Forever Ago host Joy Dolo has just learned some incredible car facts and she desperately wants to share them with… anyone who will listen! Lucky for Joy, Brains On! host Molly Bloom loves hearing about cars -- and the best way to share facts is a game of First Things First! Grab you Smarty Pass and cruise through a game that is as fun as it is factual!
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ROBOT: Now entering Brains On headquarters.
JOY DOLO: I'm a walking around Brains On headquarters looking for a buddy to play a game with me, uh, yeah. I'm walking around with my sequined sandals. They don't hurt my feet, 'cause they're the kind that go over the foot and not between the toes. Between the toes or not looking for-- Aha Brains On host with the most, Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's me. Forever Ago host Joy Dolo. Hello, what's up. Ooh, I love your sandals, so sequiny.
JOY DOLO: Thank you so much. They are also so comfortable. Molly, I need your help. I just learned all this really cool stuff about the history of--
MOLLY BLOOM: Sandals?
JOY DOLO: No, cars. And all these car facts are bouncing around my brain, like boingy, boingy, boingy, boingy, boingy. Anyway, I felt the need--
MOLLY BLOOM: The need for speed?
JOY DOLO: The need to share my newfound facta palooza in the most funnest way possible.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh yeah, written on the top of a cake?
JOY DOLO: Oh that is genius. I'll do that one next time. I was thinking about a little game of--
KIDS: First Things First.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh heck yeah, the game where I have to figure out what came first, second, and most recently in history. I never get to play that one. I am so excited.
JOY DOLO: And this one is First Things First car edition, fast things fast, the first and the furious. Anyway, Molly, your three car related items are crossbody seatbelts, the kind that go from shoulder to waist, not the lap belt over your lap, windshield wipers, and car radio. Those are your three.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, OK, OK, let me think. So we've got crossbody seatbelts, windshield wipers, and-- what was the last one? Car radio?
JOY DOLO: Car radios, yeah? Do they even still have car radios? Do people do that?
MOLLY BLOOM: Think so. I'm going to go with the most recent one being seatbelts, because my mom has told me that when she was growing up in the 1960s, she and her siblings did not wear seatbelts and literally just stood up in the back seat.
JOY DOLO: And just bounced around the car?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes, so I think that's the most recent.
JOY DOLO: How unsafe.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yep, not very safe at all. I'm going to say the first of these-- I'm going to say windshield wipers, seems pretty basic and essential. And then I guess I went to a car radio, because people like to jam out in their cars, sing along. It's the perfect place for singing, then the car next to you being like, hey, you like this song, you like my singing, we're friends now.
JOY DOLO: I'm going to have to go with you on this one, mostly because I do trust your parents to about the belt thing being the most recent, so that's why I'm going to go with that one. And then also, you were saying weather and windshield wipers obviously goes first. And car radio-- who doesn't like to sing and make friends?
So let's see what the answers are. Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom. The correct order is-- Oh Molly, I'm so sorry to tell you that you are absolutely correct--
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes!
JOY DOLO: --on all three of them. Windshield wipers were first. In 1903, they were invented, because in the winter of 1902, Alabama resident Mary Anderson was visiting New York and she was riding a streetcar, because it was snowing-- weather, like we said-- and she noticed the driver had to keep getting out of the vehicle to sweep away the snow that was falling on the trolley's windshield.
And she thought this was inefficient and silly. And so when she got home to Alabama, she decided to do something about it, and so she invented the windshield wiper. And her patent application describes how the wiper was to be operated, by a handle inside the vestibule of the motor car and be easily removable so that people's cars would still look cool and fashionable in the non-snowy months. So it wasn't just for use, it was also for fashion, because people were still with it in the early 1900s.
MOLLY BLOOM: Incredible.
JOY DOLO: Incredible. And so windshield wipers were first. And then next up, again, you were right with the car radio. That one was in-- what year do you think that one was invented in?
MOLLY BLOOM: 1917.
