Last Dream-O-Rama : The Cars Detroit Forgot to Build, 1950-1960

by McCall, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780609608012
• ISBN10: 0609608010
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-01
• Publisher: Crown

Summary

"When the postwar economic boom fostered such prosperity that easy credit allowed even hourly workers to plunge themselves hopelessly into debt, a brand-new car became an attainable dream for millions in the 1950s. And soon came dream cars to further stimulate their automotive saliva glands. By mid-decade, every American carmaker was parading its glittering glimpses of four-wheeled futurism before a dazzled public -- flights of styling fancy and functional wonderment blaring 'Headed for your driveway soon!' while mumbling, sotto voce, 'Don't hold us to it.' " So begins Bruce McCall's tongue-in-cheek history of Detroit's dream car era. From the author of the cult classicZany Afternoonscomes perhaps the sharpest, funniest, most original overview of Fifties culture -- and Fifties cars -- yet published.The Last Dream-o-Ramais a surrealistic satire, not just of the dream car phenomenon but of the conformist and materialistic value system that produced it. From the Quizfire 5000 Jackpot to the Nixoneer Squelchchoramic to the Bongo Beatnik Ferlinghetti TurboHipster, McCall's lavish illustrations and the antic text memorably restore the world of America in the Fifties in all its glitzy grandeur.

Author Biography

Bruce McCall's writing and illustrations regularly appear in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and numerous other major publications. Born and raised in Canada, he lives in New York City

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(8)
The American Dream Drives Off in All Directions	8	(8)
Dream Cars of the Fifties: The Golden Age of Insomnia	16	(92)
Name Your Own Dream Car-The Detroit Way!	108	(2)
Dream Cars Around the World	110