After The War

The Equalizer

            At the end of the war, the soldiers returned home.  Many with large sums of money from combat pay.  The automobile brought them the freedom of the road and a way to travel home.  With an auto, the world had become the GI’s oyster. 

The soldiers returned home, married their sweetheart, bought a home and began the American dream.  The car allowed him to live a distance from his job and no longer have to walk or catch the trolley.  The auto was a freeing mode of transportation that opened many doors that had only been open to the rich. 

Now the family could take vacations, live in the country, drive to the shore or just have a Sunday picnic at the park.  The automobile had become more then a status symbol, it had become an icon of freedom.  The glorious freedom of defeating the enemy was found in many ways back home.  The car gave the average person a way to expand their boundaries.  Not be restricted to where public transportation took them.  Hop in the car and be down the road a hundred miles in a couple of hours. 

With all the cars on the road, the giant auto industry grew beyond the dreams of many.  Splashy car ads were all over.  Aftermarket auto parts became a big business.  Cars of the 50’s were pretty easy to work on, and the backyard mechanic showed up.  . 

The weekend was a time to tinker with the new fangled horseless carriage.  No longer was there the crank, cars now had starters.  Radios were standard and the radio DJ’s were becoming a new phenomena.  There was an era on the horizon that many like to relive today. 

In the back of the barn, under years of dust, sits the WWII veterans’ first car.  It is now surrounded by other cars that he has bought and stored with his very first car.  It is a memory that has become indelible.  A moment that has been etched on the fabric of society.