Remembering the good ole days
What is it about old things that attracts us and, often, gives us enjoyment?
Some of the most popular special events in our area are centered around old things. The Wheeling Heritage Port Sternwheel Festival, (last week), brings in rivercraft from a bygone era.
Every Labor Day weekend, the Lions Clubs’ Dan Dague Memorial Car and Bike Show draws hundreds of old cars and trucks to The Highlands. During the same weekend, crowds flock to Heritage Port to watch dozens of old raceboats fly across the surface of the Ohio River.
Why are these old things so compelling?
Obviously, they are part of our history. But there’s more than that to it.
The old raceboats, quite a few still 100 mph-plus watercraft, are part of our area’s heritage. They’re fast and they’re loud. They’re more dangerous, in some ways, than modern hydroplanes. All that helps attract crowds.
But let’s focus on the old cars and trucks, which, I think, have a unique appeal.
Some of them are old sports cars and what we used to call “supercars” — capable of startling acceleration. But we have those kinds of cars today and, frankly, they’re much better. They’re faster and more durable.
Advertise a show of brand-new Corvettes, Mustangs and Challengers and you’ll probably draw a nice crowd. It’ll be dwarfed by the number who show up for those makes’ old counterparts, however.
So the attraction isn’t just hot cars.
For some of the owners, the challenge of restoring a vehicle that may be older than they are is part of the fun. So is the fact that when one put one’s foot down in some of the old hot rods, the performance was outrageously scary.
Why, though, do so many of us love to look at old cars and trucks?
They’re historic. Some of us enjoy checking out the craftsmanship of the restorers. It’s fun to see, once again, the cars of our youth.
In other words, they take us back to what many adults remember as the best time of our lives.
Why do we feel that way? Many classic car show patrons are, like me, children of the 1960s and early 1970s. For many Americans, that was a relatively good time. But not for all, including many of those who look back fondly on the period.
And the ’60s and early ’70s were the Vietnam War, from which more than 58,000 Americans never returned. It also was a time of strife and sometimes violence involving civil rights.
So what was so great about growing up then — or for that matter, about any other era in our history?
We were young, then. We understood the world was a troubled place in many ways, but the arrogance and inexperience of youth made us think everything could be fixed.
We were unrealistically filled with hope, in other words. So that’s part of the attraction of old cars, I think. They take us back to what we thought then was a better, simpler time.
There’s something to be said for allowing a restored old 1969 Z-28 to transport us back to that part of our lives.
Given advances in everything from medicine to technology, our lives are better now.
Occasionally, though, there’s nothing wrong with reminding ourselves of the good old days.
Myer can be reached at: mmyer@theintelligencer.net.