Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2001. [Vol. 7.] Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 27)
Studies - Sándor Végh: Adoption or Adaptation?: Interpretations of the Automobile
categories, such as the "luxury economy cars" to satisfy the needs of costumers who still perceived their automobile interiors as substitutes for living rooms, a mobile extension of their houses. Social consequences Individualization of transportation should result in the rise of the individual. However, this was a spurious conclusion since a greater level of individuality can only be estimated if it is compared either to the previous level of the individual, such as those who used, for instance, horse power for transportation, or to other individuals. But the arrival of the automobile after the 1920's was so overwhelming that horse-drawn carriages rapidly vanished from city streets, not leaving ground for either side-by-side comparison, or doubts about the usefulness of the car. However, it has to be reiterated that automobilization happened in waves —the first of which provided the rich with the possibility to own an automobile. Thus, its effect on the state of the individual meant the expansion of the gap between the elite of the society and the working class rather than the expansion of the individual's dimensions. It follows from the above that some historians firmly believed that the automobile erased class barriers, while some others said it made the gap even wider. In my opinion, the automobile defined an alternative class system (ACS) on top of the existing one: while the basis for distinction in the 1920's was whether one had a car or not, toward the end of the century the determining factors came to be quantity, quality (including year and make), and price. In the ACS, the social standing is dynamically determined on the road by the attributes of the vehicle driven. It follows that while the lowest layer of society includes those without property, in the ACS, the poorest are those on foot. The ACS was finer and even more complex combined with the traditional one if we note that one's social status in the "traditional" system did not necessarily coincide with one's position in the "automobile-based" one. Before the automobile, especially at the end of the previous century, many Americans had been humbled by poverty and by their own insignificance in the business order. However, by owning a car, one gained a new sense of authority. The car was ready to take the 84
