When my Dad moved us from Chicago to Atlanta he put my brother and I in a crib, loaded the crib in the back of the station wagon, and drove the 700-odd miles to our new home. 
Do you remember that, or were you told?
I thought I was barely walking when I remember falling on a sewer culvert, but it seems I was three. I recall falling and seeing the culvert, and my Father coming out the back door wearing khakis and a white T shirt.
If I may digress, he insisted on going into the ER to see them sew up my forehead, fainted, and a nurse had to drag him back to the waiting room.
I was told. My sisters enjoyed the trip, teasing my brother and I.
I was born in 1951, and cars didn’t even have seat belts back then. (The announcement on planes about how to buckle a seat belt must be for time travelers from 1955.) When my parents took us to a drive-in movie in their station wagon my brother and I went to sleep in the back when we got tired, and that is how we were driven home. I vaguely remember being in the floor of the backseat, but I couldn’t swear to it. As soon as we were old enough to sit up, we just sat in the back seat, unrestrained.
Born in '46 and the earliest car I remember is a '51 Ford sedan. I remember lying on the shelf above and behind the rear seat under the back glass. I was 5 or 6 years old. In a crash I’d probably have gone right out through the windshield.
I was also born in '46 and rode on the shelf back there too, plus a lot of miles in the bed of a pickup truck. But considering the state of the roads and the state of the vehicles in those days, no one was driving terribly fast and accidents didn’t seem to happen as often or be as terrible as they are today.
Didn’t you see Signal 30 in driver’s ed? (It was way more than 5 years old when I saw it.)
Those movies traumatized me for life.
My Daddy was a hard ass in the car with us. We were not ever allowed to stand up. God help you if you touched the back of the front seat. He was the one who made up “Don’t make me stop this car!” I was never so happy as when my older sibs started getting their licenses. It meant going places without Daddy driving. They hated toting us younger ones around, but to get to drive, they did.
I’m told that after being born, I rode home from the hospital on my Mom’s lap, in my Dad’s 1957 Chevy. Dad drove, Mom and I were in the passenger seat. I don’t know if that Chevy had seat belts or not.
Today, that would be a crazy thing to do, but back in the day, it was normal. There were no baby or child seats then; and as I understand things, seat belts in cars were an option, not standard equipment (though I’m willing to be corrected here).
But still, I wonder why we did not take better precautions for babies in those days. Riding on Mom’s lap, unrestrained, and given the way my Dad drove (as I would learn in subsequent years), I’m surprised I survived the ride.
Smuggled in? Any probems with US Border Patrol?
They had these things called carry cots (like a basket, with handles). Baby would go in the carry cot, on the back seat.
Drivers Ed? What’s that? Wasn’t invented until long after I was driving, and in New York it was at age 18. None of this 16 year old on the road stuff.
I remember my folks having after market seat belts installed on their '57 Ford Fairlane at the local service station. Probably around 1962 or so. Before then with the steel dashboards, expect to lose some teeth in a crash.
Well, I don’t know how old you are, but I took driver’s ed in my senior year of HS in Philadelphia, 1953-54. It was coded into my license number and was worth 10% reduction in insurance premium. We had two hours per week of classroom instruction and one hour a week (shared among three students, however) of actual driving. The car was equipped with brake and clutch on the right side for the instructor (no steering wheel).
I’ve heard them called Moses baskets, and yeah, they just went on the back seat, or possibly the front seat if it had bench seats. My mom told me that’s what she used for me. Later she had one of those hook-over-the- seat chairs with the steering wheel mentioned above.
Well, I’m 72 and grew up in New York City. It’s possible that New York City didn’t have Drivers Ed while other places did. But I’d never heard it being discussed until I’d moved to Missouri in the late 60’s.
I had to deal with driving also. My father, who was law abiding, had to drive me right through Nassau County to Suffolk for me to practice, since the learner’s permit was not good in NY until 17.
My school (or any school) didn’t offer driver’s ed, so I took it at a private school over the summer. 1968. That’s where I saw the movie.
They also had soft-sided ones, they were fabric-covered foam all around and the “hood” part.
Just came back to add…
MAGGIE SIMPSON:smack::smack::smack:
How did I not think of this. Several times a week we see Maggie in the front seat jumper/seat with steering wheel (meep meep). the same device other posters have described.
Wow, a brain is a terrible thing to waste.
I had caught chicken pox from my older brother and broken out in spots. Mom told me they were worried they wouldn’t be let across if I was seen. I have no idea if this is true or not but I like the story.