We Drivers!

We Drivers!. . , By the mid-20th century, Bethesda offered "101 services which a thriving suburban community needs." In the downtown commercial district, savvy shoppers found specialized shops, department stores, movie theaters, florists, medical offices, restaurants and car dealerships, lots of them. Estimates suggest that there was one car for every three Americans by 1960 , a staggering number considering the cost of an automobile represented 45% of the average household income., As the "Gateway to the Nation's Capital," federal employees made Bethesda their home and commuted to work in Washington, D.C. To accommodate these consumers, at least seventeen car dealerships operated between the late 1930s until 1965. Families could select American makers, such as Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge, or purchase vehicles made overseas, including Saab, Volkswagen, and Porsche. By the late 1980s, the foreign car market expanded with the inclusion of Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota. While many of these dealerships were long Wisconsin Avenue, what was known as U.S. 240, showrooms were spread throughout down Bethesda as were service stations, garages and body shops. The many stores that residents patronized advertise either ample "free parking" or increasingly relied on County-constructed parking garages started in the early 1960s., The area began to see an increased reliance on public transportation in the mid-1980s, particularly after the opening of the Red Line that runs to the Bethesda Metro Station. Still, car ownership remains one of the more tangible means of living "the American Dream." Today's consumer can frequent established dealerships in Bethesda and find new environmentally friendly vehicles and hybrids and visit new(er) showrooms for minivans and SUVs that have overtaken the once popular family sedan., [Captions:] , When photographer Hugo Brooks was at the end of his film, he contacted local car dealerships and arranged for the vendors to put the shiniest car on the lot where brooks recorded them in black and white for posterity. His images here date to the 1940s., Strategic marketing, such as hosting the traveling circus, brought people to the downtown car dealerships.