1950s American automobile culture
1950s American automobile culture has had an enduring influence on the
The decade began with 25 million registered automobiles on the road, most of which predated World War II and were in poor condition; no automobiles or parts were produced during the war owing to rationing and restrictions. By 1950, most factories had made the transition to a consumer-based economy, and more than 8 million cars were produced that year alone. By 1958, there were more than 67 million cars registered in the United States, more than twice the number at the start of the decade.[2]
As part of the U.S. national defenses, to support military transport, the
The dawning of the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (commonly called the Interstate System or simply the Interstate) is a network of
While serving as
The Interstate grew quickly, along with the automobile industry, allowing a new-found mobility that permeated ways of American life and culture. The automobile and the Interstate became the American symbol of individuality and freedom,[7] and, for the first time, automobile buyers accepted that the automobile they drove indicated their social standing and level of affluence. It became a statement of their personality and an extension of their self-concepts.[8]
Suburbanization
The United States' investment in infrastructures such as highways and bridges coincided with the increasing availability of cars more suited to the higher speeds that better roads made possible, allowing people to live beyond the confines of major cities, and instead commute to and from work.[9]
After World War II, land developers began to buy land just outside the city limits of larger cities to build mass quantities of inexpensive tract houses.[10] One of the first examples of planned suburbanization is Levittown, Pennsylvania, which was developed by William Levitt beginning in 1951 as a suburb of Philadelphia.[2] The promise of their own single-family home on their own land,[11] together with a free college education and low-interest loans given to returning soldiers to purchase homes under the G.I. Bill, drove demand for new homes to an unprecedented level. Additionally, 4 million babies were born every year during the 1950s. By the end of the baby boom era in 1964, almost 77 million "baby boomers" had been born,[10] fueling the need for more suburban housing, and automobiles to commute them to and from the city centers for work and shopping.
By the end of the 1950s, one-third of Americans lived in the suburbs. Eleven of the United States's twelve largest cities recorded a declining population during the decade, with a consequent loss in tax revenues and city culture. Only Los Angeles, a center for the car culture, gained population.[12] Economist Richard Porter commented that "The automobile made suburbia possible, and the suburbs made the automobile essential."[13]
Decline of the inner city
More people joined the
As more middle-class and affluent people fled the city to the relative quiet and open spaces of the suburbs, the urban centers deteriorated and lost population.
In some instances, the automotive industry and others were directly responsible for the decline of public transportation.
Women's rights
The automobile unions played a leading role in advancing the cause of
Motorsports
Hot rodding
The increasing popularity of hot rodding cars (modifying them to increase performance) is reflected in part by the creation of special-interest magazines catering to this culture. Hot Rod is the oldest such magazine, with first editor Wally Parks[23], and founded by Robert E. Petersen in 1948, with original publication by his Petersen Publishing Company.[23] Hot Rod has licensed affiliation with Universal Technical Institute.[24]
The relative abundance and inexpensive nature of the Ford Model T and other cars from the 1920s to 1940s helped fuel the hot rod culture that developed, which was focused on getting the most linear speed out of these older automobiles. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear, but the culture blossomed in the post-war culture of the 1950s.[25]
Hot Rod magazine's November 1950 cover announced the first hot rod to exceed 200 mph. The hand-crafted car used an Edelbrock-built Mercury flathead V8 and set the record at the Bonneville Salt Flats.[26] This 30,000-acre (47 sq mi) region[27] has been called the "Holy Grail of American Hot Rodding", and is often used for land speed racing, a tradition that grew rapidly in the 1950s and continues today.[28]
Hot rodding was about more than raw power.
Drag racing
Drag racing has existed since the first cars, but it was not until the 1950s that it started to become mainstream, beginning with Santa Ana Drags, the first drag strip in the United States.[32] The strip was founded by C. J. "Pappy" Hart, Creighton Hunter and Frank Stillwell at the Orange County Airport auxiliary runway in southern California, and was operational from 1950 until June 21, 1959.[33]
Hot Rod editor Wally Parks created the National Hot Rod Association in 1951, and it is still the largest governing body in the popular sport.[32] As of October 2012[update], there are at least 139 professional drag strips operational in the United States.[34] One of the most powerful racing fuels ever developed is nitromethane, which dramatically debuted as a racing fuel in 1950, and continues as the primary component used in Top Fuel drag racing today.[35] While nitromethane had been around for years and was used as an industrial solvent, it was first used as a racing fuel in 1954. [36] [37]
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the second most popular spectator sports in the United States behind the
The Cup Series was started in 1949, with Jim Roper winning the first series.[39] By 2008, the most prestigious race in the series, the Daytona 500 had attracted more than 17 million television viewers.[40] Dynasties were born in the 1950s with racers like Lee Petty (father of Richard Petty, grandfather of Kyle Petty) and Buck Baker (father of Buddy Baker).
