DIMENSION X - To The Future (Ray Bradbury)

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DIMENSION X
To The Future
May 27, 1950
Ray Bradbury first published "To The Future" in Collier's Magazine on May 13, 1950. It was barely two weeks later that Ernest Kinoy had the adaptation ready to broadcast as a play on Dimension X, May 27, 1950. Later Bradbury included the story in his 1951 book, The Illustrated Man, which contained 18 of his short stories. He renamed it "The Fox And The Forest."
This unnerving story is set in a cheery Mexican town in 1950. (In the original Bradbury story the year is 1938). A couple enjoys a fiesta but the wife seems to have PTSD from a war that hasn't happened yet. Or has it? She and her husband try to enjoy a fun vacation but can't shake the people and consequences of another time.
HISTORICAL GLOSSARY
In the story opening Sue asks if their trip can go on forever and William says, "Ah Sue don't worry. I've enough travelers checks for a lifetime." A travelers check was a pre-printed check issued by a bank or other financial institution. It had to be signed with ID presented when it was used, like a regular check, but unlike a regular check, a travelers check was paid for in advance so a merchant who accepted it knew it represented available funds. That meant many merchants who only accepted cash would accept a traveler's check. But unlike cash, a travelers check could be immediately cancelled and the money refunded if it was lost or stolen. This was better than the policies of the newly invented credit cards of the time. Today the ability to dispute a claim on a credit card is an industry standard. But that was not always the case. Credit cards were a new thing in 1950 and if a credit card was lost or stolen and used by someone else before the owner cancelled it, those fraudulent debts were often the responsibility of the credit card holder. Because oblivious tourists have always been a target of thieves, these checks were marketed to travelers who would be able to use them like cash but be able to recover their value if the travelers checks were stolen.
Gloria complains to Joe about the quality of the restaurant where they are having breakfast. His response is, "Cheer up, sweetie. Your mere presence makes this Chasen's and The Troc rolled into one." Chasen's was an elegant dinner house in Los Angeles near Beverly Hills from 1936 to 1995. And The Trocadero, known as The Troc, was a trendy and exclusive nightclub on the section of Sunset Boulevard know as the "Sunset Strip" during the same era. Gloria's response is, "Not this early in the morning, Joe. I couldn't stand it," which may refer to a heavy dinner meal not being appropriate for breakfast, or may be a reference to her having a hang-over and not being able to handle the noise of a nightclub that early in the morning.
When they first go back to their room after realizing the Searcher has located them Bill has a headache and Sue brings him an aspirin. Later when they are with the movie crew Joe offers Sue a "bromo" for her headache. "Bromo-Seltzer" was the more popular headache remedy in the 1950s, thus, this little detail demonstrates that Joe fits into 1950 better than Bill and Sue.
The Director, Joe, invites Bill and Sue to his hotel room for a social gathering and then adds, "Gloria's cracking the ice now." This idiom is a way of implying that hard alcohol will be served. Ice goes with spirits, not with beer and wine. In the 1950s there was a particular kind of aluminum ice tray that was popular. It had a handle on it attached to the little compartments that the water was poured into. When the water froze into ice cubes the handle was pulled to the side, like a lever, and the ice would crack and come loose from the tray. Thus getting ice out of an ice tray was accomplished by literally "cracking the ice".