Cars and Society

 More so, cars developed trends themselves. With cars becoming a major component of the average household in latter half of 20th century, they fueled the suburbanization that spread through America in 60s. Even suburban houses showed the imprint of the automobile as early as the turn of the century. The garage, especially, became an essential feature like the kitchen or the living room. Similarly, with many cars on the road, cars influenced government policy to embark on the process of constructing an extensive highway system to connect the country, as seen by the Highway Act of 1956. Not to mention, cars directly influenced the emergence of fast-food culture. People became so found of driving that fast-food emerged to satisfy the need for drivers to eat on the go. More so, Brett Berk asserts that other spheres of culture and society, such as architecture. He determines that famous architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier were influenced by the car design of the time. In fact, Wright designed a few automobiles before he became a vital instrument in the Prairie School Movement of Architecture. Both architects assert that they were influenced by the carchitecture (aesthetic design of cars) of the time. These instances assert that analyzing key components of cars exposes cultural and social value of a society. In fact, a Japanese study that juxtaposed the last sixty years of cars at car shows with society found that it is “justified” to argue that changes in car design mick and reveal overall societal shifts.