The Big Push-Button of the Future: a Vision from 1945

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

I found this curious publication the other day, one that takes a look at the near future at the end of WWII. It is by Mario la Stella ("And Now that the War is Finished? What Will the Future Be?"), and unfortunately there is no date in the pamphlet, and I cannot find a listing of the work in WorldCat/First Search, and there are no clues for me about dating it, though I suspect it could have been published as early as 1944 (as Italy was finished with the war by 1943 but the Germans were not finished with them) but probably it the real date was 1945.  That said, the most interesting part of this work is the design in the illustrations, which in their breezy and suggestive way remind me of a style in the 1950's rather than the 40's--with the exception of the cover, that is, because there is nothing light and airy about that.  

 The future vision of la Stella is not very penetrating, though the final panel does display a huge machine regulating traffic or something that is controlled by a lounging operator with just one button.  

I think it would be an interesting thing to have a look at "The One-Button¹ Solution to Everything" following the development of the ultimate state of the push-button world, where most things/everything is automated.

And just a note here: la Stella was the author of several books, including a history of Rome, and a textbook or two in the sciences. There was also a work on Marconi (published in the year of the inventor's death in 1937) that contains a very early public reference to Marconi's possible work on the "death ray", which sounds like it was some sort of directed energy weapon/EMP device that would disable powered vehicles

Notes:

The OED definitions of "push button" follows: 

 a. Operated or carried out by pressing a push-button or push-buttons.

1880   Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 19 Mar. 2/4   The new push button Bell is in great demand.

1909   Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 1908 27 521   Push-button ringing.

1936   Discovery Apr. 113/1   The diesel engine is started electrically and the push-button control for this purpose is mounted in the cab adjacent to the driving positions.

1943   Gramophone Dec. 107/1   The radio has 3 bands with push-button tuning.

1957   Observer 25 Aug. 11/1   It is no doubt true that guided missiles, nuclear warheads, flame-throwers, and push-button apparatus do not in the slightest invalidate the elementary military virtues of esprit de corps and self-discipline.

1978   S. Brill Teamsters iv. 127   He took his seat..alongside a table bearing two separate push-button phones.

2005   2600 Summer 56/1   The valet switch is a small, push-button toggle with an LED..that temporarily disables the security system.

 c. Characterized by the use of push-buttons, esp. as a sign of technological advancement; fully automated or mechanized.

1946   Birmingham (Alabama) News 3 Feb. 1/3   The Army Air Forces came forth Saturday with a real push-button plane.

1955   G. Freeman Liberty Man i. iii. 39   One might have thought he was a ship's boy serving on a graceful old tea clipper, rather than an efficient piece of mechanism in a modern push-button navy.

1960   Times 12 Jan. 13/5   The married woman of the future will live in an increasingly push-button home.

1973   Times 17 Oct. 14/4   If increased mechanization should be decided on..engineering would..offer a vastly increased number of ‘push-button’ jobs.

1992   New Republic 7 Sept. 42/3   The new, split-level, push-button home of convenience, which promised to liberate women from domestic drudgery, was another fraud.