Automobiles

The Bumper Sticker

The Bumper Sticker

Regarded by pundits as cheesy and lowbrow, the bumper sticker is living proof that businesses can get customers to paste a miniature billboard promoting their establishment on their bumper, trunk lid, or car window. As mini-billboard, it pre-dates imprinted T-shirts, urinal ad space, and web banners as a medium to display a variety of political, social, and marketing messages. According to some sources, the first bumper stickers appeared in America during the 1950s, but it's likely that they were used much earlier than that. Originally, they weren't "stickers" at all, but brightly silk-screened…continue reading →
Route 66 Water Bags Were Cool

Route 66 Water Bags Were Cool

For Route 66 travelers trekking across the continent during the twenties and thirties, transportation by car was rife with problems. Tires went flat regularly, if they didn't blow out! Engines threw rods, transmissions seized, and crankcases cracked. Mechanical components were prone to fail. But, nothing inspired more dread than a plume of steam billowing from a hot radiator. There was a good reason: radiators of the era were delicate contrivances. Most were underrated for their applications. They were quick to overheat in traffic, during hot weather, and on steep inclines. The most inefficient…continue reading →