Wonder Club world wonders pyramid logo
×

The Automobile and American Life Book

The Automobile and American Life
The Automobile and American Life, This is the story of how the automobile changed the essence of life in America. Both a general history of the automobile and a broad-ranging analysis of its cultural effects, the text addresses such topics as cars' inception as a mechanical curiosity and , The Automobile and American Life has a rating of 3 stars
   2 Ratings
X
The Automobile and American Life, This is the story of how the automobile changed the essence of life in America. Both a general history of the automobile and a broad-ranging analysis of its cultural effects, the text addresses such topics as cars' inception as a mechanical curiosity and , The Automobile and American Life
3 out of 5 stars based on 2 reviews
5
0 %
4
0 %
3
100 %
2
0 %
1
0 %
Digital Copy
PDF format
1 available   for $99.99
Original Magazine
Physical Format

Sold Out

  • The Automobile and American Life
  • Written by author John Heitmann
  • Published by McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers, February 2009
  • This is the story of how the automobile changed the essence of life in America. Both a general history of the automobile and a broad-ranging analysis of its cultural effects, the text addresses such topics as cars' inception as a mechanical curiosity and
  • This is the story of how the automobile changed the essence of life in America. Both a general history of the automobile and a broad-ranging analysis of its cultural effects, the text addresses such topics as cars' inception as a mechanical curiosity and
Buy Digital  USD$99.99

WonderClub View Cart Button

WonderClub Add to Inventory Button
WonderClub Add to Wishlist Button
WonderClub Add to Collection Button

Book Categories

Authors

Introduction: The Automobile, Its History and Influence, and Some Contradictions 1

1 Beginnings: From a Mechanical Curiosity to a Plaything for the Well-to-Do 9

European by Birth, American by Adoption 9

Technological Antecedents: The Bicycle 11

Compact Power: The Internal Combustion Engine 14

Choices Made: Competition from Steam Engines and Electric Motors 15

American Pioneers 18

Organization as Power 20

The Automobile for Better or Worse? 22

Music Galore 26

The Mechanical Arts and the Coming of the Machine Age 27

The Quest for Speed 30

2 The Inscrutable Henry Ford and the Rise of the Machine Age 32

From a Dearborn Farm to the World Stage 33

Frederick Winslow Taylor and "One Best Way" 36

The Genesis of Mass Production at Highland Park 36

The Flivver King 42

The Model T: What a Car! 44

Later Years: Hero or Anti-Hero? 46

Gone in Sixty Seconds: Joy-Riders and Criminals 47

3 The Rise of the Competition and the Consumer During the 1920s 54

Billy Durant and "Silent" Sloan 54

Kettering, Earl, and "Keeping the Customer Dissatisfied" 56

The City of the Future and Dynamic Dayton of the 1930s 63

The Last of the Big Three: The Chrysler Corporation 64

The Independents 67

Innovation at the Periphery: The Cracker Jacker, Rickenbacker 68

The Jordan and Advertising the Dream 69

4 From Out of the Mud to On the Open Road 72

Which Came First: Good Roads or the Automobile? 72

The Good Roads Movement 73

A Transcontinental Link: The Lincoln Highway 75

Federal Legislation and the Gas Tax 76

Two Lane Black Top, or Concrete If There Is Money 76

Auto Camping and "Gypsying" Across America 79

Fill'erUp 80

Road Food 83

Divided Highways, Parkways, and Expressways 83

5 Religion, Courtship, Sex, and Women Drivers 87

An Answer to Prayer or Something to Pray About? 87

Sex in the Back Seat 91

Those Women Drivers! 93

Cars as Homes 96

6 The Interwar Years: The Great Depression, Aerodynamics, and Cars of the Olympian Age 101

Olympian Automobiles of the 1930s 102

Streamlining and the Chrysler "Airflop" 108

Sitdown, the Coming of the United Auto Workers, and the Battle of the Overpass 112

The Poetic Response to the Automobile 114

Singing the Blues about Automobiles and Life 115

Filming on the Race Track and Soundstage 118

7 World War II and the Reconversion Economy: No Time for Sergeants or Aspiring Automobile Manufacturers 119

"Little Bo Peep Has Lost Her Jeep..." 121

Wartime Labor: Sacrifices and Selfishness 124

Gas Rationing 124

The Black Market: "Chiseled Gas" 127

The Reconversion Economy and a Man"s Dream 130

8 The Golden Age of the Automobile: The 1950s in America 133

The Automobile and Civil Rights 135

Hot Rod 138

Sports Cars on American Tracks, and The Red Car 140

Some Critics Surface: Safety and the Environment 143

Dealers, Good and Bad 146

The UAW, the Big Three, and Pattern Bargaining 149

The Cars of the Golden Era 150

The 1958 Recession and European Competition 153

The Volkswagen Bug 154

Cars and Rock and Roll 155

Film: The Rebels 158

A Night at the Drive-In 160

On the Road 161

The Coming of the Interstates 162

Summing Up the Glorious 1950s 163

9 The Go-Go Years, 1959-1973 164

The Microbus, Cars, and the Hippies 164

The Cadillac and the Establishment 167

An Age of Ambivalence 169

Harry Crews and the "White Trash" in His Novel Car 170

Ralph Nader and Unsafe at Any Speed 171

Government Regulation: Safety and the Environment 173

From a Brief Affair with Economy Vehicles to the Emergence of the Muscle Car 175

California Dreaming 178

Oil Shock I 178

Japanese Automobiles Come in a Big Way to America 180

James Bond, Steve McQueen, and the Action Thriller 181

Mobile Lovemaking 184

Summing Up the Sixties 184

10 The Automobile World Upside Down, 1980s to the Present 185

Rivethead and the Quality Cat 186

The Automobile and Contemporary Art 189

Lessons Not Learned 189

Trucks, Sport Utility Vehicles, and Crossovers 190

The Car Hobby: Car Crazy 191

Cars and Crime: The Drive-By 194

NASCAR Nation 194

Saturn, Chrysler, and Germans in the New South 197

New Technologies 199

Automobiles, Women, Eros, and Film 201

Poetry, Women, and Passion 202

Where Does the Automobile in American Life Go from Here? 206

Epilogue: The Automobile and One American Life 208

Chapter Notes 211

Select Bibliography 231

Index 241


Login

  |  

Complaints

  |  

Blog

  |  

Games

  |  

Digital Media

  |  

Souls

  |  

Obituary

  |  

Contact Us

  |  

FAQ

CAN'T FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR? CLICK HERE!!!

X
WonderClub Home

This item is in your Wish List

The Automobile and American Life, This is the story of how the automobile changed the essence of life in America. Both a general history of the automobile and a broad-ranging analysis of its cultural effects, the text addresses such topics as cars' inception as a mechanical curiosity and , The Automobile and American Life

X
WonderClub Home

This item is in your Collection

The Automobile and American Life, This is the story of how the automobile changed the essence of life in America. Both a general history of the automobile and a broad-ranging analysis of its cultural effects, the text addresses such topics as cars' inception as a mechanical curiosity and , The Automobile and American Life

The Automobile and American Life

X
WonderClub Home

This Item is in Your Inventory

The Automobile and American Life, This is the story of how the automobile changed the essence of life in America. Both a general history of the automobile and a broad-ranging analysis of its cultural effects, the text addresses such topics as cars' inception as a mechanical curiosity and , The Automobile and American Life

The Automobile and American Life

WonderClub Home

You must be logged in to review the products

E-mail address:

Password: