What would the world look like in 1976? A prediction from 1955

In October of 1955, NBC aired a television special called ‘1976, Your World of Tomorrow.’ It was sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute, and scheduled in honor of Oil Progress Week. Popular TV stars such as Sid Caesar, Wally Cox, and Arlene Francis were in the cast, with appearances by Admiral Chester Nimitz and poet Carl Sandburg. The show’s goal was to predict how society would progress by the 200th birthday of the U.S. There’s no word on whether the show predicted how much a gallon of gas would cost in ’76.

They didn’t have 76 trombones, but the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra had 75 musicians in 1955, and half of them played the violin. The opening symphony concert for the season would feature a famous guest artist, soprano Leontyne Price.

The Burlington Route, now part of the BNSF railroad, was promoting a one-day tour to Chicago. Actually, a 27-hour trip. You would take the train out of La Crosse at 2:14 Saturday morning, and arrive in Chicago at 8. The day’s events included a Cinerama movie on a 75-foot-wide screen…and a motor tour of Chicago, including Lake Shore Drive, the Navy Pier, Chinatown, and Skid Row. Burlington said ‘Take the kiddies, too.’ A 16-dollar round trip for adults, and 12 dollars for children under 12. You’d get back to La Crosse by 5 a.m. Sunday.