A number of years back, as I pulled up to a stop light, I noticed a long line of vehicles in the next lane – four or five at least – that were almost identical in appearance. Although the cars represented different manufacturers, they were all small SUVs, and they were all black. Black, as it turns out, is the second most popular car color in the United States, representing 22% of the automotive market. White cars constitute one quarter of cars sold, with grey and silver contributing another 34%. During the golden age of car culture – the 1950s and 1960s, cars were not only bigger, but came in a wide variety of hues. The muscle cars of the 60s and 70s introduced us to colors that were bright and bold; Panther Pink, Vitamin C Orange, Grabber Blue, Plum Crazy Purple, and Rallye Red described the car, and the person who drove it, as outgoing, outrageous, and fun.
On the road today, cars that are not white, black, silver, or grey stand out, not just because there are so few of them, but because it makes one wonder what makes an individual go against the grain with such an unusual or bold color choice. Arm chair – and legitimate – psychologists have often contributed to stories that ask “what does your car color say about you?” 40 years ago, psychologists Peter Marsh and Collett discussed car color [as well as other automotive characteristics] in Driving Passion: The Psychology of the Car. The pair argued that the economic climate – booms and recessions – often affect the color of cars on the road. Booms feature cars of primary tones and bright colors – yellows, light blues, and reds – whereas when the economy is in decline, there is a tendency for people to select somber colors like greys, browns, and dark blues. Marsh and Collett also suggested that the aspect of personality a car reveals most accurately is “the person’s need for achievement.” Those with a high need for achievement will select cars with subdued colors; folks with relatively low levels of ambition will opt for bright colors including red and yellow.
The connection between car color and human personality remains a subject of interest today. In a recent article, Jaloponik notes how many people consider red to be an exciting color that lets others know “you’re passionate, intense, and ready for adventure.” The Today show goes a step further, asserting that the person who owns a red car is “sensual, dynamic, and outgoing.” Yellow cars, states Jalopnik, is associated with happiness, as it inspires people to “feel happier and more optimistic.” Today attests that the owner of a yellow car is likely to be joyful, has a sense of humor, and is young at heart. Today also suggests that an individual who chooses a dark blue car is confident, credible, and authoritative. If you find yourself attractive to blue cars, writes Jalopnik, “there’s a good chance you’re trustworthy, reliable, and calm.”
In my own car history, I have owned a lot of red cars. My first car was a red Beetle; other vehicles have included a maroon Fiat convertible, burgundy Sirocco, bright red Rabbit, and a brilliant red Audi. In this regard I go against stereotype, as I am anything but outgoing and ready for adventure. It is likely I chose red vehicles to project the persona of who I would like to be, rather than the shy and reticent individual that I am. Of my most recent cars, two out of three – both Golf Rs – have been Lapis Blue. Blue has always been my favorite color. I suspect I choose blue not only because it matches my eyes, but because it projects the confidence and authority I lack. Perhaps by choosing colors that are so against type, some of the qualities associated with them will rub off on me.
I have owned a couple of silver cars, and the only positive thing I can say about them is that they were less likely to show dirt. Although they were attractive in their own right, such color conformity was never something I wanted to embrace. Although I am what you would call an older woman, I am not yet ready to succumb to the neutral, unimaginative, and dare I say boring, black, white, and silver cars that populate the roads today. I’ll continue to enjoy surprising folks when they see me, a small, silver-haired woman, behind the wheel of a rumbling Lapis Blue-Black Edition, hot hatch Golf R.
During the 1980s I was working in the creative department at McCann-Erickson on the Buick account. Although the import market had been promoting smaller vehicles for a least a decade, American manufacturers were hesitant to enter the compact car market. Buick, especially, was known for its rather large vehicles; in the classic film Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character Alvie proclaims, “there’s a spider in your bathroom the size of a Buick.” Thus when the 1984 Skyhawk was introduced, the smallest vehicle in the Buick lineup, I thought a unique strategy would be to cite it as the perfect vehicle for short people. As someone who is barely 5’ 2”, I was tired of sitting on cushions to see over the steering wheel or propping pillows behind my back to reach the clutch in behemoth American cars. However, my idea was quickly shot down; perhaps the popular Randy Newman 1977 hit with the lyrics “short people got no reason to live” influenced the creative director’s decision. Or more likely it was because promoting a sporty vehicle as appropriate for individuals of shorter stature, primarily women, was considered a marketing nightmare. At any rate, Buick, like the majority of US car makers, continued to sell the mantra “bigger is better,” which no doubt contributed to their eventual decline.
The 1984 Skyhawk ad that eventually ran. No short people mentioned!
Fast forward forty years, and the automotive site Jalopnik produces an article titled “The Best Cars for Short Drivers.” As auto writer Collin Woodard notes, “sometimes it feels like automakers just completely forget that short drivers exist, too.” The article goes on to provide a list of eleven vehicles that Consumer Reports deems suitable for the vertically challenged. The selection includes not only compacts, but also SUVs, minivans, crossovers, sports cars, and luxury sedans. Woodard explains how each vehicle has the capacity to adjust for shorter drivers, particular in seating and steering wheel positioning. The vehicles run the gamut of automotive needs, including functionality, affordability, roominess, and the elusive “fun-to-drive” vibe.
