Quiz 1950s Car Culture

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| By Meredithbrowne

Meredithbrowne

Community Contributor

Quizzes Created: 4 | Total Attempts: 3,408

| Attempts: 219 | Questions: 18

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1. Ads for cars and popular songs made connections between cars and

Masculinity

Romance

Male sexual prowess

All of the above

None of the above

Hear the "Rocket 88" song here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbfnh1oVTk0

Explanation

Hear the "Rocket 88" song here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbfnh1oVTk0

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About This Quiz

Explore the 1950s car culture in America through this engaging quiz. Assess your understanding of automotive history, advertising trends, and the societal impact of car ownership in the... see more1950s. This quiz provides insights into how cars influenced American society and popular media during this era. see less

2. People in the 1950s seem to have really wanted decorated surfaces with lots of embellisment

True

False

Harley Earl thought people liked all these rococo extras because it visibly demonstrated prestige and showed your neighbours you had spent a lot of money and were successful.

Explanation

Harley Earl thought people liked all these rococo extras because it visibly demonstrated prestige and showed your neighbours you had spent a lot of money and were successful.

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3. While real life families flocked to the suburbs, this was not reflected in America's fictional television families who stayed in more elegant and sophisticated urban settings.

True

False

Marling even explains that many shows (like I Love Lucy) made the move to the suburbs part of their story!

Explanation

Marling even explains that many shows (like I Love Lucy) made the move to the suburbs part of their story!

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4. Which car manufacturer spent the most on advertising in the 1950s?

Ford

Chrysler

Volkswagon

GM made Chevrolets or "Chevies" and spent millions every year on advertising

Explanation

GM made Chevrolets or "Chevies" and spent millions every year on advertising

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5. What could not have existed without the massive increase in automobile ownership?

Suburbs

City life

Romance

Space travel

Marling says that due to the car, suburbs were created "where new houses sprouted like dandelions after rain".

Explanation

Marling says that due to the car, suburbs were created "where new houses sprouted like dandelions after rain".

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6. What was something that General Motors and Ford used to try to make cars more appealing to female buyers?

You think Ford and GM were crazy? Look at the list of things that came with the Cadillac el Dorado on page 141!

Explanation

You think Ford and GM were crazy? Look at the list of things that came with the Cadillac el Dorado on page 141!

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7. Art and design critics loved the playfulness of car design

True

False

Nope. They hardly articulate how awful they found it. See page 153.

Explanation

Nope. They hardly articulate how awful they found it. See page 153.

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8. Dagmars

Were the German designers hired by Ford to make cars more futuristic

Part of a car's bumper named after a starlet's breasts

Early safety features which were regarded as something only for sissies or women

All the cool extras that came with a new car, like matching lipstick,

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/design-3/design-history-cadillacs-dagmars-an-intimate-look-at-their-origins-development-and-namesake/

Explanation

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/design-3/design-history-cadillacs-dagmars-an-intimate-look-at-their-origins-development-and-namesake/

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9. The lady driver

Was commonly seen in advertising with her hat and gloves

Was a way for a man to justify power brakes or steering (it's for the little lady!)

Was often the butt of jokes

All of the above

None of the above

The correct answer is "All of the above". This means that all the statements mentioned in the question are true. The lady driver was commonly seen in advertising with her hat and gloves, which suggests a certain image or stereotype associated with female drivers. Additionally, the idea of a lady driver was sometimes used as a way for men to justify power brakes or steering, implying that women needed assistance or special features in their cars. Lastly, female drivers were often the subject of jokes, indicating a widespread social perception or bias.

Explanation

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10. When the Russians beat the Americans to space with the launch of Sputnik in 1958

Cadillac began designing cars that looked like they were from outer space!

Oldsmobile began collaborating with the government to make space vessels like the Rocket 88

There was a recession. Consumers felt queasy about buying the latest model car when the Russians were actually building rockets.

Americans began building cars full of gadgets and features to make their cars seem futuristic to show that they too had advanced engineering

During the time when the Russians launched Sputnik and beat the Americans to space, there was a recession. This economic downturn made consumers hesitant to purchase the latest model cars as they were concerned about the advancements being made by the Russians in rocket technology. This explains why Cadillac and other American car manufacturers started designing cars that looked futuristic and filled them with gadgets and features, to assure consumers that they too had advanced engineering capabilities.

Explanation

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11. Which of the following terms described the idea that there should be a new stylish model of car each year?

Fordism

Communism

Sloanism

None of the above

By 1926 everyone who could afford a car already had one and sales dropped off. Why would someone buy a new one, when they already had one that worked just fine? Alfred Sloan came up with an answer: make it fashionable to have the latest style or colour!

Explanation

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12. Why might a member of a minority group buy a luxury car?

They were not allowed to buy property in "nice" neighbourhoods

Because those with enough income could, so why not?

To show their success

All of the above

None of the above

Some of the new suburbs in American had clauses written into the contracts that owners could not sell their homes to non-white or Jewish families. So if you were not allowed to buy a nice home, you could at least have a nice car. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/nyregion/at-50-levittown-contends-with-its-legacy-of-bias.html

Explanation

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13. Cars were seen as feminine

True

False

Psychologists like Dichter described men as buying two different kinds of cars: the mistress (convertible and sexy) and the wife (reliable and gets the job done)!!

Explanation

Psychologists like Dichter described men as buying two different kinds of cars: the mistress (convertible and sexy) and the wife (reliable and gets the job done)!!

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14. What proportion of all the cars in the world did Americans own in this period?

10%

Half

99%

75%

150,697,361 million people lived in the U.S. in 1950 out of a global population of 2,556,000,053. This is not quite 6%.

Explanation

150,697,361 million people lived in the U.S. in 1950 out of a global population of 2,556,000,053. This is not quite 6%.

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15. Why were Europe and Great Britain so far behind America in car ownership?

They were concerned about the environment and preferred train travel

They lived in cute little places where it was easier to walk

They chose to spend their money on building zeppelins instead.

They were using a lot of their resources to rebuild after the destruction of the war

Recovery from wartime took a lot longer in the parts of the world where the war actually took place. Britain was still rationing food until 1954! See what that looked like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9wNJ78S2GY

Explanation

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16. The Edsel was a huge failure. Its grill was described as

An egg

A toilet seat

An unmentionable portion of the female anatomy

A and b

All of the above

The Edsel was a notorious failure in the automotive industry. Its grill was widely criticized and described using various derogatory terms, including "an egg," "a toilet seat," and "an unmentionable portion of the female anatomy." The phrase "All of the above" indicates that all of these descriptions were used to refer to the Edsel's grill.

Explanation

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17. Cadillac tail fins were

Inspired by naval vessels used after Pearl Harbour

Functional for making the car more aerodynamic and better on gas

Ridiculed by a small body of critics who called the cars luxurious loungemobiles

All of the above

None of the above

They called the extra chrome added to cars "gorp" and by the late fifties the average car had 44 pounds of purely decorative "gorp". Automakers sometimes claimed the fins improved aerodynamics, but really, their main function was as a metaphor. http://www.59-60cadillacs.com/

Explanation

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18. Why did Elvis trade in one of his cars after only three weeks?

He wanted the new model

He felt effeminate driving a pink car

It had been entirely covered in lipstick messages from his fans

All of the above

None of the above

Elvis had nothing against pastel coloured cars and owned many of them

Explanation

Elvis had nothing against pastel coloured cars and owned many of them

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