1950s USA - The GOLDEN AGE of American CARS

[@fob1xxl]

THANK GOD I WAS BORN IN 1945 ! I was just at the right age when I fell in love with cars . It was 1955, and I was 10 ! My best friend and I would go to every car dealer in town and collect every brochure they had. I have all those brochures even today. From 1955 through 1995. Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac Chevrolet, Ford, Mercury,Oldsmobile, Lincoln, Chrysler,Imperial,Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Mustang, Cougar, Falcon,Pinto,Skylark,Cutlass, Corvette, Firebird,Cameron, GTO, Grand Prix, Riviera,Thunderbird. Continental, Towne Car, Eldorado, Seville. Some of the older ones are quite valuable.

[@rooky55]

Us kids went to the dealerships and picked up brochures. I think the dealer hoped we would show them to our Dad's.

[@1954shadow]

Born in ‘54, love the cars from the 50’s.

[@retiredcatlady]

Me too

[@mikeywid4954]

The cars + the times = a great time to be alive! I feel blessed to have been a part of it.

[@garybancroft4976]

Amen brother! Best times ever. Wish my grandsons could experience it. They would gain and learn so much more from it.

[@belltoll1918]

I was six years old in 1960 when I took my first flight on a plane. Pan Am from Chicago to London. It was so good. Everything about it was magical. We only flew Pan Am. The last flight I took with them was in 1970 on Christmas Day. The food was spectacular! The plane was lovely and the attendants were so nice. There were so few of us on the plane that we could choose what seats we wanted. Everyone had a row to themselves! Dinner was a Christmas Classic, with roast goose, chestnut dressing, and all the trimmings. Breakfast brought us bagels with cream cheese and lox. I will never forget the marvelous times I had on Pan Am flights. I will be flying to the states in less than a month ... it is never the same as the old days. Cheers to Pan Am, the airline that lived in the days of class and distinction. It will never be the same, but we do have our fond memories!

[@HeatherB81]

If I could go back in time, I would drop everything in my current life and go back to the 1950’s

[@MikeV-t7o]

It looks good in pictures..... but I'm sure it was not an easy time. Drunk Men ruled the Roost Nuff said

[@davidallen5776]

Me too!

[@tegunn]

Post- Salk vaccine '50's

[@KingKongbabe]

@@MikeV-t7olow IQ comment

[@TomSpeaks-vw1zp]

@@MikeV-t7o At least they were well dressed drunks who eventually got sober. Unlike these 24/7 crack heads today.

[@steveperry1344]

i'm watching this video and have a huge smiling grin on my face seeing the old cars and times of the 50's. my brother and i used to have so much fun being able to identify all the cars and anticipate the new models that would come out in the fall. my whole family of parents, aunts and uncles were all gm people and there were chevies, pontiacs, buicks, oldsmobiles and cadillacs, top of the line. my dad was the modest low end chevy guy and always bought used. my first car was a 54 chevy that cost me $50 bucks in 1966 and my brother had a 53 chevy.

[@CJColvin]

You gotta love the cars of the 1950s (especially the Tri 5 Chevies as well as the 56 Ford F100).

[@carolynwalker339]

I am so glad I grew up in the 1950s! We were so free then.

[@Roma-SRyan]

"We"??

[@jillhetherington6040]

My first car was a 88 Oldsmobile convertible. I will never stop loving that car.

[@stonylawncottagepipe4429]

I was born in December 1941...and love the annual presentation of th next yearscars

[@dflf]

Loved how magazine illustrators played fast and loose with the dimensions of the actual car

[@patriley9449]

I was born in 1951 and consider the years up until late 1963 as the best years of my life. I guess that many people from all generations could say the same for the times that they lived through. As a pre- teen child, I had few responsibilities and the world seemed new and interesting every day. I am doing my best to resurrect that feeling today. Enjoy life !

[@jec1ny]

Great video. Planning on showing it to mom (born in '41 and still with us).

[@lyngruen8607]

Born in '51....loved my childhood....😊 Texas Nana Psalm 91

[@lonwaslien104]

National Geographic magazine had wonderful car advertisements during that time.

[@davidallen5776]

Back in those days, you knew what a Cadillac was when you saw one floating down the street!

[@incog99skd11]

Seeing the Tee-Pee roadside attraction once more is a nice touch.

[@davidallen5776]

I can say much more for the past than I can ever say for the present!

[@wundyboy]

A great compilation, well done!

[@eutimiochavez415]

Those were great times , now just memories , I miss them ❤❤

[@GeorgeVreelandHill]

The best cars ever made were made in the 1950s. It was the best of times too.

