A Trip to Ohio

I spent an afternoon last week visiting two car museums that were very close together in location and very similar in terms of collection philosophy. The Millbury Classic Cars and Truck Museum in Millbury, Ohio, and Snook’s Dream Cars, located 26 miles south in Bowling Green, are each the offshoots of private collections passed on from father to son. While the Millbury focuses on vehicles from the 1960s and 1970s, Snook’s collection includes cars from the early auto age and prewar era. Because each assemblage of vehicles reflects the personal preferences and vision of each owner, it is not surprising that there are very few artifacts in either location that recognize women as participants in American automotive history. Fortunately, I discovered a few that made the trip to Ohio worthwhile.

The Millbury Classic Cars and Trucks Museum opened its doors in May 2024. It is a large structure consisting of three garages, each added on as the collection expanded. The museum is a family project; the owner’s mother-in-law helped with the wood staining on the walls, while his son helped locate cars to fill the collection. The museum is unique in that provenance is not a requirement for auto inclusion; in fact, the majority of the vehicles are not original but have been modified or customized in some way. Rather than rely on donations, most of the cars were acquired through auction. Because the cars were purchased rather than donated, the accompanying placards have a lot of technical information about the car, but no identification or stories of previous owners. The collection also includes a vast array of auto memorabilia, including gas pumps, signage, and toys. Replicas of movie cars are also a prime attraction. 

‘Daisy Duke’ display with 1974 Plymouth Road Runner

Women’s representation in the museum is primarily as mannequins, called upon to place an automobile in a particular cultural or historical moment in time. They are part of a family in a Scooby-Do Mystery Machine-themed 1974 Chevy G10 custom van; riding in the passenger seat of a 1975 Volkswagen Bus; sitting shotgun in the 1979 Pontiac Trans Am of Smokey and the Bandit fame. The only vehicle devoted to a woman is a replica of the yellow 1974 Plymouth Road Runner driven by the fictional character Daisy Duke in the Dukes of Hazzard television series. A group of mannequins ‘for sale’ featured a dark haired woman in a racing suit, no doubt a salute to Danica Patrick.

Mary Clark’s 1933 Cadillac

Snook’s Dream Cars was opened in 2002 with the goal of sharing ‘cars for all ages.’ The automobiles on display are all in working condition; the museum’s on-staff mechanic gave us a short tour of the four-bay shop for maintaining collector cars within the building. The museum features a recreated 1940s era Texaco gas station, a showroom of extensive automobile memorabilia, and a car collection presented within period scenes ranging from a 1930s general store to a racetrack from the 1960s. The car collection consists of models from the 1930s, and includes coupes, convertibles, sedans, roadsters, and race cars.

Women were represented in the museum as important historical markers, such as the year in which Amelia Earhart disappeared, as well as the year in which Lyn St James became the first female rookie of the year at Indy. Two of the vehicles with female connections were a 1933 Cadillac owned by Mary Clark of the Kimberly-Clark Company, and a 1954 Kaiser-Darrin. As noted on an accompanying poster, ‘[Henry J.] Kaiser’s wife loved the look of Darrin’s sports car, and convinced her husband to go with the design for a limited production’, which suggests she had a significant amount of automotive influence over her husband.

Stereotypes of women drivers were found on the covers of automotive magazines on display, as well as assorted print advertisements in the ‘for sale’ bin. Symbolic women were also present as hood ornaments and award figures. 

Automotive Digest cover featuring the stereotypical ‘backseat driver’

While there weren’t as many representations of women in the two Ohio museum as I had expected, I am hoping that delving deeper into the artifact origins will provide some new insight into women’s automotive history.

The Hot Cars of Phoenix

While on a recent trip to Phoenix to capture some Cactus League spring training games, I made a visit to the Martin Auto Museum. The Martin Museum is located in an older strip mall, in a building that felt like it was a supermarket or discount store in a previous life. The museum features over 170 vehicles, including classic cars, hot rods, customs, and imports. It also contains a fair amount of auto memorabilia, signage, and a few antique gas pumps. The museum was founded by Mel Martin as a means to share his expanding collection and to ‘pass down his sizeable amount of knowledge to the generations that follow.’

