In 1968, model Vicki Dunlap was featured in newspapers around the country as the face of the future. But that stylish makeup of tomorrow wasn’t just for show. It was to protect from L.A.’s smog-filled air.
From the Associated Press about this “woman of the year 2000”:
A Los Angeles engineer thinks women living in an urban environment in 2000 will look like Vicki Dunlap. Dunlap, shown here February 21, 1968 wears body paint for insulation against the weather and air pollutants, including radioactivity.
A computer necklace programs her day, governing the temperature of her oven, warning when her children will be home, and monitoring the guidance device of her car. Coloured jewels are warning signals. Her hat is a receptor and transmitter for a two-way radio worn around arms, with the earrings supplying energy for radio and computer.
As dicey as the air in Los Angeles can be today, pollution was particularly bad in the city during the 1960s and ’70s. A noxious mixture of geography, overpopulation, and an abundance of cars set the scene for L.A.’s disgusting air after World War II.
In 1969 a coroner was reportedly even able to tell that a recent unidentified murder victim had only recently arrived in the city. How? Her lungs supposedly didn’t have any trace of smog. Or maybe this unfortunate woman was wearing the protective blush of the new millennium.
Photo: Associated Press