Back in 1954, we bought a yellow Nash Rambler. It looked like an upside down clawfoot bathtub, without the claws, without seatbelts and without a radio. Few cars had radios at the time and it wasn't until the early 60's that the majority of cars had radios. Seatbelts would come even later, made standard* for all American manufacturer's. *When I visited Chile in '94, most cars, American European and Asian didn't have seatbelts. Gas stations would give out paper "find it" games, to keep kids occupied, for a while, and then for us, home entertainment was singing songs.
We are now a cell-phone addicted society, but at one time the car radio, the 8 track and cassette tape players were all the rage. In Portland, we had many "cruising" streets in town. Downtown, Broadway was the big one, open to all. At my High School, we cruised around Yaw's, at Franklin, it was the Foster/Powell Tick Tock intersection, Madison had 82nd Avenue. Some would park their cars, windows down, radio's up, and stand showing off and hoping to catch the eye of a beauty. Other's, would, all lanes full, drive at a crawl, for about 10 blocks, then 10 blocks back on 6th avenue. Every Friday and Saturday night, for many years, this was the scene in Portland, and around the country. Beer was everywhere, unless the rare police car bothered to cruise at 3 miles per hour. Pot was rare and laws were severe. Showing off your fanny, showing off your car, showing off your sound system and trying to be cool was the life of many young men and women. Not much purpose, but a lot of petrol, then around 25 cents a gallon.
As I took the father's seat with Shayla and Susan on board for road trips, music was background, but taking in the sights and sounds was always enough, along with sharing and talking. Probably the best times were in our Kia Sportage, destinations, fun and lasting memories. No need for a back seat DVD player or game apps. Music is always on, during solo long drives, as I believe it helps keep me alert. Iterestingly, when radios finally became practical and affordable, a number of states wanted to ban them from being in cars. Lullaby's could put you to sleep, and music could distract you.
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