UNPLUGGED! Car Ride Box

Americans had been taking car rides since the late 1800s, but the family road trip didn’t start until the 1920s. Then car rides took off for anyone who could afford an automobile. These trips didn’t involve direct connections. Tires blew out. Highways didn’t exist. And the roads wove through rural settings, where even a farm may have been hard to find. In short – these trips were an adventure. People took baskets heaped with food. They stopped at gas stations with tea houses in the back. They planned stops at inns or even camped out wherever…along the way. The journeys were congenial family and friend kinds of outings, the destinations were the homes of family or friends, seaside or farmland resorts, or maybe just sightseeing. By the 1950s, car rides were an American pastime. The interstate was being built and restaurants, shops and waystations such as the orange-roofed Howard Johnson chains speckled the roadways. Car ride games were aplenty, from crossword puzzles to guessing games to songs which are still aound today. (Think – 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall). Car rides were about sharing, talking, listening to the radio, and reading aloud. Today, Americans are sucked into a vacuum of silence, ruled by video games, ear buds, and cell phones. The conversations have dimmed – even at rest stops. Our car ride kit brings back the glories of being together with games to play, topics to discuss, and over fun-fun-fun…no screens included.