I’ve been going through I Love Lucy on DVD lately (I’m up to season four) and came across the episode “Lucy Learns To Drive.” In it, Lucy pesters Ricky into giving her a driving lesson. After she’s had a lesson, she offers to teach Ethel how to drive. Hilarity ensues.
It’s pretty obvious that Lucy did not have a driver’s license. It’s also pretty clear from the episode that Lucy’s lack of license didn’t hinder her teaching Ethel how to drive. My obvious conclusion from this is that, at the time, driver’s licenses did not exist and there was no legal bar to driving.
Of course, it’s possible that the episode is just silly (normally not an unlikely possibility), but I would think that a glaring error like that would have been noticed if a license was required in the early 1950s.
So, assuming that I’m correct, at what point did New York require driver’s licenses?
Wikipedia states that New Jersey first made drivers pass an exam and get a license in 1913. I would think that New York would have required them long before World War II.
AFAIK, all states required Drivers’ Licenses long before the '50s. Do you really think “I Love Lucy” was an accurate portrayal of reality? When was the last time you saw an enormous loaf of bread attacking people from the oven, or a winery letting people stomp grapes without even washing their feet?
Oddly enough, people in the 50s had better things to do than nitpick TV shows for trivial errors. As long as the show was entertaining, they just didn’t care.
In many ways, they were more sophisticated that we are now.
Even moreso when you take into account the fact that I Love Lucy was a deliberately sub-par attack on 1950’s home life, subtly undermining audience expectations by setting up the hero for a wonderful conquering of the American Dream, then twisting all logical denouement into an unsettling reversal of fortune. Only the stupid or willfully ignorant can possibly fail to realize this.
As an interesting addenda to the question, in parts of NY(Yonkers) in 1900, a steam-powered automobile(locomobile) required one to get a license to operate a steam boiler.
Ironically in the previous season Ethel is able to drive a car. I guess she somehow forgot that. Remember when she follows Lucy and Ricky, when Ricky takes Lucy camping to make her hate it. Ethel tells Lucy she is drivng a station wagon.
Part of this will make sense if you ever have heard “My Favorite Husband” the radio show “I Love Lucy” is based on. In “My Favorite Husband” Liz (character in the show) drives George(the Ricky character in the show), when he teachs her to drive.
Then she actually goes and gets her driver’s license the same day. She drives so bad the instructor gives her the license if she promises to let him out so he can walk back to the driver’s license place.
Then the whole bit with the cars comes later…
So I guess when they adapted the script they left the part about getting the license out.
My father who died in 1976, told me when he got his license in the early 50s (in MN) he just drove his car over and got it, it was handwritten.
Things were easy. Heck when I was a kid in the early 70s I could have gotten 3 or 4 social security cards. No one checked back then.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, New York City began requiring licenses for chauffeurs in 1910, and for all drivers in 1917. The state of New York first required all drivers to have a license (obtained by examination) in 1924.
I am guessing that prior to an examination being required, a driver’s license was issued under conditions of good driving behavior; i.e., if you caused an accident or were caught driving intoxicated, the driver’s license could be withdrawn. And then if you were found driving without the license, you could be arrested.
I got my license in PA in 1954 and I am quite certain all eastern states were giving tests by then. I was under the impression that there were a few western states that didn’t give tests and I read a newpaper story about someone who has been driving for 70 years and just passed the first driving test of his life.
Just my impression, but I think by WWII all states were issuing licences (otherwise you could not drive in a state that required them), but when they instituted tests, all drivers who had previously held licenses were grandfathered.
Actually, my interpretation based on what we know from the characters in the show would be that Lucy might very well try to teach Ethel how to drive even if she didn’t herself have a license yet.
They are pretty much depicted as two people (well, mostly Lucy) who would bend or ignore rules and mores if they wanted to do something.
Well if you recall the episode Lucy had no intention of taking Ethel out in the car to drive. (As I said before Ethel was shown to be able to drive in a prior episode)
Lucy tells Ethel they will just get in and then Lucy says “Oh look Ricky left the keys in the car.”
Then Lucy shows Ethel how the pedals and stuff works and they disagree whether or not the engine is on. Of course it is. The car lurches forward and locks bumpers, with typical hilarious results.