[@masudashizue777]

Although I talk about the "good old days" like everyone else, I have to admit that my current car is the best car I've ever had. I remember having to turn the ignition key and having to muscle the windows open.

[@TomSpeaks-vw1zp]

“Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end.” But sadly they did. It was a good ride while it lasted ❤

[@rooky55]

We would fight and never lose. We felt so invincible in those happy days.

[@patrickmcgrath5411]

THANK GOD I WAS BORN IN 1952'❣️

[@rooky55]

Me too.

[@Barbarra63297]

Brother and I learned to drive on mom's 55 Oldsmobile Delta 88, dad always had a new company car every two years and it was Chevrolets. Brother started learning to drive on country roads to grandma's farm and when I was 11 I got to drive on the way too. I loved that 55 Olds, interior was huge and comfortable and the Chevys, well I will always be a Chevy freak. Our mom learned to drive on her parent's Model A Ford so I guess they figured 11 yrs. old was a good time to start.

[@roccobilly2973]

Man, the two pictures you put at the end, those with the four friends beside their hot rod, and them again in the same position, 50 years later or so, made me think my beloved '58 Belvie hard top will survive me too.

[@johnwatson8323]

Thank you!!!❤

[@williamcarlson5405]

From WC, I remember picking a girl for a date at her door and usually meeting her Mom and/or Dad and getting a few instructions for the evening! She would be in a pretty dress and you would have on a shirt and a nice pair of pants, socks, and decent shoes, not tennis shoes! I think her Dad would check out your car from afar to make sure it would get you from here to there and back! Plus a certain time to get her back home, usually before midnight! My 53 Chevy 2 door seemed acceptable to the parents!

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Enjoyed!!! 👍👍

[@jimlubinski4731]

You really captured the essence of the time. If I only had a time machine...

[@peterselten500]

Great video thanks alot so many cars i wish i owned

[@bobschlenk9720]

A great decade for the artwork f cars. That's why I still have my first car, a 1959 Ford wagon.

[@rjacob1857]

Cars in the 50's were great. 55, 56, 57, 58 Chevrolet very nice. Chevrolet, dodge trucks too.😊

[@jayc3110]

Beautifully made.... thank you and best wishes

[@flynlr]

at 5:14 that's the salt lake valley looking northeast, the long gone Millcreek Drive-in at 3300S and 3500E , A smiths grocery is now there.

[@squidwartztortellini8812]

every decade has it's own charm, and one of the best thing this decade has to offer is that i can see the glimpse of life back then easily. i'm not from US and 1950s was very rough in my country, so yeah i'm glad we have internet now

[@rongendron8705]

I lived through every year of the 1950's & loved that decade! However, I've always felt that the '50's , as we remember them, did not start until 1953, with the inauguration of Pres. Eisenhower & the end of the Korean War! But, that decade's atmosphere also did not end until Pres. Kennedy's assassination in 1963! After that, the United States began to lose its separate national identity, in favor of global incorporation!! The 1950's was the last decade that America was a "World unto itself"! Too bad!

[@jesusmyvoiceofhope5391]

I think the 50s were the best time to grew up, after that everything went bad

[@Roma-SRyan]

best time to grow up for who?

[@jesusmyvoiceofhope5391]

@@Roma-SRyan for me

[@itsabovemenow1016]

Must be white. Yeah, I’m sure you would enjoy it.

[@LordOfThePancakes]

Everyone who says this conveniently seems to think “everything turned bad” in the years after their youth is gone.

[@johnjwedrall4290]

I found your channel today and subscribed to it today 👍

[@caroltanzi29]

Great video and memories. Carol from California

[@mobiltec]

Have you done a Vintage Trailer Video yet?

[@PatFraser-e9x]

Everything was made better!

[@LordOfThePancakes]

Not by today’s standards.

[@ManiaMusicChannel]

The years of optimism, lots of growth for the USA

[@daler.steffy1047]