Queen Wilhelmina’s 1933 Buick

The Martin Auto Museum is very focused on education; its website provides automotive history lesson plans for grades one through twelve. Younger grades are encouraged to create personal and family automotive histories through scrapbooking. Automotive history is incorporated into higher grade levels, with topics that include automobile types, automotive safety, the Arsenal of Democracy, the assembly line, as well as the representation of cars in song, film, art, and literature. The focus on education is clearly evident in the automobiles on display, as each is accompanied by a lengthy and often technical description of the car. While this practice allows for the dissemination of automotive knowledge, it lacks the personal stories that often accompany old cars. Consequently, the displays are somewhat sterile, as there is little opportunity for the visitor to connect to the car in a personal way. This focus on the technical rather than the personal eliminates any possibility of recognizing women’s relationship to cars. Without this social connection, the featured women in the Martin Museum exhibits are limited to famous women, women with relationships to famous men, women in motorsports, and unidentified women in photographs and film.

The woman who receives the most attention is Bertha Benz. Benz and her car, an 1886 Benz Motorwagen [replica], are featured in nearly every automotive museum I have visited. The attention is well deserved, as Benz, whose dowry financed the automotive enterprise of her husband Karl, drove the Patent-Motorwagen No. 3 on the first long-distance internal combustion engine [ICE] road trip to demonstrate the automobile’s feasibility and well as to garner publicity for Karl’s growing company. Greta Garbo is featured in two displays, as an owner [along with Mae West] of a 1930 Duesenberg Model J Torpedo Convertible as well as a 1925 Lincoln Model L. As the Lincoln placard reads, the photo ‘captures the elegance and timeless beauty of both the car and the actress.’ The conflation of characteristics of women and cars is a common promotional technique. The 1933 Buick Series 90 Limousine, formerly owned by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, is also on display. The description which accompanies the vehicle includes links to further information not only of the car, but also the lovely queen. 

Popular culture connections include the custom car created for the film The Late Show which co-starred Lily Tomlin. The Cars & Stars Trivia video display features stills from famous car movies; unidentified female stars appear in scenes from American GraffitiThe Italian JobThelma and LouiseFast and Furious, and Rebel Without a Cause.

The other category of women on display in the museum are partners of important or famous men. Photos of the founder’s supportive wife Sallie are found on walls and in glass cases. The female partners of rockabilly star Garlin Hackney and American ‘rodder’ Dain Gingerelli are also pictured but not always identified.

While the descriptions that accompany the cars often suffer from TMI [too much information], there were two vehicles that included no information whatsoever. Two midget cars on display had the names of what could be presumed to be the female drivers and/or crew team painted on the sides; however, there was no information about the cars or the women who raced them. Perhaps this was an exhibit in progress; however in its current state it appears as a missed opportunity to include women in the museum’s automotive history offerings.

Midget racer driven by Mary Hall and Carrie Drovo

Unlike the majority of museums, Martin visitors are invited to sit in the most of the cars which provides the opportunity to pose for photos. I found myself behind the wheel of a 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible doing my best Thelma and Louise impression. This car is sponsored by a woman, but again, there is no information about the particular history of this vehicle so we are left to wonder about the sponsor’s connection to the car.

The vehicles in the Martin Auto Museum are varied and beautifully restored. The museum’s policy of allowing visitors to sit behind the wheel is unique among the museums I have visited. However, the lack of personal stories attached to each car misses the opportunity to connect to museum visitors in nostalgic, engaging, and meaningful ways. And perhaps more significantly, it leaves women out of the driver’s seat.

Me and the T-Bird

Return to Watkins Glen

This past weekend was the 8th Annual Michael Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History, held at Watkins Glen International Speedway media center. Unlike the past two years, I was on the organization team and was also a presenter. As usual there were a mixed bag of presentations – some were fascinating and others less so. There are papers on just about every motorsport interest so it makes sense that some would appeal to me more than others.

The most inspiring presentation of the weekend was that of the keynote speaker, legendary racer Lyn St. James. I had just recently finished her book so while some of the stories she told were familiar, I was intrigued by many of the experiences she had originally left out. Lyn and I are from the same generation, so I was particularly moved by the influence of the women’s movement on her progression from racer to women’s racing advocator. Her recollections of conversations with Billie Jean King in the quest to promote women’s sport were especially compelling. I had brought my copy of Lyn’s book with me to the symposium; she signed it with the most inspirational message. It was quite an exciting day.

