I don't think I knew what a seat belt was until I was 15. In fact, I don't know if any cars my family owned even had any. The seat belt situation wasn't any better in the cars of my friends or cousins. My grandparents had some in their old Cadillac, but they were buried in the backseat cushion and probably weren't operational anyway.
Bill Bryson's excellent book The Thunderbolt Kid describes his experience driving across the country sitting on the edge of the open back door of their station wagon! I personally spent many a trip cozy in the back floorboard of our car, or sleeping like a baby in a sleeping bag in the back of a van. Meanwhile, my little brother would be sitting comfortably on my mom's lap in the front seat.
Balanced on top of a moving vehicle, as in the picture above, is a bit extreme. However, I've heard plenty of similar stories of safety belt neglect from people my age. I guess it was a good thing things changed, but it sure is less comfortable and inconvenient with kids. Ignorance is bliss.
And since I've got a disturbingly unsafe Portuguese ad at the top of this post, I may as well put up another equally horrifying example of 1970's Brazilian unsafety in advertising.
Believe it or not, this is not an anti drinking and driving ad - quite the opposite. My Portuguese is bad, but this translates to something like “We are launching another indespensable equipment for the summer - Eaton air conditioning for automobiles”. I guess we are to assume your frosty mug of beer will now stay cool while you drive. Hooray!
[Note: This post was expanded from two earlier posts on Retrospace Zeta found here and here]
Bill Bryson's excellent book The Thunderbolt Kid describes his experience driving across the country sitting on the edge of the open back door of their station wagon! I personally spent many a trip cozy in the back floorboard of our car, or sleeping like a baby in a sleeping bag in the back of a van. Meanwhile, my little brother would be sitting comfortably on my mom's lap in the front seat.
Balanced on top of a moving vehicle, as in the picture above, is a bit extreme. However, I've heard plenty of similar stories of safety belt neglect from people my age. I guess it was a good thing things changed, but it sure is less comfortable and inconvenient with kids. Ignorance is bliss.
And since I've got a disturbingly unsafe Portuguese ad at the top of this post, I may as well put up another equally horrifying example of 1970's Brazilian unsafety in advertising.
Believe it or not, this is not an anti drinking and driving ad - quite the opposite. My Portuguese is bad, but this translates to something like “We are launching another indespensable equipment for the summer - Eaton air conditioning for automobiles”. I guess we are to assume your frosty mug of beer will now stay cool while you drive. Hooray![Note: This post was expanded from two earlier posts on Retrospace Zeta found here and here]
