A Nation on Wheels The Automobile Culture in America Since 1945

by Foster, Mark S.

• ISBN13: 9780155075429
• ISBN10: 015507542X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-08
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

This brief text examines the central role of the automobile in American life in the late twentieth-century. Synthesizing and discussing the most insightful monographs written about the automobile, Mark Foster provides students with an enlightening history of one of America's most recognizable contributions to industrialized society. This volume is part of the AMERICA SINCE 1945 series--a collection of brief texts that seek to define the ways in which the United States has changed in the last 50 years.

Table of Contents

Preface	vi
Setting the Stage	1	(30)
The First Horseless Carriages	2	(3)
The Petroleum Industry: Fueling the Flame	5	(3)
A Growing Automobile Industry: From Model T to Model A	8	(3)
The Highway Infrastructure	11	(4)
The Car Culture's Impact on Mass Transit	15	(6)
The Automobile Changes America	21	(10)
A Laborious Reconversion	31	(22)
The War Effort Constrains the Car Culture	32	(1)
``Futurama'': Cars Get the Green Light Again?	33	(4)
The World of Autoworkers	37	(5)
The Postwar Years of the Car Culture	42	(2)
Ford Motor Company: Administrative Dark Ages	44	(2)
A Revitalized Industry	46	(3)
Changes in Design	49	(4)
The Automobile, Suburbia, and the Reshaping of American Landscapes	53	(12)
The Decline of Mass Transit	53	(2)
The Rise of Suburbia	55	(4)
The Centrality of the Automobile	59	(1)
The Suburban Nightmare	60	(2)
The Suburban Dream	62	(3)
The Fabulous Fifties and the Soaring Sixties	65	(35)
Automobiles and the Youth Culture	66	(1)
A Vehicle for Freedom	67	(2)
``Dream Cars'' of the 1950s	69	(6)
``Muscle Cars'' of the 1960s	75	(2)
Automobile Racing: Stock Cars and Dragsters	77	(5)
Cars, Kids, and Rock and Roll	82	(4)
Cars, Drive-ins, and the Movies	86	(4)
The Birth of Fast Food	90	(4)
Family Vacations: The Motel Culture	94	(6)
The Automobile, Mass Transit, and Public Policy	100	(19)
Toll Roads	101	(2)
A National Highway Program	103	(5)
Opposition to the Interstates	108	(3)
A Conspiracy against Mass Transit?	111	(2)
Europe Embraces Mass Transit	113	(2)
Stagnation of Mass Transit in America	115	(4)
The Automobile Culture Under Siege	119	(22)
A Nation Addicted to Automobiles	120	(2)
Paying for the Automobile Habit	122	(3)
Sprawl and Mall: Environmental Pollution	125	(2)
The Automotive Assault on Cities	127	(4)
Critics of the Car Culture Take Action	131	(10)
The Automobile Industry Under Siege	141	(26)
Atrophy in the Auto Industry	141	(2)
Insolent Chariot Makers	143	(2)
Dealers versus Consumers	145	(1)
Salvos against the Auto Industry	146	(5)
Turmoil on the Shop Floor	151	(5)
Competition from Abroad	156	(2)
Dwindling Natural Resources	158	(9)
A Remarkable Revival	167	(25)
The Sociology of the Car Culture Changes	167	(2)
Chrysler: Emerging from the Slump	169	(5)
Ford: Challenging for the Lead Again	174	(1)
General Motors: A Search for Identity	175	(3)
An Age of ``World Cars''	178	(1)
New Reversals in Detroit	179	(2)
Reversals in Tokyo	181	(2)
The Second American Revival and Alternative Driving Machines	183	(7)
A Remarkable Transformation	190	(2)
The Future of the Automobile	192	(22)
The Future of Mass Transit	193	(3)
The Nightmare Commute	196	(1)
The Reshaping of Urban Space	196	(3)
New Sources of Power?	199	(3)
Homes on Wheels	202	(1)
Safer at Any Speed	203	(2)
Visions of the Future	205	(9)
Index	214