The new and exciting 1953 version of the Parade is an ultra-modern presentation, high-lighting the enormous progress the country has made in recent years. Visitors, for example, we will hear the scratchy reception of the radio of 1925 as compared to modern high-fidelity microwave transmission -- will watch a tiny jet plane swoosh across the stage and take a fanciful flight into outer space.
Most of the Parade's exhibits are contained in the 12 "Futurliners." These special, 33-foot long, streamlined coaches have 16-foot side panels that open to form stages and exhibit areas. The Futurliners contain some two dozen major exhibits. They range from a demonstration that covers refrigeration and insulation, to "Power for the Air Age," the jet engine story.
The Parade's stage show is presented in the aluminum and canvas Aerodome. Here is presented a show of achievements in such fields as electronics, aviation and chemistry. And it's all free -- no admission charge.
A crew of about 60 men, mostly young college graduates, operates the Parade. The men not only are lecturers and showmen; they also drive the vehicles, put up the tents and do the other necessary jobs.
The history of the Parade goes back to 1936. Sparked by GM's famed scientist, Charles F. Kettering, the Parade took to the road in Miami, FL, and from then until Pearl Harbor in 1941, it played before more than 12-1/2 million people in 251 cities. It is planned to keep the new Parade rolling across the U.S. almost continuously all year long.
Article permission provided by:
Don Mayton
www.futurliner.com
A Project of the National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States.
http://www.natmus.org/