It has been a while since I have seen chrome on bumpers.
Little by little the car manufactures have completely removed all signs of any
chrome. In the 1980’s and 1990’s I had a total of four Cadillac(s). There was a
time the Manufacturer made one size bumper that fit several models for several
years. I had to weld my bumpers onto each vehicle to keep any one from stealing
mine. Yes four nuts and bolts on each bumper were all you had to remove them.
For years you saw “toothless” cars riding around without a front bumper. There
was chrome in in Home decorating. Chrome light fixtures; sink faucets, etc.
[called ‘polished chrome].
“The use of chrome plating in the art deco
designs of the 1930s through its heyday in the cars, furniture and appliances
of the 1950s and 1960s, chromium has been closely associated with the
fast-paced modern world. Unlike other metals, chromium had no ancient or
prehistoric uses.” http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/toxic-metals/more-metals/chromium-history.html
The
cars of my youth were made out of steel and had chrome bumpers. When I became
an adult I had pride in my cleaned and waxed car, with the highly polished bumper.
On most Saturdays girls and guys would congregate around the “johnnie pump” and
wash our cars. The guys would show us girls how to apply the Turtle Wax™ [wax
on, wax off], then get us to help them polish the film off. I think we were
taking advantage of each other. None the less we were having fun.
This
brings me to today, while I’m driving around and noticing the cars looking
strange for some reason. There are the new cars with new designs and new looks.
There the classics with established reputation [Lincolns and Cadillacs] which looks
have something missing. The Chrome Bumpers.
I do understand
the cost of fuel has society conscience of conservation or cutting costs in manufacturing.
There is little chrome on small trucks nowadays and even less on most cars. The
trucks still refuse to go quietly without a fight about chrome on their
bumpers. Bring back the chrome!
...Pandora
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