The Kia Soul. Recommended for the short among us.
Although I have owned a few larger vehicles to accommodate very big dogs, I have preferred smaller daily drivers since I purchased my first car – a Volkswagen Beetle – in 1970. I have stuck with VWs throughout the years and have owned a series of Golf GTIs and Golf Rs, which are easy to park, a blast to drive, and fit my smaller body perfectly.
2025 VW Golf R Black Edition – Just my size!
Yet despite the positive spin on cars that accommodate a slighter frame, the Jalopnik comment section leaves no doubt as to how the automotive population feels about these cars. As one poster snarkily remarks, “Old lady cars are great for short people. Who knew?” As the comments suggest, although cars have adjusted to accommodate all body types, including that of the smaller driver, the disparaging attitude toward women and cars remains, sadly, the same. Proclaims another Jalopnik reader, “short people got no reason to drive.”
As legends go, in the late 1960s, a young woman by the name of Mary Kay Ash approached a Lincoln dealership to request a custom car to help promote her growing cosmetic business. When rebuked by the dealer, who told her to go home and get her husband, Ash took her business to a Cadillac dealer across town. She asked for, and received, a custom new Cadillac in a color to match the blush of her compact. When, after seeing the gleaming Cadillac, a number of Ash’s sale directors requested pink cars of their own, an idea was born. Beginning in 1969, the top five Mary Kay sellers each year were rewarded with a brand new, blush-colored Cadillac Coupe de Ville. The tradition – through model changes and various shades of pink – has continued for over five decades. For 2025, the iconic Mary Kay Cadillac is going electric; top salespeople are now offered a pink pearl Cadillac Optiq, the first fully electric vehicle awarded by the cosmetic company. The automobile’s current advertising themeline – ‘Drive Your Ambition’ – cleverly combines the personal motivation of Mary Kay and its representatives with the prestige and affluence associated with the Cadillac brand.
Mary Kay’s Pink Cadillac program has always been somewhat controversial. Critics argue the Mary Kay model and allure of the Cadillac mask a structure that resembles a pyramid scheme. Others find the color of the car problematic; the pink hue stereotypically marks the luxury automobile as a ‘woman’s car,’ a label that is devalued in masculine car culture. The longstanding association between pink and femininity also suggests adherence to traditional gender roles, which conflicts with contemporary notions of business acumen and female empowerment.
However, supporters view the pink Cadillac as a symbol of women’s financial independence and success. To Mary Kay champions, the pink Cadillac is not a symbol of feminine submissiveness; rather, the flashy automobile represents women’s achievements in the business world, a culture long dominated by men. The Mary Kay organization is often commended for inspiring women’s entrepreneurship in a landscape that has historically presented barriers to female advancement. As for the pink-is-for-girls association, Ash brilliantly coopted the stereotype and transformed it into a recognizable and valuable brand identity. The automobile has a longstanding association with male identity and power; by rewarding associates with Cadillacs that are uniquely pink, Ash transformed a masculine symbol into one of female empowerment.
The Cadillac has always had cultural significance, particularly among those who held a less-than-dominant position in American society. During the 1950s and 1960s, if a woman drove a Cadillac, it was assumed a man purchased it for her. A woman behind the wheel of a pink Cadillac, earned through hard work, perseverance, and a bit of moxie, would stand out as someone who had made it at a time when female success in any endeavor was difficult to attain.
Certainly there is something ultimately intriguing about the Pink Cadillac. To Aretha Franklin, the pink Cadillac served as a self-propelled ride to romance on the ‘Freeway of Love’. Bruce Springsteen also wrote a song about it, expressing his admiration for the car while wondering just what a woman could be doing in it. Of the new EV version, Jalopnik journalist Logan Carter writes, ‘I’m happy to see that the most driven cosmetic-wielding Capitalists now have the option to go all-electric without compromising their allegiance to Mary Kay.’ As for the women who drive them, the pink Cadillac shows the world they are successful, ambitious, and empowered. They are, in the words of Springsteen, ‘cruising down the street, waving to the girls, feeling out of sight’ in a shiny, ostentatious, and hard-earned Pink Cadillac.
As a longtime Volkswagen fan, I recently discovered a book on its history that garnered a little bit of positive attention when it was published in 2012. In Thinking Small, an “auto” biography of the Volkswagen Beetle, Andrea Hiott traces the trajectory of the famous auto from its conception as the “people’s car” in Nazi Germany to its emergence as an anti-establishment icon in 1960s America. While the book is ostensibly about the strange car, Hiott also focuses on the people who made it happen – Ferdinand Porsche, whose imaginings served as the inspiration for the Beetle’s eventual production, Heinrich Nordhoff, the German Industrialist who created the positive environment for its manufacture, and Bill Bernbach, whose advertising campaign created the American market for the little German car.
