History of the Automobile, Part 2

By Audrey Robinson

Education Committee NECCM

The week of November 12th though the 18th is National Education Week. The Northeast Classic Car Museum is a great place to cultivate a student’s interest in history, literature, science, math and technology. The second part of this five-part series will show how automobiles were incorporated into all parts of life from music to books to movies.

In 1919, Sinclair Lewis wrote whimsically of his adventures in a Model T. One of the most famous books, which is now a standard text in high school and university courses on American literature in countries around the world, was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, ‘The Great Gatsby,” which portrayed the cynicism of post-World War I by the use of Gatsby’s cream-colored Rolls-Royce. In 1962, William Faulkner wrote about human frailties against the backdrop of an early Winton Flyer automobile in his classic, “The Reivers.” Other books such as “Christine,” by Stephen King were also centered on automobiles.

Even more than writers, composers of popular music were attracted to cars. Between 1905 and 1908, more than 120 songs were written in which the automobile was the subject. The automotive themes of these songs reflected the general culture of the automotive industry: sexual adventure, liberation from social control, and masculine power. Titles include “In My Merry Oldsmobile,” “Tumble in a Rumble Seat,” “On the Back Seat of A Henry Ford,” up to the contemporary songs such as “Mustang Sally,” “Little Deuce Coup,” “Little Red Corvette,” and “Pink Cadillac.” Trucking songs, such as “King of the Road,” “On the Road Again,” and others too numerous to name are immensely popular. In 1929, American Paul Galvin, the head of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, invented the first car radio. The first car radios were not available from car makers. Consumers had to purchase the radios separately. Galvin coined the name “Motorola” for the company’s new products, combining the idea of motion and radio.