50s & 60s End WW2 to end VN war

1. 50s & 60sEnd WW2 to end VN war • 1950s ≈ Eisenhower era • Conservatism & conformism • GI bill (1944) • Cold war - Fears for Freedom (McCarthy) • Protest / non-conformism • Civil rights movement (Brown vs Board) • Beatniks • Economic boom • Lit & the Arts • Beatniks (e.g., Kerouac) • R n R • Chuck Berry • Elvis Presley • TV / Hwd

2. 1950s Bronx • Highway development: "Eisenhower interstates" • Political choices • Coalitions ("strange bed-fellows") • NYC: Robert Moses • e.g., Cross-Bronx Parkway • Suburban growth Harlem NYC

3. Interstate highways Interstate in Houston TX Interchange I-5 (LA)

4. The Big Three • General Motors (Alfred Sloan ... Roger Smith, Rick Waggoner, etc. . ) • Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac • (watch this space☺) • "planned obsolescence" • Ford (Henry Ford - Edsel Ford) • Ford, Mercury, Lincoln • Chrysler (Walter Chrysler) • Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler

5. Chrysler AirFlow 1949 Cadillac Sophia Loren & Jayne Mansfield 1955 Chevrolet 1957 1959 Cadillac 1955 Cadillac Evolution in Design • Chrysler AirFlow (from 1934) • Harley Earl - Tailfins • Chrysler

6. Expanding product lines • Station wagon • Sports cars • Chevrolet Corvette 1953 - present • Ford Thunderbird 1954 - 2005 • Mustang 1965 ... 2009 • "Muscle cars" Pontiac, Dodge, Ford (Mustang)

7. 60s Well, you knew all along thatYour dad was gettin' wise to you now(You shouldn't have lied, now you shouldn't have lied)And since he took your set of keysYou've been thinking that your fun is all through now(You shouldn't have lied, now you shouldn't have lied)But you can come along with me'Cause we gotta a lot of things to do now(You shouldn't have lied, now you shouldn't have lied)And we'll have fun, fun, fun now that daddy took the T-bird away(Fun, fun, fun now that daddy took the T-bird away)And we'll have fun fun fun now that daddy took the T-bird away(Fun, fun, fun now that daddy took the T-bird away)Fun, fun now that daddy took the T-bird awayFun, fun now that daddy took the T-bird awayFun, fun now that daddy took the T-bird away Well, she got her daddy's car And she cruised through the hamburger stand now Seems she forgot all about the library Like she told her old man now And with the radio blasting Goes cruising just as fast as she can now And she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the T-bird away Well the girls can't stand her 'Cause she walks, looks and drives like an ace now She makes the Indy 500 look Like a Roman chariot race now A lot of guys try to catch her But she leads them on a wild-goose chase, now And she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the T-bird away • JFK - LBJ - RMN • Civil rights movement (eg WDC 1963) & legislation • (Also, incidentally, Betty Friedan The Feminine Mystique 1963) • VN & student protest • Environmentalist movement • Rachel Carson 1963[!] Silent Spring • Pop Culture • Beatles (Baby, you can drive my car...) • Beach Boys (Fun, Fun, Fun) [1964] • Auto industry • improved safety features • smaller, less expensive cars (“compacts”) • Ralph Nader 1965 Unsafe at Any Speed

8. Ford Pinto Corvair Compact Cars

9. Consumer Protection: Safety Concerns • Ralph Nader: Unsafe At Any Speed 1965 (Corvair…) • Ford Pinto 1970

10. Pony Cars • Ford Mustang 1965

11. Pontiac GTO Dodge Charger Ford Mustang Muscle Cars

12. Consumer (& other) Movements& Legislative response • 1963 Clean Air Act • 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act • 1967 Air Quality Act • 1970, ’77, ’90 Clean Air Act Amendments • 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act