Welcome to Mars: Politics, Pop Culture, and Weird Science in 1950s America

Welcome to Mars is a captivating look at the culture of postwar America and its dream of limitless technological and human development. Utilizing declassified government archives, newspaper records, ad campaigns, and B-movies of the period, Hollings weaves an intricate web of Cold War politics, UFO scares, psychedelic research, and 1950s pop culture. From the atom bomb and suburban planning to the space race and little-green-men movies, Welcome to Mars shows the startling connections between science fact and science fiction, a feedback loop in which real technological advances and government experimentation gave rise to science fiction fantasy, which then fed new innovation and research.

Table of Contents Introduction: Scenes From A History As Yet Unwritten Chapter 1–1947: Rebuilding Lemuria Chapter 2–1948: Flying Saucers Over America Chapter 3–1949: Behaviour Modification Chapter 4–1950: Cheapness And Splendour Chapter 5–1951: Absolute Elsewhere Chapter 6–1952: Red Planet Chapter 7–1953: Other Tongues, Other Flesh Chapter 8–1954: Meet The Monsters Chapter 9–1955: Popular Mechanics Chapter 10–1956: ‘Greetings, My Friend!’ Chapter 11–1957: Contact With Space Chapter 12–1958: Mass Hysteria Chapter 13–1959: Teenagers From Outer Space Conclusion: Thinking the Unthinkable Bibliography Index List of Illustrations