This is a Rhodes spring-driven Pathfinder Model Mark-Time parking. M. H. Rhodes added parking meters to its line of household and industrial timing devices in the mid-1930s. This manual parking meter showed the number of minutes an automobile was parked over the time limit.
Oklahoma City installed the first coin-operated parking meters in 1935, a practice soon adopted by other cities. Parking meters placed along curb lanes were meant to increase turnover, help enforce violations, reduce traffic congestion resulting from inadequate or haphazard parking spaces, and add much-needed revenue to municipal treasuries. City officials believed that parking meters were necessary to cope with the influx of automobiles into downtown areas and give more motorists access to stores and other businesses. But motorists and merchants challenged the legality of meters, claiming that they annoyed shoppers, deprived merchants and their employees of access to their front doors, and imposed an unfair tax on right-of-ways that were open to all. Most of the legal challenges failed, but meters were removed in several cities, and hours of enforcement were shortened in others. As parking meters proved their compatibility with downtown traffic and their success at increasing revenue, meters became an accepted way to regulate curb parking and fund traffic-related improvements as well as general municipal expenses.
This Pontiac No. 43 — that number was Richard Petty's hallmark, as No. 42 was for his father's cars — follows the 1984 design rules. Note the tubular space-frame, specially built body, racing wheels and tires, and safety gear in the interior. Like current NASCAR racers, its engine is not fuel-injected but uses carburetion. The car carried Petty to victory in the "Firecracker 400" race at Daytona, on July 4, 1984. The car ran one more race that year, the Talledega 500 on July 29th, but did not finish, retiring with a broken differential immediately after its first pit stop. The car owner was Curb Motorsports, owned by Mike Curb, of the family owning Canon Mills and president of Curb Records. The car was repainted by the crew of Petty Enterprises, Randleman, before presentation to the Smithsonian in late 1984. The car is configured for the last time it ran, at the 1984 Talledega race, and has that engine installed. The tires, however, are Daytona tires.
A uniquely American type of auto racing is "stock car" racing. Bill France, of Daytona Beach, Florida, had witnessed the popularity of pre-war "beach racing." In the late 1940s, he organized beach races for car-owners who liked the idea of competing against each other with more-or-less "stock" automobiles. To help him set rules for stock-car racing, France created the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR, in 1948. In 1953, France opened a new Daytona Speedway. NASCAR came of age in 1959, with the first running of the Daytona 500 - which was won by Lee Petty, Richard Petty's father, a three-time NASCAR national champion in his own right, during the 1950s.
Richard Petty, of Randleman, NC, began his racing in the early 1960s, winning his first Daytona 500 and first of seven NASCAR national championships in 1964. NASCAR racing in the 1960s consisted of many more top-rank (i.e., Grand National, Winston Cup, and now renamed Nextel Cup) races per year than today. The norm in the 1960s was some 50 or more such races a year. In 1967, Richard Petty won 27 of these (out of 48 races, which included winning 10-straight) to set an all-time record for the most victories in a season. Over his 35-year career, his record of 200 Grand National/Winston Cup racing wins is very likely never to be equaled. (In comparison, the driver with the second-highest total of wins in NASCAR races is David Pearson, with 105 over a 26-year career.)
By the 1980s, NASCAR race-car design rules had changed radically since NASCAR's first season in 1949. That year, NASCAR's series ran under "strictly stock" rules. Cars were - or were supposed to be - unaltered from production cars. But that idea ran counter to the decades-long "tradition" among auto racers of cheating under the hood and in the chassis, i.e., adding hidden changes to the engine and suspension to make the car a better performer. Bill France decided to allow certain modifications to both a car's stock engine and its chassis, and to enforce strict discipline against cheating by employing - to look over each car and its engine in detail before each race - a bevy of inspectors answerable to France. The race series was renamed the Grand National series in 1950, and occasional cheating was not, of course, entirely eliminated. Over the years, more and more departures from "stock" components were permitted by the frequently evolving rule changes - the objective of the rule changes, nearly every time, was to let the cars average faster speeds (which brought in more fans), while at the same time trying to eliminate unfair advantages among the cars (close racing, being more exciting, pleased the fans; a race season dominated by just a few drivers that could "run away from the field" in almost every race decreased both fan interest and the interest of other race-car owners to enter their cars).
By the 1980s, NASCAR race cars were no longer "stock" at all, being entirely purpose-built, with non-stock tubular space-frames eliminating the stock frame, specially designed springing, 700-horsepower engines in which only the stripped, basic block was "stock," and — significantly — added safety and fire-suppression equipment.
Only the basic shape of the hand-made body had to follow the lines of the stock model being represented. "Spoilers" - the lateral flap added to the rear of the "trunk" - used wind to keep the rear of the car down at high speed; headlights became decals; doors didn't exist (the driver climbed-in through the left-hand window opening). Today's NASCAR race cars have even dispensed with following a production car's body lines; the smoothly shaped front-ends of the race cars are designed to reduce wind resistance to a practical minimum. The NASCAR race-car design rules rigidly enforced today are, by far, the most complex of any motorsport; these rules are designed to equalize the cars as much as possible, to provide close, competitive racing.