As Hiott notes, the Beetle, initially launched in 1938, was not an instant success. Although as an automobile it had little in common with the Model T, Nordoff, after taking the Volkswagen reins in 1947, adopted Henry Ford’s business philosophy to the struggling German car. In the introduction of the Model T, Ford’s objective was to manufacture an affordable car for “everyman”; the tycoon’s famous “$5 a day” promise to automotive workers assured that the people who built the cars could also afford them. Under Nordhoff’s guidance at the Wolfsburg VW factory, workplace conditions improved and benefits to workers increased; consequently, the reliable and affordable Beetle grew increasingly popular with the masses, eventually becoming the “people’s car” that Porsche had originally imagined.
When the German car came to the United States, the funny-looking little car became the foil to the big, brash behemoths coming out of Detroit. The Bug was embraced by the counter culture; it became the car of choice for strapped-for-cash college students and members of the Woodstock generation. As one of those broke college kids, I purchased my own Beetle in 1970; it was one of dozens that could be found on Detroit’s Wayne State University commuter campus. Although I was hardly the anti-establishment type, as a Detroit native growing up in a community of autoworkers, the VW parked in my driveway no doubt marked me as a “traitor” in my neighbors’ eyes. However, as someone who aspired to work in advertising, VW’s marketing strategy, created by the advertising stars at Doyle Dane Bernbach, convinced me that I was driving the coolest car on the planet.
The last Beetle that evolved from Porsche’s original design, manufactured in Mexico, drove off the production line in 2003. However, affection for the funny little car never really died. In 1994, at the New American International Auto Show, the retro-inspired New Beetle concept car was unveiled. The production model arrived in 1997, “just in time to catch a wave of nostalgia and surf in all the way to sales success’’ (McAleer). The New Beetle was initially met with great enthusiasm and attained modest sales numbers. However, the retro version was not without controversy. Although, Hiott asserts, it was embraced by the hipster generation, descriptors such as “cute,” “playful,” and “fun” led to the New Beetle’s perception as a “chick car,” which was believed to turn off potential male buyers.
The chick car, as I defined in a 2012 article, is a small, sporty car designed for men but appropriated by women for their own use. They are affordable, quick, nimble, easy to handle, and most importantly, “fun to drive.” The chick car is the antithesis of the “woman’s car”, a sturdy and practical vehicle – i.e. station wagon, minivan, small SUV – used to transport kids and cargo. As I discovered, to the women who drive them the chick car represents personal freedom, independence, agency, and a sense of empowerment.
During the height of the chick car’s popularity, Terry Jackson of Bankrate.com wrote, “Carmakers recognize the powerful influence women have today in the auto marketplace while they simultaneously have to avoid sending a message to men that they shouldn’t be caught dead driving these cars.” While automakers welcome the female consumer, the “chick car” label creates a good amount of anxiety and concern among them. Car manufacturers are uneasy when automobiles become associated with femininity and the female car buyer.
Automakers responded to chick car dilemma in a number of interesting ways. Volkswagen “beefed up” the offending car to be more masculine. As auto writer Doron Levin wrote, “VW has attempted to ‘male up’ the New Beetle over the years by adding a turbocharger to the engine and a spoiler to the rear.” In 2012, VW introduced a “bigger, less ‘cute’, and sportier Beetle” in an attempt to ditch the “girl” car image and attract more male buyers (Healey).
Apparently the efforts to masculinize the little car were unsuccessful. As Anthony Capretto argues, “People weren’t able to move past this image, and these and other factors caused sales to drop substantially by the end of its life.” Whether or not the car’s downfall can be explained by its association with the woman driver seems an easy out as there are still plenty of “chick” cars – e.g. Mini Cooper, Miata – on the road in 2025. Regardless, in 2016, VW discontinued the nameplate after its nearly 80 years of existence.
Published in 2012, Thinking Small ends on an optimistic note. As Hiott wrote, “the car is still an object we want to love. Its story is still being written” (424). While the New Beetle is no longer being manufactured, it is has gained new appreciation among the collector set. As McAlleer exclaims, “More than a decade after the New Beetle left showrooms, it’s starting to become a choice for younger enthusiasts. […] because it’s such a whimsically adorable design, seeing a modified New Beetle can’t help but put a smile on your face.” Although Hiott couldn’t predict the car’s ending, she exhibited an astute understanding of the car’s effect on generations of drivers.
My 1970 Beetle
As a previous owner of two Beetles – 1970 and 1979 Super Beetle cabriolet – I have a strong affection for the odd little car. And after learning of the Bug’s early struggles to gain footing in post war Germany, its unlikely emergence as a cultural icon in the United States, and its stint as a popular albeit controversial chick car, I have a new appreciation for the Beetle’s history and its incredible sustainability over nearly 8 decades. Although this post comes over 10 years too late, I would recommend Thinking Small to anyone who has ever had a bit of a love affair with the Volkswagen Beetle.
Capretto, Anthony. “It’s Time We Gave the Volkswagen New Beetle the Respect it Deserves.” CarBuzz.com 19 Dec 2024.
Healey, James R. “2012 VW Beetle Gets Bigger, Ditches ‘Girls’ Car’Image.” USA Today. 10 Apr. 2011.
Hiott, Andrea. Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle. New York: Random House, 2012.
