[PRCo] If anyone is filing these away....

[Dwight Long]

Fred

I saw a Chrysler of about 53 or 54 vintage with seat belts.  But in fairness I don't know whether they were OEM or added.

Dwight
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fred Schneider 
  To: Western PA Trolley discussion 
  Sent: Monday, April 28, 2014 7:39 PM
  Subject: [PRCo] If anyone is filing these away....



  There was a second account of the item I posted yesterday about the doofus who attacked the streetcar with his automobile on West Ohio Street
  on Thursday Jan. 9, 1947.

  On January 11, 1947 it was reported that the passenger in his car died of the injuries suffered in the accident.

  Of course this was before seat belts.   It appears that Nash, in 1949, was the first company to even offer them as a factory option and Ford in 1955 may have been number two.   I remember my dad installing them himself on one car … might have been the 1952 Ford.  So apparently this death happened before it was possible the passenger from flying through the windshield.   

  http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=djft3U1LymYC&dat=19470111&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

  _______________________________________________________________________

  If anyone is interested in economics and labor history, I became aware while scanning those 1947 newspapers of a tremendous number of strikes.   But1947 was minor compared to 1946.   Seems the unions were barred from striking during the war so now they wanted five years worth of raises all at once.   I found one article in January 1947 that stated that there were 113 million workdays lost by 4.65 million striking workers in 1946, the highest since 1920 when curbs were lifted after World War I.   In 1920, there were 4.16 million striking workers.  about 10.5% less than 1946.  But the population in 1920 was about 25% less than 1946.   The mentality that allows us to strike in huge numbers for all those years of lost increases … when the living costs didn't go up because they were frozen too defies understanding.   



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