3rd Page
Cultural Analysis
The
family station wagon was a very important
aspect of suburban life. It enabled families to have the best of all the
possible worlds in which a
car played a role. They replaced a family's need for two cars in that
they were like two cars rolled into one. They could be used on a day to
day basis for errands and other domestic
duties, and when the family wanted to take a vacation or day trip, the
station wagon was there to
fit the people and all the stuff they needed. Station wagons were for
Mom on the weekdays as
she drove the children all over town, did the shopping, and visited with
friends for lunch. On
Saturdays and Sundays, the wagon was mainly for Dad as he took care of
the house
maintenance jobs like going to the lumberyard and hardware store. If he
went to play golf with
his buddies, the station wagon could easily hold the players and all
their equipment. In warmer
weather, the entire family could be piled into the wagon to go on a
picnic by the lake. Of course,
the wagon could hold Mom, Dad, the children, the lunch, a rowboat and
fishing poles with ease.
If Junior could drive, the station wagon was perfect for a night at the
drive-in with friends, and if
he were lucky, he got to use it.
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The photos above are all from advertisements put out by Ford in the 1930s,
1940s
and 1950s. Each photo depicts a station wagon serving someone like a
regular sedan could not. Notice the photo with the suburban woman at the
wheel. Her car is parked outside of her perfectly manicured home in the
suburbs, and she is beaming with pride over her car. Notice also the
photo beside it of the family picnicking. If not for their reliable 1950
Custom Deluxe Ford Station Wagon, they could never have fit all of
themselves and their belongings in the car. |
In the
1940s, 1950s,
and
even into the 1970s and 80s,
when a family owned
a station wagon, it showed they had achieved a part of the ultimate
suburban dream. Station
wagons symbolized a happy family; they showed that the family that owned
the wagon cared
about the family spending time together. Families used station wagons
for everything while still
maintaining a respect for the cutting edge of fashion and technology.
These cars were different from the cramped sedans that were prevalent in
the city. Station wagons enabled the suburban dream. Families
could actually spend time together in the car as well as show it off to
the neighbors. As we have discovered in class this semester, much of
suburbanites' identities are defined by material possessions, and the
station wagon in one of the most ubiquitous of suburban possessions. Once
their popularity took hold of suburbia, it didn't let go for a long time.
Nowadays, in light of
the introduction of the more modern minivan, station wagons are sometimes
stereotyped as being
old fashioned and plain. Nevertheless, they are still the most popular
types of cars in America,
especially among the middle class, which is the most prevalent in
suburbia (Dunne 46).
Station wagons, like the Ford Taurus, are probably so popular because
they are reliable. Families have been relying on station wagons,
especially Ford ones, for over fifty years. Minivans have only been
around for about ten
years, so their lasting power has not yet been proven. They are still
young in the world of automobiles, and they haven't quite garnered the
respect that station wagons have.