Jackson, Terry. “Top Five Chick Cars.” Bankrate.com. 1 Nov. 2007.
Levin, Doron. “Are You Man Enough to Drive a Chick Car?” Bloomberg News. 18 Apr. 2006.
Lezotte, Chris. “The Evolution of the ‘Chick Car’ Or: Which Came First, the Chick or the Car?” Journal of Popular Culture 45/3 2012.
McAleer, Brandon. “Volkswagen’s New Beetle is Finally Growing its Own Following.” Hagerty.com 24 Jan 2025.
Last week I made a trip to Dayton, Ohio to visit America’s Packard Museum. Housed in a former Packard dealership, the museum claims to have the largest collection of Packard autos and memorabilia in the world. The Packard Car Company which the Dayton museum celebrates originated in Detroit; the Packard Automotive Plant, now under demolition, was a massive structure that occupied 38 acres in the downtown area. Packard was known for its production of luxury automobiles; owning a Packard was a visible sign that one had ‘made it.’ The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899; the last came off the line in South Bend, Indiana in 1958.
The mission of the APM is “to educate present and future generations about the Packard Motor Car Company, its products, and philosophies.” The museum is one I would consider ‘old style;’ there is little tech and the display cards appear to be somewhat old. However, like many other automotive museums, the placards include a couple of short historical “bites” that place the automobile in a particular time and place. Glass cases containing women’s fashion pieces also serve as a period reference.
Despite its somewhat old fashioned exhibition style, the museum has made some attempt to include representations of women. This is accomplished primarily through stories on placards, as well as hood ornaments, unidentified photographs, and promotional materials.
The Packard hood ornament is perhaps the most visible female representation. Hood ornaments, sometimes referred to as motor “mascots,” were used to identify an automotive brand and differentiate it from others. Hood ornaments on Rolls Royce and Packard models, for example, often served as symbols of luxury. Packard featured three distinct hood ornaments on its vehicles – the cormorant [a flying bird], Adonis [representing youth and beauty], and Nike, the Winged Goddess of Victory. In Mascots in Motion, Steve Purdy writes, “Packard’s goddess of speed mascot, created by Joseph E. Corker and patented in 1927, is based on a sculpture of Nike in the ancient city of Ephesus. Colloquially the ‘Donut Chaser,’ she first adorned 1926 cars. […] Designer Corker replaced her laurel wreath with a wire wheel. […] In Greek lore the laurel wreath was given to the victor of a competition or conflict.”
Packard advertising frequently featured women as a means to associate the automobile with luxury, status, and class. An ad for the Dietrich Convertible Sedan reads, “Cultured women instinctively recognize and appreciate fine work – whether it be the decorator’s, the modiste’s, or the motor car designer’s.” The entire ad equates women’s “good taste and discrimination” to the Packard’s reputation as a car of good quality and distinction. Although the Packard theme line reads, ‘Ask the Man Who Owns One,” women were often called upon to express the finer qualities of the automobile. Promotional material often incorporate women to demonstrate the automobile’s distinctive features, particularly those assumed important to female Packard drivers. As a beautifully illustrated Packard brochure states, “handy space is provided for Milady’s accessories.” There are also a number of photographs in the museum that feature women behind the wheel – while many are unidentified, famous women in Packards also make an appearance.
There are a number of cars on display with women-centered stories. The 1934 Super Eight Sport Phaeton on the showroom floor – in the unique shade of “Orello” (a combination of orange and yellow) was originally purchased as a birthday gift for the daughter of Herbert and Agnes Greer. Apparently the 16-year-old “hated the color” so it is not known how much she actually drove the automobile. Another interesting story is that of a 1934 Super Eight Club Sedan owned by Mrs. Maude Gamble Nippert, the daughter of the inventor of Ivory Soap. She always drove the car herself, and as a firm believer in the hereafter, stipulated upon her death that the car was to be regularly maintained to be ready for her return. Each of these car stories are important reminders that the automobile often held a special place in a woman’s life, whether as an object of opposition or devotion.
As I made my way through the exhibits, searching for female images in printed material and photographs, I was reminded how auto museums have the ability to incorporate women into automotive history if they look beyond the male-defined definitions of what is significant. I’m not sure what leads to the absence of female representation – is it a lack of relevant donations or is it because both donors and archivists have limited notions of exactly what constitutes women’s automotive history? But I am encouraged that museums such as the Packard have taken the first step in expanding the idea of what automotive history is, through the incorporation of women’s stories, influences, and contributions as part of the company’s automotive heritage.
I took a trip to South Bend, Indiana this past weekend to visit the Studebaker Museum. The museum is part of a larger complex which includes The History Museum, an institution dedicated to preserving the region’s heritage through exhibits and educational programs. The Studebaker Museum’s mission also focuses on the region, as it shares the story of the automotive and industrial history of South Bend and the greater area ‘through the display and interpretation of Studebaker vehicles along with related industrial artifacts.’ The museum not only features an impressive display of Studebaker vehicles, but special exhibits call attention to other aspects of automotive manufacture and culture. My visit to the museum was planned around one of these exhibits – the ‘Family Hauler’ display featured a collection of station wagons from a wide variety of automotive manufacturers. Center stage was a 1957 Chevy Nomad, one of my personal favorites [particularly since we have a 1956 model stored in our classic car garage].
