Somerville "In the Future"

A popular postcard genre of the first decades of the 20th century was the "In the Future" card. Many different publishers put out cards of this type, typically consisting of a standard street scene of small town - or big city - America with futuristic illustrations overlaid. You can search "in the future" postcards or get a head start by viewing at the link here.

I was pleased to find that Hillsborough's neighbor town of Somerville wasn't overlooked by the turn-of-the-century futurists. The 1909 image depicted above shows the south side of Main Street looking west, with the addition of an airship, and a subway entrance. Truthfully, I find this postcard interesting for the close view of the trolley, never mind the future!

In the postcard above, circa 1957, the view is from further east nearer to the courthouse. Aside from the automobiles, not much had really changed! No dirigibles or subways in sight! The paved over trolley tracks even appear to be visible.

It took a couple more years for Somerville to go all sci-fi. Compare the streetlamps in the 1957 postcard to the monstrosities from the 60s in the postcard above! Wow. Still no airships however.