My presentation was scheduled on the second day. It was a lengthier repeat of the talk I gave earlier this month to the Silverstone on the history of women-only racing. It went pretty well; I had many good questions from the audience and the women in particular seemed to appreciate it. Some of the men, not so much.

The weekend is filled with other activities that provide an opportunity to network and socialize. As this is my fourth time at the conference [second presenting] I am starting to feel more comfortable. My introduction as the Society of Automotive Historians Vice President also gives me an air of legitimacy in the room.

Although I returned exhausted [a 6AM flight will do that], the weekend was ultimately a fulfilling one. I was able to present to a knowledgeable and interested crowd, mingle with a bunch of like-minded motorsport enthusiasts, and received words of encouragement from a racing legend. How cool is that!

The Argetsinger crew.

Hershey 2024

Hershey, Pennsylvania holds a special place for the Society of Automotive Historians. On October 11, 1969, a group of individuals convened at the offices of the Antique Automobile Club of America in Hershey to establish the SAH. The primary objectives of the newly formed organization were to preserve automotive history, rectify errors in historical records, facilitate information exchange among members, and explore and record the history of all types of self-powered vehicles worldwide. Since its inception, the SAH has endeavored to foster research, documentation, and publication of automotive history by bringing together scholars, collectors, and enthusiasts with similar interests. 

Over the past 50 years, SAH members have made a yearly October pilgrimage to Hershey to collaborate and connect with fellow auto history buffs. Held during the Hershey Fall Meet in the massive parking lot of Hershey Park, the club get together takes place among auctions, an enormous swap meet, car shows, and other auto-related events. The SAH has its own tent, participates in the AACA Library Yard Sale and Book Signing event, and holds its annual awards banquet at the Hershey Country Club. In past years, the activities have scaled down a bit, as folks find it more difficult to make the trip.

I have been attending Hershey since I first joined the organization about seven years ago, missing last year due to a last minute home emergency. This year, as I was somewhat physically restricted due to a fractured elbow, my husband came along to help with the driving. Although he is not a historian, he is a certified car nut and enjoyed spending two days exploring the swap meet while I attended to club business. As one of the few females in an historically masculine organization, and also as a painfully shy individual, I have made my way carefully and cautiously among the mostly male membership. But I have worked hard and my efforts have been rewarded, as I was elected vice president last year. Each time I attend an SAH event I feel more comfortable and enjoy engaging in conversations with such knowledgeable folks. As awards chair I presided over the banquet and didn’t make too many mistakes. The only mishap during the trip was that I wound up in emergency with my husband who fell in the Hershey parking lot and required stitches in his head. So glad he came along to help! But it was an enjoyable few of days; the weather was great, the company engaging, and as always, I learned a lot from an amazing group of learned and enthusiastic automotive historians.

#GirlsWill2024 at the Silverstone Museum

Earlier this year I received an invitation to speak at the #GirlsWill2024 motorsport initiative sponsored by the Silverstone Museum. The Silverstone Museum, located at the iconic Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK, is devoted to the past and present of British motor racing, and includes exhibits, legendary cars, and stories of British racing heroes. It is only fitting, therefore, that a month-long program aimed at increasing gender diversity in motorsport take place at this renowned, racing-centric institution.

To celebrate the growing number of female motorsport fans, the Silverstone has set aside the month of October to promote and bring attention to the rising interest and enthusiasm for women in motorsports. Planned activities and programs include educational and career workshops designed to highlight career possibilities as well as guest appearances from sporting stars and motorsport authors. STEM and racing, as well as sponsorships and driving, are the topics of a talk given by Barbie ambassador and Porsche Sprint Challenge GB driver Caitlin Wood. The varied and exciting roles within Formula 1 are the subject of another day’s program; additional October events include hands-on activities to assess reaction skills, as well as a look at the inside world of Formula 1 ‘from paddock to pitlane.’ Information about eSports, karting, and sports broadcasting is also part of the month’s agenda.

Katharine Worth, a PhD candidate now working as a Collections and Research Officer at the Silverstone, was familiar with my work through our joint participation in the Argetsinger Motorsport Symposium. She asked that I speak on the history of women-only racing [From Powder Puff to W Series: The Evolution of Women-Only Racing] which had been published in a UK volume on the history and politics of motorsport. While I  had originally hoped to attend the event in person, a fractured elbow [ouch] prevented me from making the trip. But with Katharine’s technical help, and her consideration for the time difference, I was able to make the presentation virtually without mishap. The presentation went smoothly [I hoped those in attendance could understand me through my Midwest American accent] and I tried to answer audience questions to the best of my ability. I was quite honored to be asked to speak at this event and I only hope it was well received. Such programs are so crucial for raising awareness and enthusiasm for motorsports in young girls. The Silverstone is to be commended for creating and maintaining the impressive and important #GirlsWill motorsport initiative.