Although the focus of the museum is on a specific area and the automobile it produced, it appeared that a conscious effort had been made to include the influence of women in the Studebaker industry and automotive culture. This was achieved primarily in four areas: women as automotive workers, women as icons of style, women as Studebaker drivers, and women as members of charitable organizations with industry affiliations.
The women who worked at Studebaker were featured in photographs and interactive displays throughout the two-story museum. Photos of female factory workers in the 1920s revealed that although women were valued employees, they worked in a gender-segregated environment. Although other museums often feature photos of factory men and women working side-by-side, I suspect that wasn’t a common practice in any automotive workplace during the years [1897-1966] of Studebaker production. The museum also features a number of photos of women employed in clerical positions. As the caption to a 1952 photo of a female clerical worker reads, ‘many people who worked at Studebaker did not build vehicles. The company employed hundreds of clerical workers, like this woman processing production orders.’ Another display focuses on sisters Elizabeth Hahn Mast and Rosa Hahn who worked as administrative assistants, and, as the caption reads, ‘connected to the company in many ways including many that extended outside of their offices.’ Exhibits that featured women as union members were also in evidence.
Notable in the category of Studebaker workers was a display featuring Helen Dryden, an artist and industrial designer who lent her talent to automotive interior and instrument panels design. An advertisement for the 1936 Studebaker President reads, ‘In its singularly beautiful, lavishly roomy interior, the genius of that famed industrial designer, the gifted Helen Dryden, has been expressed in fine fabric, beautifully tailored, and in fittings of advance motif that are of impeccable good taste.’ The mention of Helen Dryden by name – as a female in the masculine auto industry – was certainly unusual for automotive advertising of the time.
Promotional materials for higher end vehicles often feature women to lend an aura of style and class; those included in the Studebaker were no exception. And like many other museums, there are female mannequins throughout the museum adorned in the fashion of the day, to place the vehicles in a particular era as well as to suggest the type of woman who would be associated with a Studebaker automobile. Women were prominently featured in advertising for the Studebaker Lark, a compact car produced from 1959 – 1966. Although the ads didn’t specifically refer to the automobile as a ‘women’s car,’ the vehicle’s smaller size and lower price point suggested it was an appropriate vehicle for the woman behind the wheel.
There are also many photographs of driving women, most unidentified, on the museum walls and in display cases, suggesting that the Studebaker was enjoyed and appreciated by men and women alike.
There are also a number of items that refer to the Mary Ann Club, which was a social organization for the women who worked in the Administration Building. As noted in the literature, the Mary Ann Club ‘became one of South Bend’s most prominent charitable organizations.’
The special Family Hauler exhibit featured a number of advertisements from multiple car manufacturers; most featured women as the primary drivers. This conflation of women with the ‘family vehicle’ became solidified during this era; it was picked up by minivan and SUV manufacturers in subsequent decades to describe the perfect vehicle for ‘soccer moms.’
Other references to women include Studebaker women with influence, goddesses in the form of hood ornaments, and stories featuring female Studebaker owners. Encouraging signs included an interactive display narrated by the female programs and outreach manager, as well as a special section in the gift shop devoted to women and automobiles.
I found my visit to the Studebaker Museum to be both educational and enjoyable. In the context of my current project on the representation of women, the Studebaker Museum demonstrates how – through small additions and attention to female contributions – women can, in fact, be incorporated into the history of the automobile.
The Pontiac Transportation Museum is the newest entry into the Southeastern Michigan automotive museum collective. Housed in a former elementary school in Pontiac, Michigan, it will officially open to the public in mid July 2024. As a member of the MotorCities National Heritage Area, I was able to attend a private tour and presentation this past Wednesday evening. The museum will be constructed in stages; while phase one is currently complete, there are three more phases scheduled to be developed over the next few years. Our group not only toured the completed section, but were also offered a ‘sneak peek’ at what’s to come.
Pontiac factory workers
The Pontiac Transportation Museum is an institution of both place and auto manufacturer. While the museum tells the story of the auto maker’s rise and fall, it also endeavors to connect to the community and is involved in energizing its development and revitalization. As noted in a story in the Detroit Free Press, the intent of the museum is to reflect the ‘place, people, and its stories.’
Restroom Photograph
As a new museum with limited artifacts on display, I did not expect to find many representations of women in the automotive exhibits. My first encounter with such images was in, of all places, the women’s restroom, which displayed three oversized color photos of women driving Pontiac vehicles from the late 1950s and early 1960s. I was later told by one of the tour guides that much consideration was given to the restroom as ‘that is what is most important to female visitors.’ I had to squelch a guffaw.
