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?