Personal

History

Background Information

People's perspectives on the car have changed through out time. Places people travel to, how they get there, and the importance of the car vs. other modes of transportation vary. An individual's age, sex, where s/he lives, alternative transportation available, parents' attitudes toward modes of travel, and the period of history in which s/he lives determine personal transportation and the individual's attitudes toward it.

In this activity, students will read two personal history sketches from the 1940s and 1950s. Students will compare and contrast their own histories to those of the sketches and older people they know in order to clarify their own attitudes toward the car.

 

Personal History

Introduction

Any technology exists within a social context. The presence of the car has an important impact on the society beyond that of its service as a means of transportation. It has a powerful impact on the daily lives of individuals, friends, and family. Yet we seldom give much thought as to how our daily transportation choices are determined by the car.

It helps to compare how cars were used in times past with how the car is used today. Your parents, relatives, and grandparents can be interviewed to contrast how cars influence their lives when they were the same age as you are today. Of course the geographic areas in which they grew up would have some influence on car use.

The main focus of your interviews would be to establish the effect the car had on their daily lives as they were growing up. What uses were made of the car? How much time did they spend in the car each day? Who most often was driving the car?

What tasks, chores, or errands involved the car in the past that do not involve the car now?

How have eating, shopping, and recreational activities involving the car changed over time?

What new technologies are now found in cars that did not exist in the past? What new jobs exist and what skills do they require to make or maintain a car?

How have homes, businesses, streets, and highways changed over time?

In addition to interviewing older adults, old magazines and newspapers can provide another perspective on how cars and society have changed in response to increased auto use. How do buildings and streets appear in previous decades? What emotional response and attitudes were associated with cars and car owners in times past that can be gained from illustrations, pictures, ads, and stories.

As car use changed, the ideas people had about cars and their use changed. A person's beliefs can become widely shared in a society and can show the importance of the car to one's life and values. What emotional responses do you hold toward using a car and contrast those responses to those held by older people in your life?

Two short stories on the role of the car in the lives of two people who grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from the mid 1930s until their graduation from high school in the mid 1950s will provide another perspective on how cars were used in the past.

What is different about auto use in your life and its impact on the society than was true for people in the past?

After writing your car life story, read about transportation systems in another country. Is that country's system more like yours today or that of a previous generation? Which system do you think should society try to develop over the next 20 years? Why?

 

The Importance of Going Somewhere (Boy, 1936 - 1954)

Until I was 16, the only role the car played in my life was going places with the family. Otherwise the car was for my father. He drove to work, union meetings, fishing, bowling, and softball.

When my parents started driving, they didn't need a license. Later, they bought their licenses at a drug store. As far as I know, neither of them ever had a driving test. When my mother had a minor accident, she refused to drive any more, but retained her license.

On Saturdays, my parents drove less than a mile to the supermarket for groceries. Milk and butter were delivered to our house. In late summer my mother would can most of the tomatoes, peaches, and pears for fall, winter, and spring. If we needed anything else during the week, the corner grocery store was only three doors away.

Clothing shopping was a rare event. We usually went four times a year when we needed new Sunday clothing as the seasons changed. School clothes and play clothes were usually hand-me-downs from cousins, older family members, or friends of our parents. We were told that we were growing so fast that it was wasteful to not wear used good clothes that were given to us.

I was born in MIlwaukee, Wisconsin, in the same year in which my father's car was built, 1936. It was a four door black Plymouth sedan. We kept that car until I was in 9th grade. It still ran well and had no rust , but my father felt that it was time to get a newer car before the old one needed a lot of repairs. His newer car was a black four door Plymouth sedan built in 1947.

We were expected to walk like all of the other kids in our neighborhood. We walked to school, church, friends, movies, and play areas. Sometimes we would play baseball and tag football in the street, since there was little traffic and the vehicles that did come through moved very slowly. In winter some streets on hills would be closed for a few hours so kids could sled down them.

Almost all of our destinations were less than a mile away. I once walked to and from high school when it was 30 degrees below zero. We had clothing for all sorts of weather. I disliked wearing boots; I often ran to school and other places and felt the boots slowed me down.

The summer I was eight, the farmer near our summer cottage let me drive his tractor. It was a small Ford tractor; the throttle was set; there was one gear: in and out. All I had to do was follow the hay wagon. I drove a couple of hours a day for about two weeks of haying. I drove on other farms as well, all the local farmers shared equipment and helped one another. I received no pay but did get a full meal at noon with the other farmers. I was filled with pride by being able to help adults work.