Woman’s car story
Other representations in the museum included advertisements, photographs, and promotional materials. There were interactive displays which featured photos of women in various decades of the automaker’s history as drivers, consumers, and workers. As was mentioned during the tour, the majority of vehicles on display are donated and are primarily ‘one owner’ cars. There were a few automobiles with female donors that included stories of how the car was acquired as well as personal automotive histories. While touring one of the yet-to-be developed sections, our attention was brought to three Pontiac Firebirds specifically developed for the female market. As our guide explained, the Skybird [blue] was offered from 1977-78, the Red Bird for 1978-79, and the Yellow Bird in 1980.
Yellow Bird
While there weren’t a lot of examples of women’s relationship to cars on the floor, the slide presentation provided a philosophy of the museum that was very much geared toward diversity and inclusion. As is noted on the museum’s website, ‘a very significant part of the PTM’s mission involves educational outreach to the community – particularly STEAM-related education in Pontiac primary, secondary, and vocational schools.’ The museum is positioning itself as not just a collection of cars, but as a source for Pontiac’s social history; i.e. how the car manufacturer affected the city in which it existed as well as the people who drove its cars and made its products. The presentation also made note of the PTM’s ‘female empowerment mission’ and included photographs of visiting girls and women’s groups as well as influential women within the industry.
Girl Power
Living in the auto-rich area of Southeastern Michigan has provided me with unique opportunities to not only visit a number of automotive museums, but to attend special events such as this private tour of the soon-to-be-opened Pontiac Transportation Museum. I look forward to watching the PTM’s progress over the next several years.
It’s been a while since I have attended the Popular Culture Association Conference. With the conference going online for two years due to COVID, and cancelations in subsequent years because of air travel complications, I have missed out on the opportunity to present at this annual gathering of nerdy pop culture students and scholars. This gathering in Chicago was almost a no-go as well. Because the session day and time was changed after hotel and plane reservations were made, the majority of presenters, including the Vehicle Culture area chairs, bailed, leaving just two of us to present to each other. Fortunately I was able to move my presentation to a session centered on Libraries, Museums, and Archives. The change, as it happens, turned out to be fortuitous. The many in attendance were attentive, asked lots of good questions, and most importantly, provided helpful feedback. I ran into one of my former BGSU cohorts, had a nice conversation with the BG School of Cultural and Critical Studies chair, and was approached by a respected publisher who expressed interest in developing my project into a book.
Although it was a quick trip – I drove into Chicago Friday afternoon, presented Saturday morning, then headed back home in time for dinner, it was well worth the trip [and the sleepless before-presentation night]. I don’t know how many more PCA conferences I have in me, but I enjoyed the opportunity to be surrounded by young and enthusiastic scholars who are making important and interesting contributions to the field of popular culture studies.
Unidentified women in Ford automobile – Ford Piquette Street Plant Museum
I am a native Detroiter, and have spent the majority of my life in car-centric southeastern Michigan. I grew up during the Golden Age of car culture, and spent part of my past life writing car commercials. Once I entered graduate school as a senior citizen, my motor city background and aging second wave feminism led me to the relationship between women and cars as a research focus. My subsequent projects have considered how women negotiate membership in historically masculine automotive spaces as well as how women’s connection to cars is represented in popular culture.
My current project centers on the representation of women in automotive museums. As a historically masculine space, I was interested in whether any effort had been made by automotive museums to integrate women into automotive history. As museums in general have slowly and often stubbornly moved toward a social history model, I was curious as to whether institutions devoted to the automobile had bought into the current museum trend or if they continued to reflect primarily male preferences and influence. As Jennifer Clark writes, ‘motor museums are conservative in style, with an influential – and overwhelmingly male dominated – collecting and visitor base’ (280). The answer to the either or question is, of course, is ‘yes’. Some museums have embraced the new direction while others have dragged their feet. Yet looking closely one can observe female influence and interaction with the automobile in most museum settings. As noted in previous blogs, female representation within the museum falls into categories which reflect women’s various roles in automobile culture. What follows are the three remaining themes I have developed in my observations of 12 automotive museums.
Consumers
‘Clean, Quiet, and Easy to Operate’ – Gilmore Museum
Women as consumers and drivers are presented in museums through photographs, advertisements, and the cars on display. Much attention is given to the connection between women and electric cars; electrics were advertised as appropriate for women for their cleanliness, quiet, and ease of operation. More than one museum mentions that Henry Ford purchased an electric for his wife Clara – whether Mrs Ford actually preferred the electric or it was acquired to keep her close to home is hard to say. However, the Piquette also features photographs of women driving the gasoline-powered Model T, which suggests women may, in fact, preferred the power and range such a vehicle provided. One of these photographs includes a caption that notes that, although women were routinely ignored by the auto industry, Ford recognized them as an important market for reliable, inexpensive cars.
Nash advertisement – Wisconsin Automotive Museum
Women’s role as consumer is most evident through the promotional materials displayed at almost every museum I visited. Exhibits at the Wisconsin museum, for example, include post war advertising which features women as Nash consumers, test driving automobiles, and speaking with car dealers. At the Henry Ford, which focuses on car culture rather than particular automobiles, women are very much present as consumers, drivers, workers, and influencers. They are introduced as early proponents of bicycles and the Model T as well as the minivan. They are represented in promotions about style, design, and safety. Women’s changing roles in advertising – as objects, symbols, moms, and adventurers are also addressed.
