By the time my first child was born in 1986, we had already purchased a baby seat for the car. It had become law here in Arkansas a couple of years earlier that children under the age of two would be strapped in.
But go back about twenty years (from 1986, that is), and the only protection small children had going down the highway was the sheer mass of the vehicles in which they were traveling.
Many of us Boomers fondly recall gas for less than thirty cents a gallon, and consequently drive economical cars today. My ride of choice to get to work (25 miles away) is a 1992 Toyota Tercel which has a new engine and gets 35-40 MPG. Four men at each corner could probably lift it off the ground.
But go back to JFK's era, and cars were HUGE!
Like I have mentioned in previous columns, dad was on a Plymouth kick in the 60's and early 70's. We would go to the same car dealership in Neosho, Missouri every other year, and would once again be treated to new car smell on the drive home.
And the Furys that dad liked all had one thing in common: that sloping rear window that allowed a kid to lay there and soak up the sunshine. Or possibly the starlight, if we were driving back to Miami from Joplin on a Saturday night after dining in Mickey Mantle's restaurant.
I used to lay back there and periodically roll down into the expansive back seat. It was great fun. And we would be speeding down I-44 at 75 MPH the whole time. No, it wasn't child neglect. It was life in the 60's.
I like to go to old car shows and marvel at the sheer size of the vintage vehicles. I sat in a 1950 Pontiac coupe recently. Though the car only had two doors, the back seat was the size of a single bed. No wonder drive-ins were so popular back then! ;-) The glove compartment alone was big enough to hold a twelve-pack of beer.
Times have changed in so many ways. Cars are smaller, more fuel-efficient, and laden with passive and active restraint devices. Babies and toddlers are cocooned in their own little worlds of safety in the back seat. But we Boomers remember when a kid's place was the rear deck!
Comments (6)
I had 1969 Plymouth Sport Fury 383 engine.It was SWEET, Remember the back seat.
Posted by Gerard Fleck | March 4, 2007 9:26 AM
Posted on March 4, 2007 09:26
Oh yeah, I remember a trip to the state of Washington when I was just a wee lad.....We drove almost straight thru....Us kids(3 of us)took turns laying in the back glass, plenty of room...as you noted, different concept of safety back then....
Posted by Tony | March 4, 2007 5:49 PM
Posted on March 4, 2007 17:49
I'm glad to know we weren't the only ones doing that! Dad had a Dodge Coronet in the 60s. My brother, sister and I would take turns laying up there in the back window. I don't remember ever wearing seat belts or if we even had them. After that dad bought a Chevy station wagon with the rear facing seat in the back. Now, that was awesome!
Posted by Rhonda | April 17, 2007 6:02 PM
Posted on April 17, 2007 18:02
Dad had a 66 Mustang Fastback, that (Mirsa My Girlfriend) and I would "pretend" to drive in, yes a different attitude about safty. And on starry summer nights, we would camp out in the backseat, today we still have a 66 Mustang fastback, are married and sneak out to the backseat even now. Just to see the stars...We'll sell the house before the Mustang!
Posted by craig | April 21, 2007 2:40 AM
Posted on April 21, 2007 02:40
I mentioned some things along this line in another topic. My brother and I would play on the floor of the back seat of a 51 Mercury in the 60s. Yeah, we could lay in the back window too, for a about a week after it was cleaned and then my parents would manage to fill it. they have always been pack rats. We would sleep in the back seat of hour long rides at night.
I hear others say different safety standards. Yes, but I go one further. More reasonable and sensible standards whereby the parents had a right to decide what was best for them and their kids and where reason ruled and dangers were not blown way out of proportion so that they could fine us $150 for "endangering" our kids and make them get out of the car and go with the officer. I have seen that happen. Back then, governments were less intrusive and had better things to do and raising money by more unprincipled means was not an option.
But it does make for a nice precedent in that the gov now has established their right to know better than us what is in our best interests and can pretty much do with us as they please, for after all, do they not know better than us?
I for one, do not believe they know better than me what is best for me. I believe it is the citizens who should decide what is in our best interests, not reps who clearly have money raising foremost on their minds and not real safety.
Further, the slight risk that one can barely argue for, for kids not buckled, straped in, and secured does not account for the much reduced comfort of lifestyle enjoyed by kids being able to lay down and nap or play on the floor or seat.
On the other hand, I do recognize that parents today do much more poorly at managing their kids and much as I recoil in horror at the lack of liberty and the bad precedent set, I know that wild kids on the loose in a car could be a real problem for other cars and drivers. We have let ourselves and each other down in not being able to produce the same kids as we used to.
On the other hand, I now want to sponsor a bill to make kids wear a suit of armor made specially by me so that I can reap vast profits, even after kicking back some a a few helpful politicians when You all have to buy what I make and sell. Added feature is the automated anesthetizing device to keep the little darlings quiet while you drive. I should be quite the hit.
Be sure to let your reps know you want the ultimate in protection and security. After all, you don't want to be labeled a bad parent who does not love their kids cause you are willing to recklessly chance injuring your kids by not afford them every possible protection under heaven, you heartless monsters, you. Tell your government you dare to care and vote for my armor suit today. Guaranteed to reduce injuries or their severity by leaps and bounds. HOw did we ever get by without them? We should not do so any longer.
OK, OK, so I am a sarcastic bast#$% and not much fun at parties, or am I? But believe it or not, I do love to laugh it up and I never miss the Simpsons! After all, are not the writers of the Simpsons all baby boomers? Think about it, boomers. Wasn't it great back then? You better believe it!!!
Posted by Scott Irv | May 26, 2009 12:13 AM
Posted on May 26, 2009 00:13
For us, it was the back seat of our 65 Ford Fairlane! Not a big car, but still bigger then todays standards! Many aday spent in the back seat! Sleeping too on road trips! No seatbelts or car seats either! One thing I remember as a very young child was sitting in one of those, car chairs that had the mini steering wheel, horn and transmission handle on it! On the column of course. I don't think these were car seats for safety, more of a childs toy. Now my grandparents had the boat! A Chrysler product and it was hugh! I do remember a few times when the breaks were applied fastly and we went flying into the back of the front seat or on the hump of the floor. Remember the hump in the middle of the floor. Never could sleep on the rear floor because of that hump!
Posted by Rivers End | June 5, 2009 11:04 PM
Posted on June 5, 2009 23:04