any color you want, as long as it's black

 

We recently replaced the sheets on the bed in the front room because the old set was thoroughly worn out. Technically, the color of the new sheets is “blue”, but they reminded me of the turquoise color that was popular on the cars of the 1950’s.

One thing that I remember about the cars of the 1950’s is that they had an enormous number of options and colors to choose from, which made it difficult to decide what you wanted your car to be. On top of that, prior to the introduction of the Monroney sticker in 1958, you really had no idea what the cost of the vehicle actually was, which made car buying a lot like betting on the horses. Since their introduction in 1958, the information on the stickers has been expanded to include other items, such as fuel economy ratings, standard and optional equipment, and country of origin. Although few people actually pay MSRP for their vehicles, at least having that information in plain sight makes negotiating a price a little easier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroney_sticker

When you buy a car today, your color choices are limited. Typically, you’ll have a choice of white, silver, gray, red or blue, and the exact shades usually vary by the year of manufacture.

 If you bought a 1955-1957 Chevrolet, you had a choice of 15 solid colors. In addition, you also had a choice of 24 two-tone combinations. Since option packages did not exist yet, you had to order your options individually, and sometimes the option(s) you wanted were simply not available.

https://news.classicindustries.com/1955-1956-1957-chevy-colors-paint-codes

https://www.urechem-paints.com/1956-chevrolet-bel-air-car-paint-colors/

If you bought a more expensive vehicle, you had even more color options.

In 1958, Cadillac offered LOTS of options.

 

https://eldorado-seville.com/my58eldo/1958colors/

 

In 1958 buyers had the choice of 19 exterior colors which could be applied in different tones for the lower or single part of the car and a different color for the upper part. There were 5 special colors reserved to the Eldorados. 5 different top colors for the Vicodec roof were available and a choice of 8 interiors in cloth or leather for the Seville.

One odd feature of the 1958 Cadillac was that it came standard with FOUR cigarette lighters – but air conditioning was an extra cost option.

Today, manufactures still offer option packages, but sometimes the trim level (such as LE or SV) included options as part of the trim level.

If you were of car buying age in the early part of the 20^th century, there were numerous car manufacturers in this county, but most of them did not exist for very long.

The most popular car, of course, was the Ford Model T, which was available from 1908 through 1927. During the early years of production, the car was available in a variety of colors – but black was not one of them. From 1915 through 1925, however, the ONLY color choice was black. There are many theories to why Henry Ford chose only black back then. Ford Model T models were painted using a technique called japanning (known today as baked enamel). The coating was used for decorative items in the 1800s. Japanning gave a piano black finish and was also proved to be durable and hard. Black was the only pigment it worked in. Another theory is that black color dried faster than any color. This helped a lot in boosting production. Also, in 1914, Henry Ford introduced assembly line car manufacturing; something almost every manufacturer follows today. Assembly line production was really efficient for Ford. Using only one color (black) increased the efficiency even more.

Most of the buyers weren't complaining either. The reason for that was, the Ford Model T looked really good in black. Black paint was and still is, cheaper. Black could also be easily applied by almost anyone as it doesn't require much detailing and precision like other paints.

The link below provides some additional information about the Model T, which may be of interest to you.

Read more at: https://www.drivespark.com/four-wheelers/2018/why-ford-model-t-came-in-black-colour-only/articlecontent-pf84043-025093.html

There are people living today who yearn for “the good old days”, but the truth is that life is actually much better today. In 1925, you could buy a brand-new Ford for $300, but four years later, the Great Depression started, and life got to be a lot harder.

Since today is Thanksgiving day, you may reflect on the fact that today, in spite of what you head on TV, life is actually pretty good. If you know where to look, you can still buy a model T today,  but it’s going to cost you a lot of money. The cheapest one on the link below is $14,000 – and it’s not black.

https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars-for-sale/ford-model_t-for-sale