As a flashy red car and rusty brown truck rolled across our screens during one of the most appreciated films of our childhood, the rapidly changing culture and landscape of American during the 1950s made its way into the background of Cars. The deserted town of Radiator Springs, the replaced Route 66, and even the variety of cars themselves all carried allusions to America's emerging car culture and the building of the first highways in the 1956.
Credited greatly not only as a WW2 hero but also as the man who built America's highway, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was involved in constructing long stretches of road as far back as 1919, when he took part in building the Motor Transport Corps convoy, running from Oakland California to Washington D.C. Official work on America's highway system, nevertheless, did not begin until 1953, when Eisenhower put General Lucius D. Clay in charge of acquiring data about the logistics surrounding an interstate highway system. Clay reported, "It was evident we needed better highways. We needed them for safety, to accommodate more automobiles. We needed them for defense purposes, if that should ever be necessary. And we needed them for the economy. Not just as a public works measure, but for future growth."
Eventually, Clay drafted out a 10-year plan to build 40,000 miles of interstate highways linking all cities with 50,000 or more residents. The entire project was to cost 100 billion dollars. Upon finalization, Eisenhower passed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 and set the plan into motion. On August 13, 1956, construction on the US-40 started in St. Charles County.
The construction of America's highways were full of anticipated benefits, as Eisenhower would have otherwise not approved of such a large scale project. Primarily, traveling across the country became much more efficient. Simultaneously, more and more people began to buy cars, though it can also be observed that the previous increase in car ownership as early as 1945 affected Eisenhower's decision to make an interstate highway system. In other words, consumerism rose greatly after WW2, leading to a lot of people buying cars, which lead to the construction of highways, which lead to even more people buying cars.The American cultural landscape was also fundamentally altered. During construction, small farms and even larger buildings were demolished to make way for the highway. Once put in use, the highways did their job in helping people travel quickly to and from cities. However, this ultimately lead to more and more people permanently moving away from the cities and into suburbs. As a result, shopping malls, a "downtown away from downtown", and fast food restaurants soon populated across America, all for the purpose of providing services for a new nation that is more dependent on their cars than ever. Factory transportation and vacation destinations all became more spread out as highways provided greater efficiency in traveling.
However, it is important to note that such highways were not the first "interstate route" to have been built in America. One of the most famous routes that were built before 1956 was Route 66, which most people regard now as the Mother Road. Running from California to Illinois and passing by the fictional Radiator Springs, Route 66 enjoyed popularity from the 1930s until the 1960s, when the completion of the I-40 gradually overshadowed it. The fading of Route 66, however, was only a popular example of the effects of national highways built during this time. As the planned interstate highways bypassed smaller towns, they soon became obsolete as well.
As Sally from Cars described it, "Cars didn't drive on Route 66 to make great time, they drove on it to have a great time." Radiator Springs, as a result, was also blooming in visitors in the early days of Route 66. However, with the construction of highways, "the town got bypassed just to save ten minutes of driving." While children merely appreciated this 2006 movie for its eventful plot and messages on dedication, persistence, and friendship, older folks may have been reminded of when the first national highway was built exactly 50 years ago and how far the country has progressed. Nowadays, though highways have become an inseparable part of our lives and small towns such as Radiator Springs gradually forgotten, Lightning McQueen begins to leave his legacy in a different fashion: memes.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2014/03/25/lightning-mcqueen-mater-and-the-rebranding-of-an-american-icon/#47b2928c5e24
https://interestingengineering.com/the-complex-history-of-the-us-interstate-highway-system
https://www.ocregister.com/2012/07/25/cars-land-inspiration-greetings-from-route-66-in-arizona/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/78410/15-ways-highways-changed-america
https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/baumwa/i_am_speed/ (Reddit meme)
I found this post very interesting and wanted to research some of the historical context surrounding the construction to highways. Unlike today, cars during the early 1900s were rare, as only 1 in 18000 Americans actually owned an automobile. Paired with poor construction of muddy roads and lack of proper infrastructure, driving a car around became known as "the last call of the wild". Following the second industrial revolution, as most notably, the creation of the Ford Model T, automobile usage skyrocketed as more and more individuals bought their own car. In turn, existing roads owned by private companies became obsolete, and many Americans, most importantly gas station workers, mechanics, and those standing to profit for vehicles usage began to support and promote a national highway system, eventually leading to the Federal Aid Highway Act.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/topics/us-states/interstate-highway-system
I really liked the connection between the movie Cars and Eisenhower's highway construction program. What is interesting to note is that the Cars' city, Radiator Springs, is not alone in the decline of cities along Route 66 after the highway system was built. The straight, long highways often avoided the quaint cities along Route 66. Also, during the 1950's, Americans' perceptions of vacation changed. With Disneyland and Las Vegas, more Americans were focused on the destination instead of the journey. Air travel and fast, long highways expanded, further diminishing the appeal of Route 66 and the towns along it. However, more people today take road trips on the highway, reviving interest on the "mother road."
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2014/12/the-end-of-americas-love-affair-with-route-66/383335/
I enjoyed reading this post because it taught me about some of the aspects of the movie Cars that I probably missed when I was watching it when I was little. For example, Route 66 passed along the fictional Radiator Springs which soon became obsolete because of the new interstate highway system that was being built. It would be interesting to see if and how many highways were replacing older routes and making towns obsolete. According to Wikipedia, some of the other highways that were decommissioned or partly decommissioned included M-21 in Michigan that ran from Holland to the Grand Rapids and interstate 196 that ran between Flint and the border of Canada. In addition, the Texas State Highway 9 was fully decommissioned due to its lack of utility to the public.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decommissioned_highway