Optimism: Propaganda films for 50s consumerism (Internet Archive)

Created for the 1956 General Motors Motorama and one of a set of key Populuxe films downloadable at Internet Archives, Design for Dreaming (1956) is a surreal musical during which a lovely brunette housewife is introduced to the joys of a "Kitchen of Tomorrow" that is furnished with a glass-walled refrigerator, a machine that reads recipes off computer cards, and an hemispherical glass oven that apparently can bake a cake complete with lighted birthday candles. At Motorama, she gets turned on by the looks of the Firebird II (as who wouldn't), calls traffic dispatch by radio, and rides onto yesterday's electronic highway of tomorrow, accompanied by her 50s standard-issue "prince charming," singing a duet linking their love to technological progress. Also not-to-miss: Once Upon a Honeymoon (1956), a musical promoting the color telephone as a home decorating accessory; A Touch of Magic (1961), a Motorama film touting new cars, space-age appliances and futuristic ideas; and American Look (1958), the definitive Populuxe film on 1950s automotive, industrial, interior and architectural design (parts 1, 2 and 3).