JOY DOLO: Oh close, 1930, just a few years off. The Galvin manufacturing company, founded in 1929 by the Galvin brothers, produced battery eliminators, which let people use their fancy new household electric current to run previously battery powered radios. So when the Great Depression hit the United States, nobody was buying those battery eliminators, so the company needed to find another way to stay afloat. So thanks to the mass production of automobiles starting in 1908, cars were becoming more and more common. And this seemed like a good market for something new, for the radio enthusiasts on the go, so Galvin brothers hired a group of engineers to build a radio for automobiles that could get jostled on rough roads and still get a good signal.
And then last, but certainly not least, in 1959, we have the crossbody seatbelts, which are those 3 point belts. So lap belts started appearing in street cars in the 1930's, though they were completely optional and rarely used. And these just went across the lap and did nothing to protect the head and the torso or your emotions or your feelings.
And it wasn't until 1958 that an engineer at Volvo devised the three-point seat belt most of us are familiar with today, the one you pull across your body and clip into the seat at your hip. That's actually really hard for me. I don't know if you've ever done this, but when you get into an Uber or somebody else-- like a friend's car and you don't know exactly where it goes, the little seatbelt, getting it into the slot. I always have a hard time, takes me like a minute. But's it's OK, because I love myself and this is why I set myself the way I am.
So Volvo started featuring these seatbelts in their cars in 1959. And in 1968, these belts became mandatory in all new United States vehicles. So there you go, 1968 is when we started to make legislation that you have to wear a seat belt and safety was taking precedent.
MOLLY BLOOM: We love safety.
JOY DOLO: Yes. How do you feel about all these answers, Molly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Great about them, Joy. And I have to say, you know some incredible car facts.
JOY DOLO: They're all running around in my dome.
MOLLY BLOOM: Does that make you a better driver?
JOY DOLO: It makes me an interesting driver. You want to see?
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
JOY DOLO: Road trip!
[CAR HORN]
Ooh!
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was made by Aron Woldeslassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman and the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Joanne Griffith, and Alex Shafferd. Brains On is a non-profit Public Radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. We appreciate you.
JOY DOLO: I'm a walking around Brains On headquarters looking for a buddy to play a game with me, uh, yeah. I'm walking around with my sequined sandals. They don't hurt my feet, 'cause they're the kind that go over the foot and not between the toes. Between the toes or not looking for-- Aha Brains On host with the most, Molly Bloom.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's me. Forever Ago host Joy Dolo. Hello, what's up. Ooh, I love your sandals, so sequiny.
JOY DOLO: Thank you so much. They are also so comfortable. Molly, I need your help. I just learned all this really cool stuff about the history of--
MOLLY BLOOM: Sandals?
JOY DOLO: No, cars. And all these car facts are bouncing around my brain, like boingy, boingy, boingy, boingy, boingy. Anyway, I felt the need--
MOLLY BLOOM: The need for speed?
JOY DOLO: The need to share my newfound facta palooza in the most funnest way possible.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh yeah, written on the top of a cake?
JOY DOLO: Oh that is genius. I'll do that one next time. I was thinking about a little game of--
KIDS: First Things First.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh heck yeah, the game where I have to figure out what came first, second, and most recently in history. I never get to play that one. I am so excited.
JOY DOLO: And this one is First Things First car edition, fast things fast, the first and the furious. Anyway, Molly, your three car related items are crossbody seatbelts, the kind that go from shoulder to waist, not the lap belt over your lap, windshield wipers, and car radio. Those are your three.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK, OK, OK, let me think. So we've got crossbody seatbelts, windshield wipers, and-- what was the last one? Car radio?
JOY DOLO: Car radios, yeah? Do they even still have car radios? Do people do that?
MOLLY BLOOM: Think so. I'm going to go with the most recent one being seatbelts, because my mom has told me that when she was growing up in the 1960s, she and her siblings did not wear seatbelts and literally just stood up in the back seat.
JOY DOLO: And just bounced around the car?
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes, so I think that's the most recent.
