Innovari: Innovations With Steel

During U.S. Steel's 1966 automotive presentation of "Innovations in Steel" to officials of the motor car industry, the Jack Brokensha Quartet and the Lenore Paxton Trio provided a distinctive jazz background for the occasion.  Their particular jazz style is high-lighted in the theme selection, "Steel Blue" which was created especially for the show as a musical tribute to U.S. Steel's concept-in-steel, Sports Station Wagon, Innovari.

We like the originality of "Steel Blue" so much that we invited the two groups to a recording session so that this album could be made for you.  We hope you enjoy it.

UNITED STATES STEEL
Recorded January 11, 1967
Detroit, Michigan

U.S. Steel really put a lot into their 1966 and 1968 Innovari & Innovan campaigns. The autos never saw production but the company sure did make a good case for their concepts.

Innovari I::

'Innovari is an experimental sports station wagon. It was innovated by U.S. Steel to show steel's unlimited design potential for automotive uses.'

'Style, stamina, and a preview of things to come.'

Innovari II::

In 1968 U.S. Steel brought back their favorite Innovari music makers, The Jack Brokensha Quartet and the The Lenore Paxton Trio with the album, Holiday Innovations. The album has fifteen holiday tunes including an original piece by Lenore Paxton and Loretta Balowski written exclusively for US Steel - Trimming The Tree At Christmas.

The foldout album cover design featured the Innovan II - this time using a taxicab concept to demonstrate the versatility and cost savings of designs in steel...'Because a taxicab has to behave like a car, and wear like a truck.'

An unusual limousine-type look: alligator-grain embossed steel sheets for the textured roof and wide easy open doors on a single stamped steel hinge.

'The 'interior styling creates a completely functional "people" package designed to provide the utmost in rider convenience, comfort and safety.'

As always, Syd Mead's  prototype illustration makes the Innovari a symbol of elegance and success. (From Mead's book, Steel Couture - Syd Mead - Futurist Sentinel.) Originally created for the U.S. Steel book, Innovations (1968).

(Images via Luis Casar on Facebook)

Read All About It: 'The Man From Planet X'

EXTRA! EXTRA! INVASION FROM SPACE - The Man from Planet X, 1951 (USA) promotional news sheet. (image via wrong side of the art)

Right click & choose view image for larger view.

If you have time for a movie, you can view The Man From Planet X below.


The Man from Planet X by MargaliMorwentari

Earth, Seas, Skies, and Space - Arthur Radebaugh Had Grand Ideas

Shims and Oil Seals - It's what National Motor Bearing Co. in Redwood City, CA. produced. NMB manufactured their products for transportation - trains, planes, automobiles, ships, subs - basically, anything that moved. It was a key player in the defense industry during WWII. NMB was a proud company and very forward looking. During the 1950s, the NMB plant in Redwood City was considered one of the most high tech operations around. There was one man who has been credited as the main inspiration for this futuristic image - creative genius and master artist Arthur Radebaugh. Radebaugh worked in the Marketing and Advertising department between 1951 and 1955. Below are some of the details from various adverts created by him. The man wasn't just a commercial artist - he was a futurist with a limitless imagination.

Transportation:

Infrastructure and Agriculture:

Collecting important natural materials - on this planet:

...and elsewhere:

Research - on this planet:

...and elsewhere:

And here's one last concept that is already in use in our time:

Arthur Radebaugh had a whole lot going on in his head. To read more about this brilliant man, and see more of his other works, click here.

(h/t to Atomic Samba for the images)

and everything else too: Iron-On Movie Monsters

Cool or what? A Creature iron-on from 1965. Check out Karswell's post at and everything else too to see all six classic movie monster iron-ons offered in an advert from Victor Specialties back in 1966. Wolf Man's a star.  Click here.

The ELECOM 110 - The $62,500 General Purpose Digital Computer

The ELECOM 110 - A General Purpose Digital Computer

Scientific American September 1952

Not too shabby for $62K in 1952, this thing operates at .12Mhz has roughly 2K of memory and each tape holds around 360K.
Plus for all you case modders, it already comes with 200 glowing tubes. Try to beat that with your little LEDs. - Modern Mechanix.

(Image via Modern Mechanix, h/t Nemojp Dante)