Driving in the 1950’s

Yes I did have a licence to drive an automobile in the 1950’s and I knew all the hand signals??? Hand signals??? what are hand signals you ask?. In the 1950’s cars were not fitted with flashers or brake lights, some had small arms that popped out on each side of the car to indicate the vehicle was tuning left or right.They were know as trafficators. However, it was much safer to indicate by sticking your arm out the window and signaling your intentions. There was one signal for slowing down or stopping, another for turning right and one for left, one to indicate the vehicle behind should overtake. It was a bit of a pain in the winter, cars were cold to begin with and having an open window didn’t help. Most cars did not have heaters or blowers, on the windshield we sometimes had small electric elements held in place by suction cups. They were designed to heat the window and clear frost and condensation, they didn’t work very well. Driving in the 1950’s wasn’t easy, no seat belts, no cup holders, no heated seats, no blue tooth, no CD players, radios etc etc. We did often have two speed wipers though!! dead slow and stop. But then again it was probably safer on the narrow roads of the UK than it is on today’s fast motorways. Most cars from that long gone era were not capable of much more than 40 mph down hill with the wind behind you. The average family saloon was usually rated from 7 HP to maybe 12 HP, not exactly your North American muscle car?? Gone are those days, but I think I sometimes still miss them???just sometimes.
God Bless and keep reading