When Cars Had Tits Redux

This is a FITK re-post from June, 2011

The automobile is a highly designed object, with a visual language that has evolved over decades to illustrate the consistent progression of contemporary aesthetic concerns and priorities. ~ The Culture Engine

Usually referred to less vulgarly as Dagmar Bumpers, these conical protuberances were featured on a variety of makes and models of cars in the 1950s. Perhaps they were a post-war collective subconscious fertility symbol: a mix of destruction (bombs) and nurturing (boobs). Woe be to the pedestrian who ran afoul of these lethal weapons and the power of iconography made manifest. With the dawning of the sixties the era of anthropomorphic cars was over.

In the seventies, the “Car Bra” became popular. It’s probably a good thing that these two eras didn’t overlap.