Futuristic presents from the past: West Palm Beach, Florida's fantastic mid-century transportation exhibit

In the 1950s, American car makers were on top of the world and autos couldn't be too heavy, aggressive-looking or laden with chrome. A vehicle was a status symbol and the more it looked like a rocket ship headed for Mars, the more we Americans liked it. Car makers would create fantastic concept vehicles with big fins, bubble tops and huge, jet-like dual exhaust pipes to test the waters of potential car buyers. If a dramatic chrome bumper treatment was a big hit, maybe next year's Buick Roadmaster would feature it. Armies of incredibly talented engineers, designers and artists put these one-of-a-kind vehicles on the auto show floor under strict top secret conditions. So top secret, in fact, that most of the brilliant drawings and models were destroyed, lest the competition catch wind of their precious ideas. Luckily for car buffs, transportation historians and mid-century hipster fans, a Mr. Frederic Sharf began preserving these items years ago and amassed an amazing collection of thousands of drawings and artifacts. West Palm Beach, Florida's Norton Museum of Art is currently exhibiting a fraction of of these pieces called "Going Places" and it features not just cars, but also planes, trains and even a hybrid car/helicopter or two, all with a tomorrow is here today theme.

The craftsmanship and technical virtuosity of the artwork is astounding...no Photoshop shortcuts for these guys. The illustrations are all hand-painted and drawn in a heightened state of super-idealized reality. The future seemed so bright in these pieces, with their unrealistically perfect people and dreamy sophisticated backgrounds. If this is what life could be like in the 1950s, then surely we'd all be wearing jet-packs and driving car-planes by 1965, wouldn't we? A portion of the exhibit also features original advertising illustrations of regular, less showy cars for sale at your local Chevy, Oldsmobile or Ford dealer and again, for something as seemingly mundane as a magazine advertisement, the technique of these artworks is extraordinary. The chrome gleams, the reflections on the finish and tail lights shine and the backgrounds are packed with idealized suburban scenes or sophisticated city folks on the town. I want to be there, I think to myself when I see these.

The show will be up until January 2016, so check it out if you're going to be in South Florida. Don't let the future pass you by.

Oh, and since it's the Norton Museum of Art, I simply couldn't resist adding this.

This spud's for you: The Idaho Potato Expo of Blackfoot, Idaho

We're honored to have Idaho Potato Expo's giant concrete potato as our masthead. Here's what we had to say about it in an earlier post from our trip there in 2006:

This roadside attraction is everything we'd ever hoped for -- one of those small town, earnest, lovable places that's a tribute to something ordinary that makes America great. A sweet, friendly lady greets us at the front desk/gift shop and is impressed we're all the way from Rhode Island. Inside is the story of Idaho potatoes, told in a low-tech way with lots of folk-arty paintings and exhibits. The gift shop is a vast array of great, goofy souvenirs... who wouldn't want a memento from such a fabulous place? And, true to their slogan ("We give taters to Out-Of-Staters") we receive a box of yummy hash browns to take home with us! You can't beat that.

Las Vegas's The Atomic Testing Museum: I've looked at clouds from both sides now

An atomic bomb exploding near Vegas casinos

Miss Atomic Bomb, 1957

One of the better eccentric roadside attractions we recently visited in Las Vegas was the Atomic Testing Museum. You don't think of Vegas as being much of a museum town, especially science museums, and yet this is one of the best science museums I've ever been to. It's run by the Smithsonian, so already you know this ain't no carnival on the edge of town. The reason the museum is in Vegas is because Vegas figured prominently in the testing of atom bombs from the late '40s on. So little was known of the bombs' effects that they used to fire them off within sight of the old downtown casinos and their oblivious gambling denizens (see the photo above). They also had bleachers for VIPs to get a good goggled-protected look at the mushroom blasts while seated in comfort. Irony and naivete abounds. There are cartoon reels depicting a glorious nuclear-based future. After all, splitting the atom was going to mean we would never have wars, sickness or fuel shortages again. There's a great collection of atom-based pop culture items (comic books, breakfast cereal) and also a wall full of many different models of Geiger counters. I love those things when they're clacking away. Who knew there were so many varieties and styles? They smartly play up Miss Atomic Bomb of 1957, an actually beauty pageant winner, complete with a mushroom cloud bathing suit and giddy what-me-worry expression. There couldn't possibly be a better place to be than America in the '50s. Check out the museum's website and don't miss it when you're in Vegas: http://www.atomictestingmuseum.org/