JOY DOLO: How unsafe.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yep, not very safe at all. I'm going to say the first of these-- I'm going to say windshield wipers, seems pretty basic and essential. And then I guess I went to a car radio, because people like to jam out in their cars, sing along. It's the perfect place for singing, then the car next to you being like, hey, you like this song, you like my singing, we're friends now.
JOY DOLO: I'm going to have to go with you on this one, mostly because I do trust your parents to about the belt thing being the most recent, so that's why I'm going to go with that one. And then also, you were saying weather and windshield wipers obviously goes first. And car radio-- who doesn't like to sing and make friends?
So let's see what the answers are. Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom. The correct order is-- Oh Molly, I'm so sorry to tell you that you are absolutely correct--
MOLLY BLOOM: Yes!
JOY DOLO: --on all three of them. Windshield wipers were first. In 1903, they were invented, because in the winter of 1902, Alabama resident Mary Anderson was visiting New York and she was riding a streetcar, because it was snowing-- weather, like we said-- and she noticed the driver had to keep getting out of the vehicle to sweep away the snow that was falling on the trolley's windshield.
And she thought this was inefficient and silly. And so when she got home to Alabama, she decided to do something about it, and so she invented the windshield wiper. And her patent application describes how the wiper was to be operated, by a handle inside the vestibule of the motor car and be easily removable so that people's cars would still look cool and fashionable in the non-snowy months. So it wasn't just for use, it was also for fashion, because people were still with it in the early 1900s.
MOLLY BLOOM: Incredible.
JOY DOLO: Incredible. And so windshield wipers were first. And then next up, again, you were right with the car radio. That one was in-- what year do you think that one was invented in?
MOLLY BLOOM: 1917.
JOY DOLO: Oh close, 1930, just a few years off. The Galvin manufacturing company, founded in 1929 by the Galvin brothers, produced battery eliminators, which let people use their fancy new household electric current to run previously battery powered radios. So when the Great Depression hit the United States, nobody was buying those battery eliminators, so the company needed to find another way to stay afloat. So thanks to the mass production of automobiles starting in 1908, cars were becoming more and more common. And this seemed like a good market for something new, for the radio enthusiasts on the go, so Galvin brothers hired a group of engineers to build a radio for automobiles that could get jostled on rough roads and still get a good signal.
And then last, but certainly not least, in 1959, we have the crossbody seatbelts, which are those 3 point belts. So lap belts started appearing in street cars in the 1930's, though they were completely optional and rarely used. And these just went across the lap and did nothing to protect the head and the torso or your emotions or your feelings.
And it wasn't until 1958 that an engineer at Volvo devised the three-point seat belt most of us are familiar with today, the one you pull across your body and clip into the seat at your hip. That's actually really hard for me. I don't know if you've ever done this, but when you get into an Uber or somebody else-- like a friend's car and you don't know exactly where it goes, the little seatbelt, getting it into the slot. I always have a hard time, takes me like a minute. But's it's OK, because I love myself and this is why I set myself the way I am.
So Volvo started featuring these seatbelts in their cars in 1959. And in 1968, these belts became mandatory in all new United States vehicles. So there you go, 1968 is when we started to make legislation that you have to wear a seat belt and safety was taking precedent.
MOLLY BLOOM: We love safety.
JOY DOLO: Yes. How do you feel about all these answers, Molly?
MOLLY BLOOM: Great about them, Joy. And I have to say, you know some incredible car facts.
JOY DOLO: They're all running around in my dome.
MOLLY BLOOM: Does that make you a better driver?
JOY DOLO: It makes me an interesting driver. You want to see?
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
JOY DOLO: Road trip!
[CAR HORN]
Ooh!
MOLLY BLOOM: That's it for this Smarty Pass episode. It was made by Aron Woldeslassie and Anna Goldfield. Our executive producer is Beth Pearlman and the executives in charge of APM Studios are Chandra Kavati, Joanne Griffith, and Alex Shafferd. Brains On is a non-profit Public Radio program. Thanks, Smarty Pass friends. We appreciate you.
Transcription services provided by 3Play Media.