Lowriders and the Woman Driver

On a trip to the California Automobile Museum last spring, I chanced upon an exhibit focused on women in lowrider culture. “Rucas y Carruchas: Ladies in Lowriders” celebrated the contributions of women in the lowrider community. The collection of colorful, spectacular cars was accompanied by photographs, videos, artwork, as well as personal stories that spoke of family, community, friendship, heritage, and the meaning of lowriders to the women who own them. As someone interested in the connection between women and cars, the exhibit piqued my interest. Upon investigating the matter a little further, I came upon a number of online articles and reports focused on the rise in female lowrider clubs and communities in the Latino communities in the Southwest United States. What makes this news exceptional is that lowrider culture has long been the province of men, a practice handed down from fathers to sons, from one generation to another. While women have always been part of lowrider culture, it has been primarily in the role of passenger, girlfriend, or a scantily clothed photographic model. However, as I discovered, women have become increasingly involved in the culture as creators and drivers, forming their own clubs, and challenging the male dominated nature of the lowrider scene.

To the uninitiated, the lowrider is a customized domestic automobile – preferably a 1960s vintage Chevy Impala – painted in one of many spectacular and iridescent “candy” colors – bright pink, green, orange, deep purple, or red – highlighted with metal flake coatings, and finished with up to 18 layers of clear lacquer. The car bodies often serve as canvases for elaborative paintings of religious icons, cultural symbolism, the zoot suited pachuco, and shapely women. Lowrider interiors are often elegantly upholstered and intricately detailed in lush fabrics. However, while the lowrider is often recognized and admired for its aesthetics, the lowrider’s defining style is the lowered body that hovers mere inches from the pavement. This appearance is often achieved through the removal of rear shock absorbers and a pile of sandbags in the trunk; however, more sophisticated vehicles rely upon hydraulic technology to raise and lower the massive body frame. While the American hotrod of the white working-class male is most often associated with power and speed, bajito y suavecito – “low and slow” – epitomizes the lowriding culture. The lowrider is meant to be seen; consequently, as Brenda Bright writes in “Heart Like a Car,” owners of lowrider vehicles “drive these beautiful, luxurious roadway spectacles very slowly, literally taking over the road and forcing other drivers to ‘deal with’ their slow, deliberate driving style” (583).

Attendees of a lowrider exhibition, wearing Zoot suits of the Mexican American subculture known as Pachucos (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton)

The lowrider subculture has a long and embedded genealogy in Mexican-American culture. It originated in the “car-saturated prosperity” of post World War II America and has remained integral to Chicano cultural identity into the twenty-first century. While hot rods and drag racers were the white male working-class vehicles of choice, Mexican-Americans proceeded in the opposite direction and created the lowrider. Young Chicanos appropriated the domestic automobile – which symbolized American values of independence, freedom, and social mobility – and reinvented it for their own use. 

Lowrider customization is a form of work in which the Chicano takes a great amount of pride. As Ben Chappell writes, “Lowriders join industrial objects with craft, endowing them with new significance. With reference to Mexican-American history, the investment of a car with symbolic value and manual labor (as well as folk mechanical engineering) with prestige is a posture of resistance to a ‘community identity’ that labels Mexican-Americans as cheap labor” (637). The Chicano community demonstrates its pride not only by cruising “low and slow,” but also through participation in regional car shows and “hopping” competitions. These events provide an opportunity for the Chicano lowrider to demonstrate creativity, artistic skill, as well as technological ability. 

Dueñas Lowrider Club

While some women remain participants in conventional lowrider culture, there are others who have broken away to establish new female and family focused lowrider communities. They have appropriated many of the culture’s longstanding traditions and practices while creating new spaces for like-minded female enthusiasts. These clubs and communities have become sites for creativity, invention, friendship, and family. Of the solidarity found in the lowrider community, one member declared, “you have all the pressures of going to work, coming home, but you know with the club sisters, we find time and manage to go out; they’re a very big support system for myself. We treat each other like family.”