It was June, 1961. My parents loaded up our family, with the five children, ranging in ages from 16 down 1-year (I was the middle kid at age 12), into our 1956 Dodge Coronet 4-door sedan (with an original sticker price of about $2250.00). We left our well-loved home in Columbus, Ohio for a new life in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California (and this move was due to a new job my dad had accepted in the space industry). My dad took the now-famous Historic Route 66, as in those days interstate 40 had not been built yet. Now four or five days into our adventurous trip, we arrived in Needles, California, at midday (at the Colorado River, just over the Arizona border), and it was 120° outside.The only air conditioning we had for all seven of us our 1956 car was this odd metal tube, perhaps 24" long and with a diameter of about 8", that was mounted to the front passenger window, anchored there like you would anchor a fast-food drive-in tray; and after you put crushed ice and water into a small opening in the top of the tube, then supposedly--or hopefully--as you drove along and pulled a little rope-type cord that manually activated some "drum thing" in its inner workings, that was "designed" to spin around inside this metal tube and "force" cool air into the car's passenger compartment, well...this wonderfully welcomed cold air that was suppose to come rushing inside our car...it didn't work! And it never worked! But what we did do in Needles was to buy bags of crushed ice and share the delightful ice chips around while we traveled. My father could have easily afforded us to stay in a motel in Needles that night, instead of "subjecting" the whole family to such miserable conditions. But years later, I got thinking about why he decided to continue driving across the Mojave Desert in such intense heat, and during the hottest part of the day. He was stationed in the southern Arizona desert during World War II, and from the stories he told me over the years, he simply loved the desert, with all of its offerings. So here he was, in the land that he loved(!), introducing all of us to his sense of Eden; but damn-it, it was 120 degrees outside! However, I will say one thing here that I certainly consider a positive note out of that experience, and that is, it helped to develop a bit of "character" in us five young children. Experiencing a little bit of discomfort for an afternoon into the early evening hours of a unique day, was really a rare opportunity to test one's fortitude, one's ability to cope with some fairly intense discomfort. But in the end, what we all came to realize was, for our family, we all won.

[@CrackerJackerNeighbor]

Beautiful. Just, Beautiful.

[@beatrixbrennan1545]

Can't and won't do the heat. It's the worst feeling in life for me. Good for you for getting through it

[@oldwobble916]

American Graffiti is one of my favourite movies, although I never experienced that culture, being Dutch. And all those different colours, even Ford wasn't black any more. Nowadays, it's mostly black, white or something in between. I noticed several girls in shorts. This was long before Mary Quant "invented" the hot pants.

[@zekeonstormpeak4186]

American Graffiti took place in 1962.

[@jetsons101]

The image at 6:53 looks to be Central City Colorado, looking up North from the bottom of Main Street. It looks a bit different today.

[@tobystamps2920]

Oh yeah, it just had to be turned into a casino town. Ruining it.

[@jetsons101]

@@tobystamps2920 Your right, I looked around on street and birdseye view and there were quite a few casinos. Must be nice to have a lot of spare money to gamble away....... lol

[@brucestaples4510]

"Unsafe At Any Speed"...but not bad lookin', and you could tell them apart...and could they haul ass!!🚘🚗

[@thestevedoughtyshow27]

I had a 54 Buick in college, 1976. Not un safe unless you drove like a dipshit.

[@brucestaples4510]

@@thestevedoughtyshow27 True that, but sans seat belts, etc., there's still the _other_ driver factor.

[@shmulyitzkowitz6479]

Automobiles had personality’s today people don’t

[@garyfaught3769]

I'd go back to fthe 50's in a heartbeat. The only problem is i would need my insulin and metformin very quickly. So i do the next best thing....take my meds and go sit in my '57 Ford Thunderbird, listening to Buddy Holly.....and dream on about those good old days.😊

[@amykingery8577]

If anybody designs new cars like these..bet they would sell like hotcakes

[@thestevedoughtyshow27]

25 MPG at 25 cents a gallon. A dollar for a 100 miles, those we're the days.

[@waynetaylor8082]

The average hourly wage was less than $2/hour, also.

[@rongendron8705]

I remember gas at $.19.9 a gal. in the 50's! You could get gas for $.27.9, up till the first Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, if you looked around!

[@thestevedoughtyshow27]

@waynetaylor8082 Then did people buy cars and homes. My father bought a new car every 3 years, my uncle drove nothing but Packard, and not the Clipper, but a Carabeain. 2 dollars an hour is 80 dollars a week, before taxes.

[@thestevedoughtyshow27]

@rongendron8705 6 months before that I bought a new car, 4 dollars filled it. I had plans for the summer. But, no gas, no travel.

[@Ezexl-l6k]

nice

[@mr_fring]

🔥🔥🔥

[@ericpierce3660]

Great video! I'm intrigued by your accent, you pronounce automobile "Otto" mobile. Where are you from?

[@snakejuce]

? It's literally the normal way of saying automobile. How the hell do you say it? This is how everyone in America says it.

[@jillhetherington6040]

@@snakejuce Awto

[@ericpierce3660]

@@snakejuce Most people in America say "aww-toh-mobile". "Otto-mobile" or "Aah-toh-mobile" sounds normal to you but sounds different enough to us that we notice it. It's gotta be a regionalism, but I'm curious where it's from. Sounds kind of Chicago-y, but also kind of northeastern? I can't remember where I've heard it. The kind of place where people pronounce "awesome" as "ah-some" to rhyme with "possum". I just can't put my finger on it so it made me curious.