NASCAR, and stock car racing in general, has its roots in
New business models
Faster food
As more Americans began driving cars, entirely new categories of businesses came into being to allow them to enjoy their products and services without having to leave their cars. This includes the drive-in restaurant, and later the drive-through window. Even into the 2010s, the Sonic Drive-In restaurant chain has provided primarily drive-in service by carhop in 3,561 restaurants within 43 U.S. states, serving approximately 3 million customers per day.[44][45] Known for its use of carhops on roller skates, the company annually hosts a competition to determine the top skating carhop in its system.[46]
A number of other successful "drive up" businesses have their roots in the 1950s, including McDonald's (expanded c. 1955), which had no dine-in facilities, requiring customers to park and walk up to the window, taking their order "to go". Automation and the lack of dining facilities allowed McDonald's to sell burgers for 15 cents each, instead of the typical 35 cents, and people were buying them by the bagful. By 1948, they had fired their carhops, installed larger grills, reduced their menu and radically changed the industry by introducing assembly-line methods of food production, similar to the auto industry, dubbing it the "Speedee Service System".[47] They redesigned their sign specifically to make it easier to see from the road, creating the now familiar yellow double-arch structure.[48] Businessman Ray Kroc joined McDonald's as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth.[49]
Other chains were created to serve the increasingly mobile patron. Carl Karcher opened his first Carl's Jr. in 1956, and rapidly expanded, locating his restaurants near California's new freeway off-ramps.[50] These restaurant models initially relied on the new and ubiquitous ownership of automobiles, and the willingness of patrons to dine in their automobiles. As of 2013[update], drive-through service account for 65 percent of their profits.[51]
Drive-in movies
The drive-in theater is a form of
Although drive-in movies first appeared in 1933,[52] it was not until well after the post-war era that they became popular when more people began owning vehicles, enjoying their greatest success in the 1950s, reaching a peak of more than 4,000 theaters in the United States alone.[53][54] Drive-in theaters have been romanticized in popular culture with the movie American Graffiti and Grease and the television series Happy Days. They developed a reputation for showing B movies, typically monster or horror films, and as "passion pits", a place for teenagers to make out.[54] While drive-in theaters are rarer today with only 366 remaining[53] and no longer unique to America, they are still associated as part of the 1950s' American car culture.[55] By the beginning of 2020, the number of fully operational drive-ins has dropped to 20.[56] Drive-in movies have seen somewhat of a resurgence in popularity in the 21st century, due in part to baby boomer nostalgia, as well as some increased interest during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, which forced conventional movie theaters to close.. [54][56]
Robert Schuller started the nation's first drive-in church in 1955 in Garden Grove, California. After his regular 9:30 am service in the chapel four miles (6 km) away, he would travel to the drive-in for a second Sunday service.[57] Worshipers listened to his sermon from the comfort of their cars, using the movie theater's speaker boxes.[58]
Malls
The first modern shopping malls were built in the 1950s,
In 1956, Southdale Center opened in Edina, Minnesota. It was the first to combine these modern elements; enclosed with a two-story design, central heat and air-conditioning plus a comfortable common area. It featured two large department stores as anchors. Most industry professionals consider Southdale Center to be the first modern regional mall.[59]
This formula (enclosed space with stores attached, away from downtown and accessible only by automobile) became a popular way to build retail across the world. Victor Gruen, one of the pioneers in mall design,[60] came to abhor this effect of his new design. He decried the creation of enormous "land wasting seas of parking" and the spread of suburban sprawl.[61]
Aftermarket auto parts
The 1950s jump started an industry of aftermarket add-ons for cars that continues today. The oldest aftermarket wheel company,
Distribution
Most new cars were sold through automobile dealerships in the 1950s, but Crosley automobiles were still on sale at any number of appliance or department stores,[67][68] and Allstate (a rebadged Henry J) could be ordered at any Sears and Roebuck in 1952 and 1953.[69] By mid-decade, these outlets had vanished and the automobile dealer became the sole source of new automobiles.
