We at CC love to hear, share, and express our common experiences with cars. At times, I regret not having read too many coming from female authors. Maybe it’s my own family history which makes me wonder. Mom was the sole driver in our family, and she did have a strong relationship with the car, though she never put it down in words. The car, was to her, a means of independence and self-reliance. It provided her with a strong sense of identity.
I’m not fully certain all the women in these images were drivers, but we know that even passengers have a strong relationship with a car; vehicles we loved or hated to ride on. With that, here’s a short gallery of ladies and their drives.
The picture of the 54-55 Corvette really stands out. Anyone want to bet she was the ‘hot mom’ of her suburban neighborhood, definitely not trusted by the other housewives? Especially around their husbands?
Definitely a class pose, a cut above the usual snapshot.
She’s no ordinary suburbanite – that’s Elfi Arkus-Duntov, Zora’s wife.
I’m here at CC mostly to learn, and I would never have known that–thanks a bunch for enlightening us all!
Likewise.
Thanks George and Syke!
What’s that in her right hand?
At first glance, it looks like she’s holding a sharp, shiny object, but I think it’s actually the top framing of the open vent window.
There’s two versions of this photo – taken from slightly different angles. In the other picture below, we can see the vent window is open, and that top chrome strip is sticking out pretty far.
That would explain why the ‘Vette is not painted white.
Harvest Gold was a 1955 color.
Looks like she would barely fit in that thing!
Elfi Duntov’s 1956 Assembled Corvette
https://www.sportscarmarket.com/profile/elfi-duntovs-1955-roadster
The woman with the horizontal-striped dress could hide in plain sight if she stood in front of the rear quarter panel of the ’58 Olds.
We had a next-door neighbor with that exact 58 Olds! Wasn’t her, though!
The house matches the Olds lines too.
I think her name is Dot.
LOL!
Love the cuffs on the pants of the one lady standing next to the 55 Chevy. They both look kinda pissed though! Perhaps the next installment could be women of color?
The lady wearing the turquoise slacks is wearing a popular “Lil’ Abner”-style hem popular during that era.
I am agreeing with you regarding a little more diversity. The US has a fascinating history regarding Black motorists, travel, ownership, dealership and model popularity that we haven’t even scratched the surface on. A lot of it was hidden from sight and not discussed even today.
The US has a fascinating history regarding Black motorists, travel, ownership, dealership and model popularity that we haven’t even scratched the surface on.
Did you forget about this post from 2020?
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/book-blog/book-review-driving-while-black-not-a-jet-smooth-ride/
You left two comments there. But yes, there’s a lot more to be covered in that realm.
I’ve looked at literally thousands of vintage car ads and brochures researching my series of vintage ad posts, and one of the most depressing aspects was how little representation there was of people of color in those days.
It is challenging. When you are not Black, you don’t really think about the fact that those ads aren’t showing any black customers. Kudos to Ford for creating a program to develop Black dealerships sixty years ago. I know a lot of folks today tire of seeing a “rainbow” of humanity in so many television ads today, but isn’t it time? Perhaps it is exaggerated, but if it was OK for generations of Black customers to see television ads filled with white folks, it should be OK for us to see that now, right?
Madison Avenue didn’t reflect much diversity and I suspect – well I know by being told – that national brands didn’t wish to offend Southern customers.
248 Episodes of Andy Griffith living in Mayberry North Carolina – but only one Black actor with a speaking part. So when we show PR photos, brochures and commercials from before 1964 – it is going to be tough to find a non-white customer in those photos and commercials.
A company ignores the 40 or so percent of the US population that is non-caucasian at their own peril, that’s a very large percentage of potential buyers (of any product) that aren’t being marketed to directly or less than most effectively. The percentage is likely larger as the 40% is only of those actually counted. And there are plenty of caucasians who would take note of a white-washed ad campaign and wonder about the company or its ad agency.
Tom, one does also wonder though – re the ads you are finding, are they on the internet and who placed them there and from where did they come? Was it white people scanning in the ads from their copies of LIFE, Time, and National Geographic or perhaps there are in fact some other versions of ads in publications targeting different demographics that never got scanned. Perhaps a part of the “bias” in what is seen is a self-selecting prophecy but certainly as the decades progressed the percentage of ads targeting multiple ethnicities did for the most part increase.
This attached story is interesting, there certainly WERE ads featuring non-caucasian ethnicities back then, just a very low percentage.
https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2020/a-history-of-african-americans-in-auto-advertising-from-1957
I’ll address this subject since I’ve been the one doing a good number of these ‘image posts’ and I’m of Latino origin. Like Tom, I’ve looked over a few thousand images online, and can almost recall by memory the few that feature noncaucasians. One I already used. The other one I found today. Maybe it’s a matter of using different search parameters, but I think there’s more to it than that.
I think the first thing to remember is that ‘visual’ history, is incomplete. That’s the beauty of the COAL series, which adds more personal context to these holes in automotive history.
Then, a lot has to do partly with mathematics and partly with culture. With fewer publications, photos and ads featuring noncaucasians, there’s much less of a record to track down. It’s why when some are featured in publications, it’s along the lines of ‘African Americans in auto history.’ Hollywood is a good example of ‘mathematics’ at work; while there were some B and C-class films with African Americans, most have disappeared or are hard to track down. Meanwhile Hollywood’s hits get preserved and are easy to find.
