Yesterday while I was mindlessly sanding wood trays that I have sold to the Compass Group at Microsoft, I thought about cultural changes that have occurred during my lifetime. Of course there are far too many to innumerate, but two that are sort of related came to mind.

The first is the change from the automobile bench seat to bucket seats and the second is the demise of the drive-in theater.

Now, I realize bucket seats are safer for the occupants, especially with the advent of the shoulder seat belt restraints, but I really missed the advantages of the front bench seat that spanned the width of the vehicle interior. It was most important when dating during the early lustful time of a meaningful romantic relationship, or after marriage but before the addition of children.

It was the custom from the early days of automobile travel until the late 1960s or so for a female passenger to sit close to the male driver when on a date. The more comfortable the occupants’ relationship the closer the physical connection. Usually after only a few dates it was common for the female to sit right next to the driver and as the relationship grew for her to place her left hand on the driver’s right thigh. Sometimes she might even put her left arm around the driver’s neck and lay her head on his right shoulder.

Now try that in a modern car with two front bucket seats. The center console makes this quite awkward at best and near impossible at the worst. Even if attempted it just isn’t as romantic.

Now imagine if the relationship got quite mature or the dating couple was simply horny as hell. The bench seat was a much more comfortable platform for consummating the evening when the vehicle was parked in some appropriate spot. For even more freedom of movement, the rear bench seat was even better. There was not that pesky steering wheel and gear shift lever to deal with. Try that in buckets seats.

So how did the loss of drive-in theaters relate to the bucket seats? For young dating couples, the theater became one of the safest and perfect places to park in the dark with the excuse of simply going to the movies. If things worked out there would at least be some necking. If not, hopefully they chose a good movie to watch with popcorn, snacks, or possibly something a little stronger to drink.

Changing from automobile bench seats to buckets left only the movie and snacks, so what was the point. It was just as well to simply go to an indoor theater that was more comfortable and had better sound, and save the romantic stuff for a better time and location.
These two events led to a major cultural change in society and removed most of the threat that girls’ mothers warned them about.

Of course that did lead to couples getting more inventive in their quest for satisfaction.

Ken Kaiyala
6-12-2018