The next Christmas I got my first bike. It was brand new and the first thing I did with a friend was take it all apart and put it back together. My mother was annoyed with my doing that to a new bike but my father understood the challenge in being able to do it. Of course, it also gave me the confidence to do almost all my own bike repairs when they were needed.

A much larger was now open to me. By summer two friends and I took long late afternoon bike rides around the city and into the country. We would plan where we wanted to go and the route to follow. We watched the sky and headed back home if threatening clouds appeared. We estimated how long it would take us to ride out and back again before the street lights would would come on. The neighborhood rule was that we had to be home as soon as the street lights came on.

For about four years bikes were our main form of transportation. Gradually we made more use of street cars and buses. While we did not receive an allowance, we could earn enough money to do most of the things we wanted to do my walking younger children to school, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, and taking bottles, cans, newspapers, and fat from the kitchen to stores and recycling centers. Our bikes were very useful for delivering newspapers.

Public transport was fast, dry, and warm. In winter we rode downtown to see a movie, look at Christmas decorations, or travel a full hour across town to ride toboggans down the only iced , elevated slide in the city. In the summer we would bus to the beach on the shore of Lake Michigan, to a park swimming pool and local public golf courses.

I was expected to save some of my earnings in a bank account. It seemed every aunt or uncle we knew always managed to remind us to put some money aside for a rainy day. When I was 14, I surprised my parents with a cash donation of $200 to help them pay for a garage they were building to go with the first house they owned. While my mother thanked me for the gift, she was not as thankful as I though she would be. Since both of my parents had to give their parents some of their earnings after their 12th birthday, she also expected me to give some of my weekly earnings from my paper route to her.

After I was 14, I was allowed to caddie at a private country club. Since it was 15 miles beyond the farthest bus line, a friend and I would wait at the end of the line for someone headed for a round of golf to drive us to the course. Getting home often proved more difficult as we could never be sure a golfer would be driving home when we were done carrying their golf clubs. So we accepted the ride that got us as close as possible to the bus line. Sometimes this meant walking a few miles to catch the bus.

The next big transportation event involved getting a driver's license. A friend helped me get a summer job working on a dairy farm about 30 miles from home. The job required that I have a drivers license. Within a month I earned it. I only drove a few times with my father so I was not a very good driver. I was allowed to take the driver's test in the country since I would be driving a truck in the country.

I wanted to work on the farm to build upper body strength for high school football the following fall. My friend had done it when he was 16 and recommended it to me. To my surprise, the first cutting of hay was not bailed. Instead it was chopped, blown into a dump truck, dumped on the ground and pushed into a concrete pit with a bulldozer and covered for use later in the year. So for the first month I drove a dump truck. Since the dairy operation was very large and the farms were scattered around the county, I had to drive on some major highways to get to and from the fields to where the chopped hay was stored.

The only instruction I received for driving the truck was where the various gears were and how to double clutch to drop down into a lower gear when going up a hill. The other part of the instructions involved raising and lowering the dump unit.

The next four weeks on the farm were devoted to bailing hay; handling 600 bales a day certainly helped building upper body strength. Not only did I gain muscle but I was able to save nearly all the money I earned that summer. Working nearly twelve hours a day left me too tired to do much more than read a little and go to bed.

After returning home in the fall, I still walked to school and most other places. Since I played football, basketball, and golf staying physically fit was an ongoing interest of mine. So I frequently ran either part of the way or all of the way to wherever I was headed. Sometimes I would run wind sprints and walk to catch my breath between them. Other times I would just run the entire distance at a steady speed.

The social events like going to the movies, football, and basketball games and the occasional dance involved walking or taking the bus. Often rather than wait for the bus we would run to see if we could beat it to our destination. It was better than standing around waiting, it added a challenge to the night, and we saved the money we would have spent on the bus. We seldom dated after these events but we might walk a girl home that we liked. A few of the guys did own cars but surprisingly it was not something that most of us felt we had to do.

The only time a car was important was prom night. After getting a date, the big worry was who could get his father's car. Two couples per car was the common arrangement, so a boy either had to convince his father to allow him to use his car or find someone who was already promised the use of one.

Cars became more important to us the summer before our senior year in high school. Most guys had part time jobs during the school year. In the summer, we could get a full time job. Some of the guys had fathers who encouraged them to work on cars. Others had part time jobs working at service stations. With access to equipment, tools, and knowledge,most guys ended up doing some of the work like shagging oil, greasing the car, tuning it up, and replacing a muffler and tailpipe. Some took on the challenge of replacing the brakes or a broken spring. A few were willing to replace the clutch. The ultimate challenge involved engine repair or rebuilding a car. Since cars were still relatively simple devices then, a determined teenager with some friends and the advice of a knowledgeable adult could rebuild a car.

