The Pioneer Frontier Magazine

There was a tremendous transformation in the 1950’s. World War II was ending, men were coming home to their wives and children, and the houses and cars sales skyrocketed. Many new trends sprouted throughout the decade and Charles Tunstall was there to witness the exciting event. Tunstall shared his and the nation’s past on Tuesday January 26 at 6 p.m. in the Garland Library.

He presented a wonderful slideshow for his audience as he reminisced his childhood memories of how the cars changed throughout the years. The main dealerships that dominated the Americans were Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. This was before the bigger imports such as Toyota and Mitsubishi emerged. “I grew up in the 1950’s era. It was an exciting time dominated by the American made cars,” Charles Tunstall, assistant professor of library science.

Colors were a huge part of 1955 ranging from bright pink and yellow to two-toned colors such as black and white or black and electric blue. He mentioned that Mary Kay would give her employees a pink Cadillac each year while they worked for her for sponsorship as long as the sales were kept up to date. Another big event that occurred was this was the first year the V8 and the Hemi engine was introduced since people were not too concerned with gas prices at the time, it was all the rage. There was a car called the Caribbean that was described as “one block long and three colors high”. The women loved it due to the fact that they could get the car that matched their outfits and they received an umbrella and bag since accessories were a large demand.

“I found the cars shown in the slide show by Charles Tunstall were intriguing. The difference in designs and use of color displayed the creative side of those companies,” said Jessica Gold, a freshman.

Fins were a popular trend in 1957 and Ford took advantage of it. The Skyliner convertible was produced and it had a metal roof with a reverse hood, the downside was that there was minimum trunk space, big enough for possibly small luggage. Going on a week’s vacation in this car would not be the best option but maybe for a day’s drive to go see a friend or relative would be. Ford also tested out marketing a half car half truck. Nash and Hudson merged as they were failing and was known as American Motors Co. or AMC. As the decade was coming to an end, the el Camino came out in 1959, which was Chevy’s version of Ford’s half car half truck production and it can still be seen around today.

In hopes of opening the library to the community and bringing students in, other than to study, Charles Tunstall and Jack Smith have compiled events for this spring. In February there will be “Big Hearts and Little Readers: Children’s Story Hour 2,” Thursday February 11, 2010 at 6 p.m.

There will also be a musical performance “The American Musical Road Trip” by Marsha Griffith and friends on March 25^th at 6 pm and the second part March 31, 11:30 a.m.