Key to Our Horizons (1952, sound)

[Music] this picture as you can see was taken in a busy American city this picture was taken at exactly the same time and at the same spot question how was it done a modern motion picture camera photographed the traffic in action while the deare camera the great great granddaddy of all cameras was used to photograph the buildings alone the action of this camera is so slow that there isn't time for moving objects to register on the film on the other hand the buildings being stationary gradually formed a sharp clear image and why use the deare camera to show that any picture of America without automobiles is hopelessly out of date today the automobile is part of any American scene every man woman and child in America could go riding at the same time and if we wanted to we could all ride in the front seat because there is a car or a truck for every three persons almost 50 million Motor Vehicles how many are 50 million cars Bumper to Bumper they would stretch around the Earth at the equator seven times the distance we drive our cars and trucks every day would take us on five days daily round trips to the Sun but the real importance of the motor car is in the way it has opened up New Horizons in our way of living and that brings up a very interesting fact about one out of every seven American workers let's see what it is about that one worker out of seven 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 sir what do you do for a living you've heard of tea testers haven't you well I'm a too tester yes this man is a toot tester he listens to automobile horns in a factory to be sure they are tuned to the proper musical tone if anybody should ever ask you what the proper musical tone is it's E flat combined with g let's try again uh pardon us sir but would you tell us what business you're in why certainly I'm a farmer and what do you grow on your farm well you might say I grow automobiles because I own part of the 4 million Acres of Farmland used to grow raw materials for paints and lacquers and insulation used in Motorcars and you sir it seems that you're a miner what do you mine I mine automobiles you see uh it takes the miner to dig the iron and the coal and Limestone for automotive steel and then of course some of us dig the copper and lead and malum and sulfur that go into automobiles you might get answers like that in any crowd anywhere from any one of over 9 million men and women who make their living directly because of automobile Transportation that's that's what we mean by one out of seven let's see how many it takes to make over 9 million people we'll begin with the city of Los Angeles which has become our fourth largest city suppose every family in Los Angeles should decide for some reason to move elsewhere then suppose into each house left vacant there should move a family of a worker in the automobile industry the one man out of seven actually Los Angeles is isn't nearly big enough to hold them all nor for that matter is the whole state of California you see there' be the steel workers the men who make steel for the automobile and their families there'd be the families of glass workers who make automobile glass we'd have to find homes for the families of all the workers who build tires and batteries and parts and we'd have to make room for the 800,000 families of the men in the big Motorcar and truck assembly plants yes it would be moving day for one out of every seven families in the United States and we'd have to include the moving van driver in his family too because you see he is one of more than 5 million drivers who drive for a living trucks buses and taxis and while you're about it did you ever stop to think of how many people it takes to maintain our roads and highways well quite a few because on the highway miles of America we could drive to the moon and back more than 14 times well does that account for one out of every seven workers in America not quite but it does when you add the men who sell Motorcars and the men who service them moving the families of the one worker out of seven gradually replacing family for family we'd need all the houses in California Oregon and Washington Idaho Utah and Arizona Montana Wyoming and Colorado and part of Texas to find homes for the people who make their living directly because of the Motorcar and this brings up an interesting question what would these people be doing if the motor car had remained a luxury for a few rather than a necessity for so many and what about all the people who depend indirectly on the motor car for the way they live looking at it this way we can fill up all the homes from North Dakota to Texas and from Minnesota to Arkansas all the way to the banks of the Mississippi with the families of the men who use Motorcars or trucks in their business the plumber the painter the Florest the meterman the rural mail carrier and of course the more than 2 million salesman on the road now it seems that we found out something else about the motor car and its effect on our living one worker out of seven either makes cars or parts or sells or Services them and another one worker out of seven uses the motor car to make his living pardon us sir but what do you do why I'm a traveling trimmer yes this man is a traveling trimmer who makes his living with his pruning saw and his truck yes for that second man out of seven there are all kinds of jobs that you might not even think of as being connected with a motorc car the traffic policeman and the people who make and sell traffic lights and parking meters but would you think of railroad Engineers you would if you knew the transporting raw materials and finished products to keep our American System of individual Transportation by Motorcar rolling takes 4 million freight car loads per year one sixth of all retail business firms are connected with the automobile yes even including little Jimmy's first business venture the motor car makes business for America and one out of every five retail sales dollars in America changes hands because the motor car made it possible yes the motor car has been a key factor in all the ways we do business in America but it has had even greater effect on the way we live and the pleasure we get out of [Music] living being able to drive out into the country has made many of us want to live in the country and the Motorcar has made it possible for Millions today suburban construction is more than three times times the construction in the city and just as the motor car is a tool for working with more than half of us using it to go to and from our daily work so it is a tool for enjoyment it puts America at our doorstep for business or pleasure whether you're traveling on business or pleasure the chances are even that you'll travel by Motorcar more than half of us take yearly vacations and most of us take them on the highway as a result The Tourist Resort industry ranks among the three most important industries in 16 States we have seen how the Dare camera a camera from the past can take a picture of the past to show how our Horizons have been expanded by the Motorcar and the greatness of America has been that we are never content to stop at the Horizon we can see we know that there is another and another Horizon beyond the Motorcar industry as it has recognized its responsibilities in our progress through yesterday to get where we are today is already at work on the design of Tomorrow exploring developing testing to improve the cars we drive to make them safer more comfortable more enjoyable if we are to realize in full the motorc car's vast potential for good we must use it and care for it wisely the Motorcar has been the key to open New Horizons not for the few but for all and all of us share in the responsibility of safeguarding the benefits it has brought if we plan for the future if we look ahead to clear all obstacles and roadblocks if we recognize the importance of this great individual freedom of movement the Motorcar will be the key to our ever widening Horizons of tomorrow