The summer before my senior year I asked my father if he would sign for me so I could purchase a car of my own. To my surprise, he agreed if I purchased the proper auto insurance. He reminded me how expensive is would be to maintain the car and that most of my working hours would be spent financing the car. After owning my own car for four months I decided to sell it. While I was proud of owning a car, I soon realized just how much of my time and money was being spent on it. I still had a good social life without the car. I also had time to study and participate in a full range of athletic activities.

I graduated from high school in 1954. Two years later, President Eisenhower signed the federal legislation that began funding the interstate highway system that dramatically changed the role of cars in American life.

My Youth - A Time when a Car Wasn't Very Important (Girl, 1940 - 1955)

We didn't have a car from the time I was three until I was 12. Very few people had a car then; gas had to go to the war effort. My aunt had a car, but didn't use it for five years. When I was a in grade school, not having a car didn't really make much difference to me. All of the kids in the neighborhood walked to school. It was about 3/4 mile, and had interesting stops along the way. Most of my life centered around the neighborhood and my friends there. We had a great time without going much of anywhere. For my birthday, my mother would take me and a special friend to a nearby park where we used the wading pool. We walked or took the bus part of the way there. It was an adventure for us.

For my parents, transportation was different. My dad took the bus to work downtown. He had a five minute walk to catch the it, then got off right across the street from his office. On Saturdays, we all walked to the supermarket for our weekly shopping. On the way, we might stop at the recycling center to sell paper, aluminum foil, or whatever we had collected. On Sundays, we walked a half hour to Sunday School and church. When I was old enough, I took my sister and brother there and back and my parents left for church on their own schedule. Walking alone gave us a sense of being independent and grown up.

I seldom rode the bus, since I didn't have to go far. The only long bus rides I remember were almost an hour long when we went to visit my aunt. We had to transfer, which took more time than a direct route. Going there wasn't bad, but it got late coming home, and I would be very tired.

My big trips were by train to visit another aunt in a city 100 miles away. She and her husband had a car, which they both drove. It seemed daring, especially when we went out into the country at night.

When I was 12, my parents bought a car, which was nice, since we drive to parks for picnics and birthdays, drove to and from my aunt's house, and went shopping every Saturday. We felt pretty affluent. At about that time, I started taking the bus for special events, such as seeing my dad at work. After he showed me around or took me to a program that he helped present, he drove me home. It only took a half hour.

When I was in high school some of the kids has cars, but most of my friends lived close enough to walk. It was another social time. We usually walked to school events, since taking the bus took almost as much time. If a game was at another school, or we wanted to go somewhere special after it, we took the bus.

Some kids learned to drive at 16. We didn't have driver's education, so usually a dad had to teach us. My dad wanted me to learn how to drive, since my mother never drove, and if I could, I could take her shopping and get him out of a chore he didn't really like. Besides that, she was terribly nervous, and always warned about being too close, or not passing a truck, etc., etc. He taught me, and was very patient. I got my learner's permit at 16, but didn't feel a need for a license, so I waited over a year to get it. I took my driving test downtown, in traffic, so I felt really accomplished when I passed the first time. When I got my license, I drove my mother. I had to put gas in the car if my dad had forgotten, but otherwise, I wasn't responsible for any maintenance-my dad was so glad to be free of chore driving. Other than taking my mother places, I did little driving, but still didn't feel the need for it, since bus transportation was so convenient for everywhere I wanted to go.

Sometimes, I can't believe that was my life-now I drive everywhere, except when I fly.

Student Activities

Directions: First read the two historical sketches.

Then complete either: 1 (1 pt.); 1&2 (2 pts.); 1 - 3 (3 pts.);1 - 4 (4 pts.); 1 - 5 (5 pts.)

1. Write the transportation story of your own life:

a. Where you go and why:

b. Your travels and you:

2. Interview an older person (parent, grandparent, family friend, etc.). Ask questions such as:

3. Contrast your story or your interview to the stories you just read. Key points might include:

4. What can you do to decrease your dependence on the car?

5. Create an awareness of how the role of the car has changed over time in American lives and society.

 

Teachers Notes

Students should recognize that the importance of the car has changed dramatically over the past few decades. It becomes more important to each successive generation.

Students should recognize that the availability or lack of convenient public transportation exerts a strong influence on an individual's need for a car.

Students should recognize that since in the recent past people went where they needed to go without tremendous dependence on the car, they could alter their transportation patterns without affecting the quality of their lives.

Students should recognize the fact that the car is being used increasingly for more and more trips. They should begin to think of strategies to reduce their dependence on the car.

Interdisciplinary Approach: Earth Sciences, Language Arts, and Social Studies.