Then, there’s what cultures have the luxury to keep a record of. Recording lifestyles and material goods depend on a certain degree of wealth. Newcomers or under-advantaged groups have less capacity or interest to do so in certain areas. With Puerto Ricans, most historical efforts focus on socioeconomics and politics; worrying about cars or lifestyles is generally looked on as superfluous. Not that Puerto Ricans don’t have a rich car culture, but mostly gets lost since it never coalesces into any form of preservation. Being a car aficionado, it’s frustrating.
Not that we’ll stop looking for such records, or it may be a matter of addressing such auto history in a less ‘visual’ form.
One of the interesting aspects of this subject are the black-oriented magazines from the 1950s-’80s that often featured ads that weren’t seen elsewhere. Big companies, such as carmakers, often had accounts with black-owned ad firms to do these ads. Sometimes they were unique ads, other times, they inserted black people in place of white people in existing ads. Either way, it’s interesting from a historical perspective.
If you have a chance to peruse vintage magazines like Ebony or Jet, the ads are engrossing.
Paul, I too had forgot about your post. My apologies. It’s an enlightening read.
Yes – I did forget that, and yes – we definately scratched the surface of this part of our auto history. Thank you for the reminder, as always I deeply appreciate your input.
It’s great to see all these–enjoy the cars when quite new, and wonder about locales and subjects’ lives.
Is second-last photo in LA, around the corner behind Graumann’s?
#2: Richards-Wallace in Barberton, OH (near Akron)—Edsel dealer who added Mercury in 1959:
Here’s a picture of my mom in front of my dad’s first car, a light grey 1950 Studebaker Champion. My father started driving around 1918, but did not own a car until 1950, after the Great Depression and WWII.
And yes, my mom drove the Stude. In fact she learned to drive in this car. The photo below may very well have been taken the same day she received her driver’s permit.
The lead-in picture for the article has a Thelma and Loise vibe, but I can’t figure out why…. 😉
…perhaps a later-in-life picture, had that movie not ended the way it did.
My favorite is the lady standing besides the ’58 Chevy. The sky is turning black and stormy, very dramatic looking. I can imagine her telling her husband,”Hurry up and take the picture! It’s going to be pouring rain in a minute!” My Wife saw the pictures and asked if the cars belonged to the ladies, or were they their husband’s cars? I told her that back then, many women didn’t drive. especially married women. My Mother didn’t get her license until 1967 or ’68, and even then, she rarely drove after that. Though the increased prosperity and growth of the suburbs lead to more women driving and two car families.
I wonder how many young people still take photos of themselves and their cars?
The fifth (5th) picture from the top, with the 1967 T-Bird behind the older lady, with the middle-aged couple in front of the Ford Country Squire, is my favorite. The lady in front of the T-Bird could be my Mom, even though she doesn’t look at all like my Mother, because my Mom bought a 1967 T-Bird from her sister in 1972. The car was originally bought brand new by Mom’s brother-in-law, her sister’s husband, my uncle. When my uncle passed away, my aunt sold the car to Mom, since auntie never learned how to drive and had no need for a car after her husband had passed. The car only had 29k miles on it when my Mom bought it for $800. My Dad was like “What do want to buy that old car for?”, because a five (5) year old car in 1972 was usually considered if not old, then certainly middle-aged, and well on its way to “beater” status. But when Mom drove it home his tune changed! It looked brand-new and had about half the miles a five year-old car of that era should have had, and he couldn’t get the keys out of my Mom’s hands fast enough, LOL! Then the only way you could get the keys out of Dad’s hands was to pry them from his cold, dead hands!
One of the first cars my father bought so mom could drag us six screaming brats around, was a well used ‘A’ Model Ford ForDor Sedan .
This was in New England and she told me the copper strip spark plug connectors would often get damp from the dew point and short out so she’d keep a roll of paper towels and blot them dry then the car started and ran fine .
My Sweet got a good job at the Air Force base in 1968 and went right out and bought a red Corvette off the showroom floor for cash .
She had no idea how to drive so her cousin kindly drove it home for her .
She still doesn’t enjoy driving much but she likes fancier and nicer whips than I do .
-Nate
I love the pictures for representing Americana. these are mostly casual photos. Thus, we should fine some with non-Caucasian ladies to show. Anybody up for the project?
I’d be up for it but all the older pictures of my Sweet here and there are lost or tiny little thumbnails now…..
So long has passed I doubt anyone but me still wants to see pictures of her now .
-Nate
Well I know one woman who is into cars. She is a patient of mine who was in some months ago to address an issue. She had bought a 2022 Porsche Macan to treat herself at the age of 65. She knew I was into cars so she offered to give me a tour of her car and since I had a break then why not. Oh, and the Macan was bright orange which was so refreshing to see an actual color in the spectrum as she showed me the car.
Would love to see a photo of Zsa Zsa and her ROLLS-ROYCE when she snapped the COP. Have total respect for Law enforcement! But what a photo opp! Anyone know where to find it?
What two things do zsa-zsa gabor and imelda marcos have in common ? .
-Nate
Not sure. Both loved expensive things like furs ,jewelry, and SHOES. Probably Both had ROLLS-ROYCE automobiles. Also believe Both had tempers and thought they were QUEEN of the WORLD. Let me know! Thanks.
Both screwed their way to the top and both had_zero_ class .
-Nate