Homes of the Future: A Look Back at Charles Schridde’s Stunning ‘60s Ads For Motorola

Charles Schridde was born in 1926 and grew up in rural Illinois. He was an artist from an early age and received a scholarship to the Chicago Art Institute when he was age 17.

He began at the institute, but was then enlisted in the Navy for two years. When he returned from the Navy, Charles began his career as a free-lance commercial illustrator. His major clients included The Saturday Evening Post, Life magazine, Motorola and Chevrolet.

h/t: vintag.es

In 1961, Motorola asked Charles Schridde to envision the homes of the future centered around Motorola’s most recent line of electronics. The ads created by Schridde ran in Life Magazine and The Saturday Evening Post from 1961 to 1963 and depicted an optimistic future made of lavish, elegant, dream-homes, where domestic technologies and serene landscapes coexisted harmoniously.

Through his stunning drawings, we were offered a fascinating glimpse of what the past thought the future would be like, and how home technology companies capitalized on their consumers’ minds by swaying them in the direction that these electronic products were relevant to that ultimate future.