Back in Automotive Time: The January 1957 Car Life Magazine Part 1: America’s First Super Highway
Richard Salamon forwarded a January, 1957 Car Life magazine to the VanderbiltCupraces.com archives with articles on our favorite parkway and much more!
Here's Part 1 of some of the highlights from 69 years ago in the automotive world.
Greg O.
The issue is full of interesting articles at a time when many of these things were current events and not six decades old history.
Car Life January, 1957
In part 1 I'll reprint the Motor Parkway article when, at that time in 1957, the parkway had only been closed for 19 years and still fresh in everyone's memory. We'll also look at articles like, 'The Real Reason James Dean Died', just two years after the horrible incident, The Volkswagen Beetle invasion 2 years after introduction into the United States, Seat belt safety, Daytona Beach, original 1957 advertisements, and much more in this, and subsequent posts.
'America's First Super Highway'
Page 1
A look at a section of the Motor Parkway in the cover photo for the article has me stumped. Any guesses on where this may have been?
Mostly factual, the article is very good with only minor name, grammar and/or spelling errors. For instance, the writer's guess on how many cars will be on the road turned out to be a little light. In the 1957 article, it states that estimates will be 80 million cars on the road by the future in 1975. In reality, there were 108 million cars on the road in 1975.
This Queens section in Bayside (Left) still looks pristine 69 years ago as compared to today. Another unknown section to guess it's location.
The photo at right is the #7 Chalmers at the Hicksville Road Turn-off during the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup race. Back in 2018, we coincidently used this exact photo as that week's mystery photo.
Page 2
Overall, an excellent article that feels more nostalgic than historical based on the time proximity to when the parkway closed 19 years earlier in 1938.
Some Humor
'Painless Parker'
When I first scanned the issue, I got excited as I read the headline. Long time readers of VanderbiltCupRaces.com may recall a 'Painless Parker' dental sign in the Manhasset section of the 1906 Vanderbilt race course. Painless Parker was a traveling dentist who went from town to town demonstrating painless tooth extractions. The reality was they were not 'painless'. Instead the musical band that traveled with him starting playing music loud enough to drown out the patient screams.
No, this article is not about dentistry, but about an inventor who devised a set of retractable wheels below the rear of the car to pull out of parking spaces 'painlessly'. It never caught on...
LINK: Painless Parker and the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race
'On With The Show'
1957 saw the return of the National Auto Show (Now known as the 'International Auto Show'). The show was regularly seen during the pre-World War II days, but put on hiatus in 1941 due to the war. At the war's end, it did not immediately return. It wasn't until 16 years after the last show that it returned in 1957 and has been a regular event since.
The Ads
Advertising in the old magazines is always fun, and this issue did not disappoint.
Here, an ad for the newly redesigned 1957 Chevy Bel Air, now one of the most ubiquitous collector and custom cars of today's car scene.
An accessory fog light addition for your car to help out those dim 6-volt headlights of the day.
In Part 2, we'll look at more ads and stories found in this issue. Most notably, an in-depth article on the real reason James Dean died a short 2 years earlier.
Comments
The cover photo appears to be the entrance to the Motor Parkway from the Winchester Boulevard side of Alley Pond Park,next to where the tennis courts are today
I grew up in Fresh Meadows and was nine years old when I saw my first, and brand-new, ‘57 Chevy - turquoise and white. A stunner then and a stunner now. Although a “death trap,” as all cars were then, the design was and remains magnificent; sleek but not overstated, and reflective of the coming passenger jet age in ‘58 with the British Comet and in ‘59 with the Boeing 707. I’ll soon be 78 years old and have been unable to discern the make and year of any given car for more decades than I can remember, except for the “classics,” like those of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Can anyone tell me what the difference is in the sheetmetal between a Genesis and a Bentley as they rush by, given that I can’t see insignia plates now. And to those who yell that I’m just a “boomer,” I say that I’m thankful for the type of simple pleasures I had, like playing stickball and football in the street, running home to get a quarter when the Good Humor or Bungelow Bar man came by, or catching a big event with live TV like the Ed Sullivan show.
Alan Wunner - I agree with top photo being the Winchester Bl entrance to the Parkway. Also the Bayside section photo is located in the corner just west of Springfield Bl and south of the Parkway. It is likely both parkway photos were taken in Alley Pond Park for the magazine article