Diners, Drive In's, & Disneyland
During the 1950s the car played an important role in the average American lifestyle. With the expansion of suburbia, cars became necessary because of the commute into the cities for work. From 1945-1960 car registrations went from 25,000,000 to 60,000,000 and 2 car families doubled between 1951 and 1958. Many things contributed to this rise in car ownership, higher wages, necessity, and even societal pressure. In addition the Interstate Highway Act was passed in 1954. This act funded the creation of the large interstate highway system that we have now. Originally the highways were created to be able to move military and weapons around the US in case of attack but after they were built they helped to unite the nation via the car. No matter what motivated Americans to buy a car, one thing is for certain, the car helped shape America.
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American businesses responded to this increase in car ownership. Businesses began that catered to the car. fast food restaurants were developed for the first time, car hops and drive-in movie theatres popped up in towns across America. McDonald's became one of the first fast food chains opening in the 1940s but became extremely popular in the 1950s. Other fast food chains that opened in the 1950s were Burger King, Taco Bell, Carl’s Jr and KFC, each of these adopted McDonald's assembly line type of food prep and began catering to the new car culture. All of these restaurants had some sort of drive up window or speaker in which to take orders, then the food was then given to you through a window or brought to you by a car hop. In addition, motels and other road side diners began to dot the American landscape.