Whereas traditional lowrider culture was centered on the connection between fathers and sons, women have expanded the generational focus to promote not only their own participation, but most importantly, to encourage that of young girls. As a founding member of the Dueñas Club in California explained, “It’s really important that us mothers, us women, show support for our girls. It’s nice to be able to do things with your daughter that she’s also going to love. You know showing my daughter the ways, embracing the culture, the love, and just really being influenced.” Many of the girls begin their immersion into lowrider culture with bikes. As a young member remarked, “I’m involved because my mom, she’s part of the car club, and then over time, I started going with her to the car shows, bike shows, and I was thinking to myself I want one of those. You see your creation come to life, and everything that you’re planning, it just makes you feel really good.” When these young girls become adults, they often follow in their mother’s footsteps. Angel Romero, founder of the all-women’s car club Duenas, spoke of her mother’s influence. As she recalls, “Back then, we didn’t see a lot of women driving lowriders. People would joke that the lowrider was my boyfriend’s or Daddy’s ride. […] We got into this lifestyle and culture very differently from most people. It wasn’t our dad or a male role model who taught us about cars. It was our mom.”

The women who participate in lowrider culture view their vehicles not only as spectacular machines, but also as canvases on which they can express their creativity, culture, and identity. In the “Rucas y Carruchas” exhibit, for example, the collection was accompanied by photographs, videos, artwork, and personal stories written in notebooks and scribbled on scraps of paper. Personal artifacts were often strategically placed around the cars, which offered a glimpse into the lives and dreams of the women who owned them. This practice begins in girlhood; in online club photographs, bikes are often surrounded by a young girl’s important possessions. 

Women in lowrider culture are getting recognition in local and national news sources. Lowrider magazine, dubbed the movement’s “bible” by readers worldwide and is considered the source for the latest in everything lowrider, published a special edition in October 2024 dedicated to ‘women shaping the culture’ in honor of women’s history month. As noted in an article in Motor Trend, “Historically, depictions of women in Lowrider magazine were often limited to models on the hoods of cars. This limited-edition revival highlights the women behind the wheel who have fought for their place as drivers, builders, mechanics, painters, and welders in a male-dominated world.”

For generations, lowrider culture has evolved as an important site of collective and individual identity formation among Chicano fathers and sons in the southwestern United States. In the twenty-first century, women within these locations have embraced the historical, cultural, and creative components to construct new female-centered communities focused on friendship, family, and a shared passion for the iconic lowrider automobile.

Bright, Brenda. “Heart Like a Car: Hispano/Chicano Culture in Northern New Mexico.” American Ethnologist. 25.4 (1998): 583-609.

Chappell, Ben. “Lowrider Style: Cultural Politics and the Poetics of Scale” in Cultural Studies: An Anthology. Michael Ryan, ed. Malden MA: Blackwell, 2008.

Figueroa, Fernanda and Melissa Perez Winder. “Lowriding is More Than Just Cars: It’s About Family and Culture for Mexican-Americans. 15 Oct 2024. APnews.com 15 Oct 2024.

Good Morning America. “Meet the Moms and Daughters of this All-Female Lowrider Community.” 8 Feb 2024. Video.

Romero, Angel. “How an All-Women’s Lowrider Club Formed in the Heart of Silicon Valley.” 27 Sep 2024. kqed.org

Symposium Planning

When I joined the Society of Automotive Historians a number of years ago I was one of the very few visible female members. Consequently, I wanted very much to impress upon the mostly male organization that I could be of value to the club. I took on a number of positions and tasks in order to ‘prove’ myself. I soon took on what was known as the “Bricks and Mortar” working group, with the goal of establishing a permanent home for the organization’s archives. With the help of my fellow panel members, this was achieved. The award books are now in the research stacks of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana. And a partnership with Kettering University [formerly General Motors Institute] in Flint, Michigan resulted not only in a storage facility for the SAH archives, but also the establishment of a travel grant for student researchers and historians.

I was also put in charge of the Awards Committee. The SAH awards are the signature event of the organization. Each year awards are given out for the best automotive history books [in both English and LOE categories], publications, articles, media other than print, and student papers. Recognition is also given to museum archives and individuals whose efforts have furthered automotive history in some fashion. Each of these award categories has a panel that works all year to determine the winners. I oversee this committee by collecting and directing the nominations, prodding the award chairs to make decisions in a timely fashion, and presenting the awards at the SAH annual banquet. 