Agents
Clara & Henry Ford – Ford Piquette Street Plant Museum
Women – as individuals who make things happen – was an understated but underlying theme in many of the automotive displays. Wives of industry innovators – including Clara Ford and Bertha Benz – were often silent but important partners and contributors to their spouses’ success. Clara Ford worked with her husband on what was to be known as the ‘Kitchen Sink Engine Model’ as she helped with its testing in the Ford family kitchen. Bertha Benz not only invested her inheritance in her husband’s business, but through her cross country trip, brought the Benz-Patent Motorwagen worldwide attention and got the company its first sales. The tour of the RE Olds Transportation Museum begins with a focus on the Olds family and homestead. Much of that is devoted to Metta Olds, the wife of the company founder. The artifacts on display – photos, family trees, furniture, personal items, clothing, and a book focused on the couple suggests that Metta was very much a silent partner and supporter of her husband and his business. While ‘the woman behind the man’ is somewhat of a cliché, the attention to wives of industry founders within multiple museums suggest they were significant contributors to early automotive history.
Emergency Brigade Picket Line – Sloan Museum of Discovery
Women who served the automotive industry in other capacities were also acknowledged. The Sloan Museum recognizes women’s important role as members of the Emergency Brigade during the 1936 General Motors Sit-Down Strike. As noted in Jalopnik, a popular automotive site, ‘Many think of factory work, and therefore a strike in the automotive industry, as something primarily men would do. But it was the members of the Women’s Emergency Brigade, a paramilitary group of women inside the United Auto Workers union, who proved to be the secret weapon in that group’s triumph over General Motors.’
While not as prominent as the mostly male movers and shakers of the automotive industry, women on the sidelines often created important roles for themselves, as influencers and agents of change in the home, on the factory floor, and on the picket line.
Gatekeepers
Carriage to Cars Exhibit – Sloan Museum of Discovery
Transportation museums often honor those responsible for the preservation, maintenance, and promotion of automotive history. Women have served in these roles; their contributions are found in glass cases, museum walls, and foundations and positions bearing their names. The Dunning Carriage to Cars Exhibit in the Sloan is funded by the Margaret Dunning Foundation. Dunning, known for her love of classic cars, established the foundation to nurture the preservation and teaching of automotive history for all Sloan visitors, but in particular for residents of the county in which the Sloan resides. The exhibit is an important component of the museum’s interactive History Gallery, which intertwines local automotive history with stories of Flint life, employment, neighborhoods, schools, housing, and tourism. Helen Earley, the First Lady of Oldsmobile, was a long time RE Olds Museum employee who created a position for herself as the resident Oldsmobile historian. As a scholar, historian, and archivist, Earley established the Oldsmobile History Center and co-authored two books on Oldsmobile history. The museum ‘board room’ bears her name and her likeness; further information is contained in a glass case hidden holding a few photos and a self-authored obituary.
Many of the museums I visited – Automotive Hall of Fame, Saratoga Automotive Museum, the Henry Ford, Wisconsin Automotive Museum, RE Olds Transportation Museum, Stahl’s Automotive Foundation Museum, to name a few – have installed women as directors, managers, trustees, and other decision-making positions. This is a hopeful sign that continued efforts will be made to incorporate and include the contributions of women – as drivers, consumers, workers, and influencers – into the annals of automotive history.
Saratoga Automotive Museum Officers
The categories provided here represent my initial observations on the representation of women in automotive museums; as I delve deeper I will certainly uncover more. What this examination has uncovered is not only that women are vastly underrepresented in these locations, but that women have, in fact, contributed to automotive history in varied and important ways. As Knibb writes, ‘the absence of women’s history from the permanent galleries of a museum does not necessarily mean that the museums’ collection is weak in objects relating to women’s lives.’
Automotive history has been long been documented as an account of powerful men and male machines. Because women’s relationship to the automobile differs from that of men, and because women are most likely to be judged against male achievements, women’s history with automobiles has been considered less legitimate; consequently, it is less likely to be recorded. As I hope to demonstrate in this project, automotive museums, as collections of objects and artifacts related to the motor car and its industries, provide an important, if not imperfect, resource for the recovering of women in automotive history.
Clark, Jennifer. ‘Peopling the Public History of Motoring: Men, Machines, and Museums.’ Curator The Museum Journal Vol 56 Number 2, April 2013, 279-287.
Knibb, Helen. ‘Present but Not Visible’: Searching for Women’s History in Museum Collections.’ Gender & History Vol 6 No 3, November 1994, 352-369.
Marquis, Erin. “‘Women That Would Gladly Give Their Life’: How The Paramilitary Women’s Emergency Brigade Battled GM At The UAW’s First Big Strike.” Jalopnik 9 Oct 2023
The Super Bowl, as argued by scholars and pundits alike, has long been considered an idealized representation of American masculinity. Since the first Super Bowl contest of 1969, football fans across the US have gathered around TV sets to join in a celebration of men engaged what has been described as “professional warfare” on the playing field. As noted by gender scholar Jan Huebenthal in 2013, as the ultimate football contest, the Super Bowl “celebrates physical violence committed by hypermasculine players against their opponents” (6). Not only is masculinity on stage in the game itself, argues Huebenthal, but is reinforced in the commercials that fill in the gaps in Super Bowl coverage.
