1950s Car Culture - a short history with clips

[XXXoebe]

LOL'd at the guy who think s he is going to make a left turn at 2:58!

[shadowfrost91]

Gas was $0.25 a gallon?! I have to build a time machine when ever I need gas =)

[kronitz52]

to hep2jicw, how true, but it is the perception that everything was swell!

[quirpco]

Easy credit...now THERE'S a thing of the past!

[corbinamondo]

I LOVE BUICKS!

[corbinamondo]

ive always loved plymouth models

especially the 1958 fury ;-)

[djypsydjazz]

At 00:59 , can anyone identify the cars in the background?

[vikrace]

The first car is a 1948 Buick. The second car is a 1949 Chevrolet. Hope this helps!!!!

[hep2jive]

gas station attendents were not smiling back then just as much as they are now a days as well.

[hep2jive]

dirt cheap compare it to today... but if your only making well younger a dollar an hour, even 25 cents for gas seems much. well here in chicago ppl didnt have money. you must remember that if you had a sofa in your house (at least in chicago) you had money. lets say not many ppl had sofas.

[hep2jive]

in 1955 when gas was 25 cents, that was equal to about 5.89 per gallon in modern times. this video bugs me in how they wrongly show the 1950s. yes cars were 800-2,000 bucks, but you were not making 15 bucks an hour. try $3.75 a week. all of a sudden, 800 bucks for a new car doesnt seem so cheap. people in the early 1950s where very poor and it was hard to find a job right after the war... this video seems to just talk about how everyone had money and everyone was happy... yea right.

[1947Desoto]

Right after the war, 1945-1948 the economy wasn't at it's highest. G.I.'s were having trouble finding jobs, and there was a housing shortage. By 1948-1950 the economy got better, but it was slowed by the Korean War. By 1955 however the economy was booming and more people had money. In general people had money because of the all the bonds they bought during WWII. I also don't think 25 cents then translates to 5.89 now. Everyone said that was dirt cheap back then.

[CycolacFan]

there was also a recession in 1958 as well.

[DamnStraightM35A2]

more like $50 a week not $3.75 a week $3.75 a week would be 9 cents an hour

[tomwendel1957]

@DamnStraightM35A2 I remember in 1960 my Dad made $69.00 a week in the family business,house payment was$59.00 a month.

[hep2jive]

@hep2jive Oh yeah, plus we all were freaked out and scared we were going to get blown up any second by the russians.

[50zcarsman]

@hep2jive Correct. I am stunned by how much certain things cost back then, when one takes into account average wages. My dad, an RCA electrical engineer with a bachelor's degree, a security clearance, 17 years' experience, a stay-at-home spouse, and three kids to feed made only about $38K per year as late as 1970, and we never felt financially stressed. But my 'rents were prudent -- some stuff was just out of sight so they never considered it. Only the age of mass imports changed that.

[hep2jive]

@50zcarsman Oh thanks for sharing! yeah I was born nin 1989 and even I know that this video isnt right. thought im not like most. check out my vids, you might like my car I drive!!

[hep2jive]

this is a cool video, but is incorrect in some facts...but its still cool.

[MUSEfan0013]

et aussi big Ddikce à la 1ère ES euro ^^

wesh wesh

[MUSEfan0013]

yo ! big Ddikce à madame, fripon et freluket xD