Last year I was elected SAH Vice President with a whole new slew of duties. I also joined the group that helps organize one of the club’s annual conferences. The Michael Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History is held each fall at the famed Watkins Glen International Speedway in Watkins Glen, New York. To put on this symposium, the SAH partners with the IMRRC [International Motor Racing Research Center], also in Watkins Glen. This year I volunteered to physically put together the program for the upcoming event. While it was more work than I imagined, it was also a great learning experience. As I learned by editing the biographies, the folks who present at the Argetsinger are a varied and fascinating bunch. Scholars, armchair historians, former racers, students, archivists, librarians, engineers, and professors are just a few of the occupations and positions represented. The symposium format also incorporates Zoom presentations, which allows individuals from all over the globe [Britain, Australia, Italy, Spain, Germany] to participate as well.

The presentations encompass a wide variety of topics and points of view. Not only are the familiar NASCAR and Formula One racing series covered, but papers on more obscure racing venues and vehicles are also on the program. Women in motorsports, racing and nation, and motorsport journalism are discussed as well. This year, legendary racer Lyn St James will be offering what will no doubt be an inspiring keynote address. I will be presenting my paper on the history of women-only racing to a new and critical audience. Because I put together the material, I received a sneak preview to the upcoming event and am excited for what is in store. I look forward to looking and learning from this esteemed group of scholars and historians who will discuss their work and provide insight into the state of automotive history today.

For those interested in ‘attending’ the Argetsinger symposium, the two-day [November 1 & 2, 2024] event will be livestreamed and recorded. Information on access is available at the IMRRC website.

All About Detroit

Recently I drove to downtown Detroit to visit one of my favorite museums. The Detroit Historical Museum is a popular destination for school groups, families, and native Detroiters. I have been going to the DHM since I was a kid in the Detroit Public Schools; I even shot a commercial in The Streets of Old Detroit – the museum’s ‘most beloved exhibit’ – back in my advertising days. As stated on its website, the DHM’s mission is ‘Chronicling the life and times of the Detroit region, safeguarding its rich history.’ Although it is not technically a ‘car’ museum, it is an institution that highlights the Detroit auto industry as an important contributor to the region’s history and culture. While the typical automotive museum is constructed around a vast and impressive collection of cars, the Detroit Historical Museum focuses on the influence of the automobile on the city, the people, and the culture. As a museum of ‘place,’ it is less about the cars than the community that gave birth to the American auto industry. 

Two signature exhibitions feature Detroit’s connection to the automobile. America’s Motor City has three main objectives – to examine how cars built Detroit, to look at how metro Detroit built cars, and to reflect on how and why Detroit became the motor city. Much of this is related through stories of individuals who lived and worked in the region. Detroit’s car culture is also an important part of the exhibit. Displays and information reveal the personal connection Detroiters have to cars.

Detroit: The Arsenal of Democracy focuses on how Detroit became a center of wartime production, retooling its auto factories to produce aircraft and other war materials.

Women’s representation in the Detroit Historical Museum is found primarily in the role of workers. Although the museum recognizes that women were ‘all but absent’ in the first half of the auto age, a conscious effort has been made to include women’s contributions in the factory, and as part of automotive families. My grandfather was one of the thousands of Polish immigrants who came to Detroit during the early 20th century to work at Dodge Main. The exhibit features the stories of immigrant families – photos and artifacts tell the stories of the men and women who came to Detroit for the promise of jobs and the hope of a better life.

There are many photos of women working in the factories in gender segregated workspaces. There are also stories of the daughters of early auto workers who as adults became employed by the auto industry in some capacity. Women’s acceptance as factory employees is also reflected in photographs of recreational activities, such as a plant female softball team. The images of female factory workers suggest that there were certain ‘female’ characteristics – small hands and attention to detail – that were valued by auto makers, even though women’s contributions have remained relatively unknown. Other female representation included posters and photographs of the Detroit Auto Show and other events, as well as other promotional materials, photos, and advertising.

As I have discovered, auto museums of ‘place’ provide a greater opportunity to incorporate women into the region’s automotive history. Auto history is not just about old cars and famous men; rather, it is about the community and the collective culture that developed around the automobile.

Ask the Man Who Owns One

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. 

A Trip to South Bend

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.