Architecture or
design from the '
50s or '
60s that used to be
futuristic but is now
retro. Think
Disney's
Tomorrowland, motels and gas stations with big
rocket or
satellite-themed signs, or just about anything that includes that swirly
atom symbol.
George Jetson's world was kind of googie; so were most world fairs from the '
50s to the '
70s. The term itself comes from
"Googie's," a coffee shop in
Los Angeles (it's not there anymore).
Keep your eyes open and you'll come across googie buildings from time to time. They're neat but also kind of sad -- discarded rough drafts of a
future we never built.
There’s an excellent googie website at http://home.fea.net/~cjepsen/Googie.htm.