Starting in the mid-1950s, new car introductions in the fall once again became an anticipated event, as all dealers would reveal the models for the upcoming year each October. In this era before the popularization of computerization, the primary source of information on new models was the dealer.[70] The idea was originally suggested in the 1930s by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression, as a way of stimulating the economy by creating demand. The idea was reintroduced by President Dwight Eisenhower for the same reasons, and this method of introducing next year's models in the preceding autumn lasted well into the 1990s.[70]
During the decade, many smaller manufacturers could not compete with the
Muscle cars
The muscle-car era is deeply rooted in the 1950s,[73] although there is some debate as to the exact beginning. The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88, created in response to public interest in speed and power, is often cited as the first muscle car. It featured America's first high-compression overhead valve V8 in the smaller, lighter Oldsmobile 76/Chevy body for six-cylinder engines (as opposed to bigger Olds 98 luxury body).[74] Old Cars Weekly claims it started with the introduction of the original Chrysler "Firepower" hemi V8 engine in 1951,[75] while others such as Hot Rod magazine consider the first overhead valve engine by Chevrolet, the 265 cid V8, as the "heir apparent to Ford flathead's position as the staple of racing", in 1955.[76] The "small block Chevy" itself developed its own subculture that exists today.[77] Other contenders include the 1949 Oldsmobile V8 engine, the first in a long line of such powerful V8 engines,[78][79] as well as the Cadillac V8 of the same year.[80]
Regardless how it is credited, the horsepower race centered around the V8 engine[73][81] and the muscle-car era lasted until new smog regulations forced dramatic changes in OEM engine design in the early 1970s. This in turn opened up new opportunities for aftermarket manufacturers like Edelbrock.[76] Each year brought larger engines and/or increases in horsepower,[82] providing a catalyst for customers to upgrade to newer models. Automobile executives also deliberately updated the body designs yearly, in the name of "planned obsolescence"[83][84] and added newly developed or improved features such as automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes and cruise control, in an effort to make the previous models seem outdated and facilitate the long drive from the suburbs.[82] Record sales made the decade arguably the "golden era" of automobile manufacturing.[85]
Harley Earl and Bill France Sr. popularized the saying "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday",[86] a mantra still heard today in motorsports, particularly within NASCAR. During the muscle-car era, manufacturers not only sponsored the drivers, but designed stock cars specifically to compete in the fast-growing and highly popular sport.[73]
Songs celebrating the automobile
As the automobile became more and more an extension of the individual, it was natural for this to be reflected in popular culture. America's love affair with the automobile was most evident in the music of the era.
- "Rocket 88" was first recorded in 1951 and originally credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, although it was later discovered to be the work of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm. It is often credited as the first rock and roll song ever produced[87] and has been covered by other artists.
- "Hot Rod Lincoln" was first recorded in 1955 by Charlie Ryan,[88][89] and has since been recorded by Roger Miller and others.[90] The 1960 Johnny Bond version charted at number 26 on Billboard Hot 100. Comedian Jim Varney produced a version with Ricky Skaggs for the motion picture The Beverly Hillbillies.[91] The song is still a popular live song for artists such as Asleep at the Wheel[92] and Junior Brown.[93]
- "Maybellene", released by Chuck Berry in 1955, is an uptempo rocker describing a hot rod race between a jilted lover and his unfaithful girlfriend. It was a #5 hit and was described by Rolling Stone as the starting point of rock and roll guitar.[94]
- "Wake Up Little Susie" recorded by The Everly Brothers, reached number one on the Billboard Pop chart, despite having been banned from Boston radio stations for lyrics about elaborating "our reputation is shot" because the narrator and his date slept through a drive-through movie date and missed their curfew by six hours.[95]
- "Teen Angel", recorded by Mark Dinning, was released in 1959 and initially met with resistance by radio stations because of its dark message about a young girl who dies in an automobile/train accident.
Other songs recorded during the decade also reflect the automobile's place in American culture, such as "Brand New Cadillac", Sonny Burgess's "Thunderbird" and Bo Diddley's "Cadillac". A 1955 Oldsmobile was celebrated in the nostalgic "Ol' '55" by Tom Waits (1973).
See also
- American automobile industry in the 1950s
- Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952
- List of car crash songs
- List of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States
- History of the automobile
- Timeline of motor vehicle brands
- Cruising
- Elvis' Pink Cadillac
- General Motors Motorama
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