[@snakejuce]

@@ericpierce3660 Lol fair enough, how do you guys pronounce it where you're from?

[@johnwatson8323]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@tobystamps2920]

Back when America had it’s own distinct culture and was proud of it. Now we’re told we can’t have a national culture and identity.

[@kermitwilson]

As long as the modern national culture isn’t AR-15s and desecrated American flags with that stupid blue stripe, I’d like to get back to an undamaged flag, and before the government started printing “In God We Trust” on all of the money to cater to fundamentalist churches

[@princeeverlove]

Bozoblama did his work well...

[@bryansteele832]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong but when I research about the 1950s and 1960s it seems like if you were willing to work there was always a job for you somewhere, and if you were willing to work hard the sky was the limit. Out of high school you could be a manager or salesman at a Sears and be able to buy a house and car and live moderately. Or you put yourself through college and get a really good job so you can get a really nice house with a swimming pool and a really nice car and live well. Today people that make over 100k a year can barely afford a home and are in debt for the rest of their life.

[@TomSpeaks-vw1zp]

No correction needed. You are mostly correct. There were still a lot of barriers, but you had opportunities depending on your attitude. Nothing was handed to you!

[@Roma-SRyan]

if u were a white man

[@garyfaught3769]

Welcome to the world of bidumb and scumala!

[@bryansteele832]

@@garyfaught3769 Its not just politics dude. Its these rich cock suckers and corporations (including trump) that have worked very hard to find ways to control to have more for themselves and keep people under their boot. Its like a monarchy only now there is many kings.

[@sumanghosh-pb3dw]

6:03 - the car 🚗 freed peopl from train schedules.

[@GMCTIM]

Yep but they sure try to convince us today's better ! I call BS on that !

[@carolynwalker339]

The drive in restaurant was the beginning of casual wear. You didn't need to wear a pretty dress and high heels to eat or watch a movie in your own car!

[@57ot]

What a thrill to live back then! Especially for the black folks

[@MarkWG]

Though I love cars, actually have gasoline surging through my veins ever since I was able to crawl, give me cars from the 1960s, please! The 1960s were the era for beautiful, timeless styling. The 1961-69 Lincoln. The 1963 Corvette. The 1963-65 Riviera, The 1963 Chrysler Ghia Turbine, The 1965 Pontiacs. The 1965 Mustang, The 1968 Continental Mark III, The 1968 Eldorado. Need I say more? Gloria Swanson said it best in "Sunset Boulevard" in 1953: "These new cars are made of nothing but spit and chromium." 1950s era cars were bloated, fat, overly chrome-ladened and mostly underpowered. The only '50s cars worth mentioning are the 1953 Studebakers, the 1953 Corvette, the 1956-57 Continental Mark II, the 1956 Lincolns, and the 1957 Chrysler Corporation cars. Take me back to the 1960s again when cars were truly works of art.

[@gogoyubari366]

Pretty girls back then!

[@Ted89988]

I’m in this video. 😂

[@acersalman8258]

Beautiful more beautiful than new cars ugly made from blastic

[@7c8f9x]

THE BEAR IS ON THEIR HOOD, AND THEY'RE ON THE OTHER SIDE LOOKING AT IT! OMG. NOT SMART.

[@lightwarrior432]

Bears weren’t that aggressive back then. They would come into our campsite looking for food, but wouldn’t bother anyone. And could be scared off easily.

[@SamOlds2999]

675th like

[@daler.steffy1047]

Narrator, please, please, please STOP using the word "iconic!" Simply stated, just stop using it! I'm sick of hearing it on all the video presentations across KZbin!

[@TomSpeaks-vw1zp]

Settle down!

[@English_is_easy1234]

And now we are on the Verge of nuclear warfare 😢😢. How come we reached this far?😢

[@LucaMohamed-b7l]

The cold war was going on during the 50s so its nothing new.

[@lacroix8987]

You know who Douglas McArthur was?

[@English_is_easy1234]

@lacroix8987 no! Who was he?

[@lacroix8987]

@@English_is_easy1234 During Korean War he wanted to use Nukes And btw all this „we are close to nuclear war” chants from people who doesn’t remember Cold War are a bit funny.

[@English_is_easy1234]

@lacroix8987 isn't sad tho, we come far as a civilization and built all these technology & we are about to wipe it all out with couples of red buttons? Anyway I really hope it won't happen although I see happening and closer than anytime.

[@amykingery8577]

Stuckeys