Midweek Matinee: The American Road, Part II, 1953

All photos are frame grabs from video below.

For all those intrigued by Part I of this trilogy which we screened last year, we present, at long last, Part II. This eight-minute segment continues the story of the development of the American Way of Life as viewed through the lens of the Ford Model T. All aboard the Early 20th Century Unlimited Industrial Revolution train.

America embraces the Model T as a vehicle for (mostly positive) social interaction.

America’s horse-and-buggy-era road system, however, was slowing progress.

As the country’s transportation infrastructure improved, its usage increased.

Meanwhile, massive manufacturing and national economic changes were in play: “The Model T was more than a motor car, it was the symbol of an industrial revolution. For mass production and the assembly line were now able to bring the price down on all sorts of products and put them in everyone’s reach. Mass production also created thousands of new skills, new jobs, at higher wages. And under this powerful stimulus, the nation’s economy expanded enormously.”

NOTE: Link above is for Part II. For those who missed it—or prefer to watch Parts I and II in order—we offer the film’s more substantial 18-minute Part I.

Public domain archival footage courtesy of the Internet Moving Images Archive, in association with Prelinger Archives.