1969 Goodyear ad
From its very beginning, the gas-powered automobile was constructed as masculine. As Michael Berger writes, “everything about the car seemed masculine, from the coordination and strength required to operate it, to the dirt and grease connected with its maintenance” (257). This association has been reflected in the types of cars historically marketed to male drivers, as well as the “natural” driving behaviors attributed to the man behind the wheel. Vehicles with descriptors such as powerful, rugged, durable, and tough were considered appropriate choices for men. And, as Clay McShane argues, in order to establish automobility as a male activity, men quickly claimed the emotional traits necessary for driving – “steady nerves, aggression, and rationality” – as masculine (156). The construction of the automobile as a symbol of masculinity has, not surprisingly, been reflected in car advertising over the past few decades.
The early Super Bowl telecasts featured commercials from automobile advertisers who, as Smithsonian journalist Jackie Mansky notes, were “playing for the men in the room.” The 1970 contest featured a spot for the Pontiac GTO – long considered the ultimate muscle car. In 1975, a teenager’s souped up Plymouth Barracuda – the first pony car – was called upon to appeal to the young male market. Fandom scholar Danielle Sarver Coombs argues that as the Super Bowl reflected the culture of the time, so did its ads. “For a hyper masculine sport like football,” Coombs explains, “hyper masculine-focused advertising followed in turn.” And as she pointed out, football commercials “continue to cater to the male market despite a documented shift in the demographic tuning in” (qtd. in Mansky).
Kia EV9: “Perfect 10”
The car commercials that aired at the 2024 Super Bowl – although still directed primarily to the male audience – were decidedly less “macho” and testosterone-driven than many from the past. Auto commercials from the early years were often offensive to women; as Mansky recalls, a 1969 commercial for Goodyear Tire featured a woman in distress with the tagline, “when there’s no man around, Goodyear should be.” However, the car ads that aired during Super Bowl LVIII, although not directly directed toward female viewers, displayed a more twenty-first century sensibility. The commercials presented men both sensitively and humorously; they addressed automobiles through a nostalgic and cultural rather than gendered lens.
Toyota Tacoma: “Dareful Handle”
The Kia commercial featured a dad who drives his ice-skating daughter through perilous weather conditions to perform for her grandpa in a backyard pond; Volkswagen connected moments in cultural history – including a nod to the rulings extending gay marriage rights – to combine, as Ted Nudd of Ad Age notes, a “sweeping legacy statement with a product tease in an uplifting way.” Even ads that that relied on longstanding male troupes poked fun at male driving behavior. The commercial featuring the Toyota Tacoma pickup calls upon humor to demonstrate the vehicle’s role as an off-road adventure machine, focusing on the passenger side grab bar – referred to as the “shut the front door” or “whoa whoa whoa” handle. As Hagerty’s Peek and Petroelje write, “as the camera jumps from one frightened passenger to the next, we’re shown an orange Tacoma kickin’ up dust while doing donuts and other herky-jerky maneuvers at high speed.” The spot created for the Kawasaki Ridge ties the farcical mullet hairstyle – “business in the front, party in the back,” to the powerful front engine and rear towing ability of the of the sport side-by-side. This change in advertising attitude could certainly be attributed to the increase in female watchers; while driven somewhat by the “Taylor Swift effect,” girls and women accounted for 47.5% of the Super Bowl audience (Crupi). But it also suggests that automakers recognized that women would be watching, and geared their commercials to be funny or heart-warming and appealing to all rather than just the male audience.
Kawasaki Ridge: “Mullets”
As someone who has a passing interest in football but considerable enthusiasm for cars and commercials, I found this year’s Super Bowl automotive advertising offerings to be imaginative, entertaining, and surprisingly accessible to an expanded audience. Thank you Taylor Swift, and to the automotive advertisers who recognized that women like cars, too.
Berger, Michael. “Women Drivers!: The Emergence of Folklore and Stereotypic Opinions Concerning Feminine Automotive Behavior.” Women’s Studies International Forum 9.3 (1986): 257-263.
Crupi, Anthony. “Taylor Swift Effect Kicks in for Super Bowl as Female Demos Soar.” Sportico.com 16 Feb 2024.
Huebenthal, Jan. “Quick! Do Something Manly!”: The Super Bowl as an American Spectacle of Hegemonic Masculinity, Violence, and Nationalism.” W & M Scholar Works, 2013.
Mansky, Jackie. “What the Earliest Super Bowl Commercials Tell Us About the Super Bowl.” Smithsonianmag.com 31 Jan 2019.
McShane, Clay. Down the Asphalt Path: The Automobile and the American City. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
Peek, Jake & Nathan Petroelge. “2024 Super Bowl Car Ads: Touchdowns, Field Goals, and Penalties.” Hagerty.com 12 Feb 2024.
Rudd, Tim. “Super Bowl 2024 Ad Review – The Best and the Worst.” AdAge.com 11 Feb 2024.
