Year of Our Ford

In the spirit of the American tradition, Boston celebrated Washington's Birthday with "open-house" automobile shows patriotically presented by local car dealers. With advertisements which tried to remind customers of Washington's legacy to the auto industry, the auto salesmen invited buyers to use their leisure holiday hours to inspect Detroit's latest magnificent arrivals.

For the heirs of Federalist economics, Cadillac was exhibiting their new Directeur. At their show room, the Directeur, "superbly designed for the many requirements of a busy executive," was the star attraction. It included a secretarial compartment, ticker tape news screen, phonograph, and telephones. Inside sat a capitalistic-looking executive and a pretty secretary neatly stowed in her special compartment which faced backward from the front seat.

The homburged magnate in the back occasionally communicated with his home offiffice over his powder-blue telephones, played a record on his phonograph, or explained the car's features and cost: "No price set on it yet. This one cost about $80,000, but when they're in production they'll be available for under 30." The girl playing secretary seemed to be having fun juggling her set of telephones and picking out records for her boss. Her biggest job seemed just to smile, but she also answered questions.

She laughed back the query of one bystander, "Do you come with the car?," replying "No, should I?" She also assured another that she could really type with no trouble when the car was in motion. At that, one trench-coated spectator grunted out from under his peaked cap, "This country has gone to Hell!"

At the Nash Rambler showroom, salesmen quickly took customers into their confidence: "Wanna see a beaut? This one here goes for twenty-seven seventy-nine." Pointing out an auto wtih a color scheme that included beige and a muddy violet, the dealer said, "I call this one brown monotone, you see, 'cause it's all different shades of brown." In response to a question on the number of miles per gallon the little Nash Metropolitan got, he admitted, "Actually you get 34 miles to the gallon. They claim a little more, but..."

Along the rest of "Motor Mile" on Commonwealth Avenue, all the other brands were celebrating Washington's birthday. Chevrolet dealers wore red boutonnieres and were offering a television set as a prize to some lucky customer. Plymouth featured an impressive lineup of pushbutton drive, oriflow shock absorbers, and wind tunnel tested air fins. Perhaps not first in war or first in peace, it claimed to be first in the low-priced three.