There is a smarmy, self-serving Ford commercial for SUV’s that makes the claim that “before the Model-T,
most people never travelled more than 20 miles from home in their life.” I’ve heard similar claims before,
but I always assumed they referred to a much earlier period in history. I mean, haven’t these people ever heard of the train? The riverboat? Even canal boats?
Is there any reason to think that there’s any truth at all to this factoid?
I have known several who never (regularly) ventured farther than 20 miles - including uncles/aunts.
This was quite common in rural areas where there WERE no trains, boats.
I remembered a case (c.1976) of a 100+ yr old woman in a small burg in central FL, whose ‘great expidition’ was a 15-mile trip down the road when she was 7.
Remember the model T was 1909-1929 - not many roads, even fewer reasons to travel past the local trading center.
Yeah, Ford may be factually correct with that assertion - the questiong being, what does that have to do with TODAY’S vehicles and circumstances?
damn little, imnho
Since this topic has been discussed so recently, I’ll close this thread and direct further comment to the earlier thread, linked to above.