A very amusing discussion on Ask Metafilter about how kids rode in cars before there were safety regulations or car seats. Or seat belts. I'd find it more awesome if ANY of the many ingenious-but-deadly inventions featured on DT over the years had made it into the mix, but there you go.
And here you go, a sampling, chosen from memory/at random:
- "The rear of the wagon is a play area."
- DIY Hippie furniture: the cardboard disposable car seat
- c. 1959 standup car seat
- Classic Cosco car seat/rocking chair
- Vintage car seat lets child see windshield before going through it
Rather than mope, I guess I should start an Ask Daddy Types.
I can remember lying down in the back of station wagons and pickup trucks, but what did we do in the VW? [ask.metafilter.com]
The answer to the question "What did we do in the VW?" is SO easy: Behind the seat of the Beetle was a deep rectangular pit which some claimed was for luggage. It wasn't -- it was where the kid(s) rode. I remember it well -- there was nothing like the reassuring hum of a four cylinder engine to soothe one off to sleep.