In the early years of motoring, the Burma-Vita Company found a novel way to advertise its brushless shaving cream. Burma-Shave advertising signs, with their humorous, serial jingles, were spaced far apart on the roadside and made sense only to someone traveling at 35 miles per hour. From the 1920s to the 1960s, motorists had fun piecing the rhymes together, one phrase at a time, and reaching the wry, witty punch line. They memorized favorite verses and looked forward to the entertainment value of the signs, especially during long trips. Burma-Shave signs were the equivalent of the prize in a Cracker Jack box or the saying in a fortune cookie. They became a classic American form of visual communication in a league with comic strips and greeting cards, and like those whimsical media, the signs became part of twentieth century popular culture. Burma-Shave signs became a national favorite because they humanized highway travel and gave motorists a new way to consume the roadside. They touched many facets of American life; farmers repaired them, radio comedians satirized them, and college students pilfered them. Verses supported the war effort during World War II and anti-inflation efforts after the war. At the height of the program, there were 7,000 sets of signs in 45 states. But by the 1950s, television advertising made rival products more popular than Burma-Shave, and televised ads were more cost-effective than sending a team of sign installers out on the road. Increased highway speeds and limited-access highways also contributed to the decline of the Burma-Shave phenomenon. The sign program ended in 1963.
This is the automobile model entered into the 1966 Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild contest by Dale Gnage of Rochester, New York. As a 15-year-old, Dale Gnage’s model won a first place National Scholarship award in the junior division, a $5,000 prize. The model is a two-door Nassau blue sedan with opaque black windows and chrome trim on the front and rear. The car’s design included a large rear luggage area which could also function as a children’s playroom.
From 1930 until 1968, the Fisher Body Division of General Motors sponsored the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild and its annual model-building competition. For the first seven years of the contest, the young men in the Guild built models of a Napoleonic carriage (the Fisher Body logo) to show their high precision skills in craftsmanship. In 1937 the contest expanded to include model automobiles, which became a source of inspiration for new GM automobiles. By 1948 model cars became the only accepted entry for the contest. Winning car models were both practical and stylish original designs made with superior craftsmanship on an exacting 1/12th scale. For General Motors, the competition was a major public relations success while also serving as a type of design aptitude test for the entrants. For the young men of the Guild, the contest was a chance to win scholarships, cash prizes, and an once-in-a-lifetime all-expenses paid trip to Detroit for the regional winners. Designs featured in these models would often presage production automobiles, as many winners went on to work for General Motors or other automotive companies as designers.
This Massachusetts license plate was registered to William Gray and used on his Winton Auto in 1910. Massachusetts was the first state to issue license plates to motorists, beginning in 1903. The commonwealth began putting the date on the plate in 1908. In 1907, Massachusetts became the first state to require drivers to take a driving test. In 1928 an embossed codfish was added to the plate in what was an early example of the now common phenomenon of decorative plates.
The plate is marked MASS.730/1910 on front, and “The Baltimore Enamel and Novelty Company” on the back.
Americans learn to love cars at a very early age. More than just play, ownership of pedal cars, bicycles, and motor scooters is a progressive initiation into the culture of personal mobility, climaxing with an automobile learner’s permit and driver’s license in adolescence. One pedal car manufacturer coined the slogan “Raise the Kiddies on Wheels” to express this extended bonding experience with personal, mechanized transportation. Pint-sized, pedal-powered cars for children became available in the first decade of the twentieth century, soon after automobiles appeared on the market, and they were mass-marketed by 1910. Pedal cars remained very popular for decades and came in a wide selection of styles. Some pedal cars even resembled specific makes and models of automobiles. This Ford Mustang pedal car celebrated the popular “pony car” introduced by Ford in April 1964 at the New York World’s Fair. By the 1960s, many adults and maturing baby boomers were discovering that driving could be fun. They were more inclined to think of their cars as personal possessions and bought models that offered some of the thrill of sports cars and high-performance cars. Manufacturers responded with cars that looked sporty, ran well, handled better than a family sedan or station wagon, and made the owner feel youthful, active, and socially accepted. Ford correctly interpreted this emerging market. Baby boomers were reaching driving age, more families were buying second cars, and women and single people were buying cars. Many consumers were looking for affordable models with flair, excitement, and optional equipment that enhanced comfort and performance. Ford developed the Mustang with these qualities in mind. Its spring debut (instead of a traditional fall debut), world’s fair publicity, and the Mustang’s instant appeal among consumers made this event one of the most memorable new car introductions in history. For children, a Ford Mustang pedal car was the ultimate in trendy playthings.