Driving Manual from 1936

As you may/may not know, I am now living in my grandparent's house. While I was cleaning out a closet a few days ago, I found a neat booklet way back in the back on the top shelf.

It is a small handbook from General Motors, dated 1936. I thought it might be fun to share the "Rules of the Road" from 84 years ago.

This tiny 36 page manual was the guide for driving at the time. A few years ago I had to take the written test to get my drivers license renewed. That giant, dense tome one has to study can make your head spin. This guide is SO refreshing in its simplicity.

Cover from "We Drivers" published in 1936 by General Motors

Inside Front Pages

In the back of the booklet, it had a list of milestones in the automobile industry. My how things have changed! Sorry if some of the margins are cut off a bit. I was having difficulty placing the book on the scanner.

The sections of this publication include: How Accidents Happen, Curves and Turns, Night Driving, Mist and Fog, Our Brakes, Driving on Hills, Power and Speed, Slippery Weather, City Traffic and Country Driving, but I thought one about "driving on hills" was fun to read and thought I would share. 

I can relate to the hill story. At one point, my stepfather Ray Markiewicz took me out in the neighborhood in his manual truck and was helping me learn how to drive a stick shift. I was doing okay until he took me to a pretty steep hill (it seemed like the Matterhorn at the time) where there was a stop sign. It was a challenging thing for me indeed. After rolling backwards and stalling out a few times, I finally managed to get through the intersection. Good thing there wasn't anyone behind me!