Cars In The 1950's

Out of experiments in many places and with many elements of design, the essential features of the automobile emerged around the turn of the century. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and especially in the 1890’s, much work was carried in France, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, and United States to develop practical designs of both vehicle and motor. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler, who had previously worked with Dr Nikolaus August Otto, applied a single cylinder and air-cooled vertical machine to a carriage. A few years later Daimler created his first “four wheeled wooden built light wagonnete” powered by petrol. Karl Benz of Manheim (Germany) then built an engine specifically intended for motor cars, leading to the four-wheelers

More than 35,000 people perished annually from motor accidents in the United States in the 1950’s. In Great Britain during the Second World War the number of deaths caused by automobile accidents was more than two-thirds as great as fatalities from the air raids, in spite of the fact that motor travel was severely limited by petrol rationing (Ware 297). This wasn’t the only disadvantage. Congestion of the roads and of city streets grew worse with each passing year. Parking became a huge problem. Fumes from the exhaust of thousand of vehicles became a menace to health. Noise also made a city living more

The freedom and mobility afforded by auto ownership created the suburbs and shopping malls, helped lead to the death of core cities and changed housing styles. For example, in United States 70% of the families had a car in 1955 and one family in 10 owned two cars or more (Ware 297). The face of our cities as well has undergone major surgery since the advent of automobile. Since most available jobs were around industrial and manufacturing centers at the turn of the century, most people were living densely packed lives in the cities. However a major population shift began to occur thanks primarily to the ease of transportation provided by the automobile. Now one didn’t have to live near the place of the work, for transportation was much easier. Suburban areas sprang up and many people fled the overcrowding in the cities. In the United States after World War II, the garage gets moved forward and attached to the house and become symbol of success. The automobile also gave people access to cheap land where they could build bigger, more sprawling homes. There would be no ranch houses without the car. Social life wasn’t limited to one’s own neighborhood or even town any more. It wasn’t that long ago, with the exception of the intrepid pioneers, that the average citizen would never move further than ten miles from the place they were born. At this period it is not unusual for individuals to