35A dishwasher, of course.
10:36But this one, unlike any other.
10:39Washing is by ultrasonic waves.
10:42And the dishwasher is also the storage place for dishes.
10:46Plastic dishes, of course.
10:48Yes, living here could be fun.
10:50Even to setting the table.
10:57What's happening here?
10:58In an ordinary house, we'd be talking about the refrigerator and freezer.
11:04But in this house of the future, we call them cold zones.
11:08Three of them.
11:09Each lowered to handy position at the touch of a button.
11:13One zone for regular refrigeration.
11:15One for frozen.
11:16And one for irradiated food.
11:19Design and science combine for the utmost in convenience and food preservation.
11:23Storage shelves, too, are of plastic and are lowered electrically from the overhead cabinets.
11:43A place for everything and at your fingertips.
11:45Yes, this kitchen almost gets dinner itself, but that wouldn't really be fun.
11:58The fun is making the most of the ultimate in kitchen convenience and efficiency.
12:03A dream of the future brought to reality by Monsanto.
12:06How do we cook?
12:09The range is different, too.
12:11A microwave range that rises out of the counter.
12:14Various foods can be cooked here at the same time, and yet, everything done just right at amazing speed.
12:21While we're on the subject of the very unusual, here is a complete climate control operated by this panel in the kitchen.
12:32Heat, air conditioning, ventilation, and even the scent of roses or salty sea air can be directed individually to every room.
12:41Unusual, too, are the floors.
12:44A vinyl plastic with a plastic foam underlay that, clean in a jiffy, tough yet beautiful.
12:51Is everything a plastic?
12:53Almost.
12:54Dishes, cups, countertops, walls, floors, ceiling, tabletops, shelves, and cabinets.
13:01Plastics, in all their colorful, functional, and beautiful versatility, have transformed a work area, have stepped it years ahead.
13:10No need to guess whose room this is.
13:19That's right, for the young man of the house.
13:22Here's the answer to the continuous activity of the younger set.
13:26Tough, durable materials, easily washable.
13:29Floors, walls, shelving, and furniture.
13:32Plastic.
13:32In combination with plywood, fiberglass, and other materials.
13:38Even the fabrics on furniture are of man-made fibers.
13:46And for the young lady of the house, just look around.
13:49Here's a vanity which even seems fantastic for a dream of the future.
14:12A laboratory at one end, melamine surface, and a telephone system which challenges the imagination.
14:20Push buttons instead of dial, and no handset to disturb my lady's dressing.
14:25Just talk and listen.
14:26For the relaxation, a living room that is part of the character of everything we have seen.
14:42A feeling of space, of smooth, restful areas for living and resting.
14:47With your favorite stereophonic recordings on built-in high-fidelity equipment.
14:56The bathroom for the youngsters is also futuristic.
15:14A laboratory that adjusts to height.
15:16No stretching or bending.
15:17For the grown-ups, another bathroom, completely molded in two pieces.
15:32With features that seem pure fantasy.
15:35Built-in electric razor and electric toothbrush.
15:40And here is something we'd all like to have.
15:43The same push-button phone we saw on the dressing table,
15:46but with the added attraction of a closed-circuit television receiver.
15:51The picture on the screen?
15:53Oh, that's of whoever is standing at your front door.
15:56You see him, but he doesn't see you.
15:59And you can give him any message you want over the two-way communication system.
16:04Adjustable, shadowless ceiling lighting, of course.
16:07With panel-less and panels for nightlight.
16:10The bathroom of the future in the house of the future.
16:13The versatility of plastics comes sharply to the front in the master bedroom.
16:20Fabrics and furniture of materials unheard of a short time ago.
16:24Practical, but comfortable.
16:25In 1957, Monsanto built the house of the future, made entirely of plastic.
16:36That means everything in the home, from the lighting to the dishes.
16:40And there were push-buttons that operated just about everything.
16:46The idea never caught on, and the home was demolished ten years later.
16:51It took the wrecking ball six days to bring the house to the ground,
16:56because of the tenacious nature of the materials.
16:58What?
17:09The dad had put the animals away.
17:11The dad had put the shoes on to the left.
17:16The afar room, who won't know if that was for the perords.
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