Automobile Culture in America Since 1945

¶ … Nation on Wheels: The Automobile Culture in America Since 1945, by Mark S. Foster. Specifically, it will contain a scholarly report on the book.

NATION ON WHEELS

Nation on Wheels" is a comprehensive look at the varied history of the automobile in America. While the book ostensibly covers the period in the auto's development from 1945 on, the author begins by "setting the stage" for the automobile's impressive history and impact on the United States by illustrating how horseless carriages came into being, and how the petroleum industry played such a large and lucrative part in the development of the first automobiles. He also includes other national and international developments that had important and lasting effects on the auto industry, from development of a national Interstate highway system, to World War II and the growth of suburbia and commuting after the war. Other influences on the automobile, such as mass transit, environmental pollution, turmoil in the auto industry, and the transformation of the auto industry in the 1990s are also included, because this book is a comprehensive history of the miraculous machines, and why Americans are so enamored of their automobiles. To make the book complete, the author includes his vision of the future of the automobile, including safety and speed issues, and how to reduce commutes. Ultimately, this book is more than a history of the automobile, it is a telling history of American society, and how dependent we have become on our much-beloved autos. The author does a masterful job of conforming this information into a short volume that holds a wide variety of historic and compelling information while still holding to his main thesis; how the car affected Americans and the way we live.

In the Preface, the author states his thesis quite clearly. "Therefore, I attempted to provide much of the essential flavor of the automobile's impact on various facets of American life. Still I had to leave some seasonings out" (Foster viii). There have been many historic volumes written about the automobile, but none that illustrate society and the automobile bound together so closely. Foster even discusses how autos have influenced American music and films, and acknowledges, "The automobile has been an incredibly powerful, aggressive shaper of American culture. Few facets of American life are immune from its impact" (Foster viii). Filled with anecdotes, research, and some amazing insights, Foster manages to perpetuate his thesis while writing an entertaining and enjoyable read. The American automobile is much more than simply transportation in our society; it is a status symbol, rolling extra room, and even a romantic hideaway. How it got to be that way, and what it says about us as Americans may not always be easy to read and agree with, but it is certainly interesting and informative.

Of course, even though the thesis is well thought out and presented clearly, as with any publication, this book offers strengths and weaknesses to the reader. The author uses vast detail and research to back up his thesis about the auto and society, and brings up some interesting points, such as how the car has affected our leisure time. Today, it seems like we spend too much time in our car, but when good roads and faster cars developed, families could actually drive to their vacation destinations, seeing a lot more of the country along the way. As the author notes, "For Americans sightseeing in their own country, the automobile provided an attractive and exciting alternative to the conventional, predictable vacations they had experienced in the past" (Foster 23). This was an interesting thought that had not occurred to me, but made perfect sense after I read Foster's thoughts and examples. He clearly expands on this thought later in the book when he discusses how the car created the roadside motel that still exists today, and has expanded to include the airport side hotel, ready for any traveler by land or air. This in only one example of many that illustrate how Foster backs up his ideas with research and clear illustrations to make his point. Unfortunately, not all of his reasoning is so clear and well defined. For example, Foster blames part of the inward movement of people from outdoors to indoors in suburbia on the automobile, citing "As numbers of vehicles rapidly expanded, so did levels of noise and air pollution. Porch sitting simply became less pleasant. For children, playing in the street became for (sic) more dangerous" (Foster 60). While he does acknowledge other factors in this hypothesis, including the television, he fails to recognize many other arguments, including the "porch sitting" of the past, when horse drawn wagons and buggies churned up unending dust on unpaved roads, and children playing in the street faced danger from runaway horses and fast-moving wagons. Therefore, as the book continued, I began to question some of Foster's suppositions along with his proofreading. I also really disliked his basic ignoring of the dangers of the automobile, except for a few paragraphs here and there, until the last chapter of the book that looks forward into auto safety of the future. Driving a car is not simply a joyride, it can be extremely dangerous, and automobiles kill thousands more people than air crashes every year. It seems rather irresponsible of the author to continually show the positive sides of driving, from his analogies on vacations to drive-in movies, while not mentioning the dangers of autos, and how many happy teenagers they kill every year. The subject of drunk driving, another unwelcome addition to our society by the auto is also completely ignored. The author spends more time on the environmental concerns of cars today and in the future than on safety issues, and this seems to be a major oversight on his part.

This lack of some backup in his thinking did not totally take away from the book, and some sections were absolutely delightful. One of my favorites was the author's discussion of automobiles and the freedom they offer to teenagers. Remembering my own first car, and how proud I was to drive it to high school every day brought back many memories of young freedom. I felt like I was the "king of the world" driving my first car, and that nothing bad could ever happen to me. The very American drive-in theatre played heavily in my young driving days, and the section on drive-in movies dredged up many happy memories of summer nights, popcorn, and young love.

The history of Michigan is secondary in this book to the national history of the automobile. While it is clear the auto's production and development created and made Detroit, that is not the author's purpose for writing the book. His purpose is to show how our lives would be drastically different if the car had never developed, or had developed into mass transit and urban transportation only.