Greetings ~
With all the gadgets and toys that we adults have today, a big one a few decades ago has become fairly mundane and routine. That item is the automobile. At one time the auto was the biggest thing in our lives next to our home. It was the automobile that gave us all our independence. Before the auto came along, we were stuck mostly within 30-miles from our homes. Most of the population never went farther than 50-miles from where they lived and died.
The train and ships were wonderful inventions but only the wealthier citizens could afford a trip on a ship. And the trains were something that many people never used. But when the auto came along and, thanks to Henry Ford for pricing them affordable for almost everyone, we were now able to go on vacations and trips to see Aunt Bertha and Uncle Claude.
With the improvements of many of our roads, traveling from one city to another was finally something most people could do in a fairly short period. Back with the horse and wagon, a 40-mile trip was all day long. After the auto was invented, that trip took about two hours. And later on that time was cut even more. More and more restaurants and motels sprang up along the roadways and little hotdog stands and curio shops opened.
The migration from the dust bowl areas like Kansas to places like California were a lot easier with the automobile. Life in general became a lot easier. Next to their families, men loved their cars most of all. All through the 20th century people are now seen in old photographs posing with their cars and trucks. If something in their house broke down, it was fixed whenever they got around to it. But if the car broke down, Holy Cow! That HAD to be fixed right NOW!
This blog displays vintage photos of people all over the country posing with their cars. They are working on them and washing them. Today we take our cars for granted. If they break down, the heck with it, we just get another one. We are truly a throw away society today. We even throw away our cars when they give us trouble. But years ago, we could not afford to do that. Plus, a car became a vital part of the family. These pictures show how happy we were back then to own one.