Welcome to Stop #30 in the
2014 Spring Scavenger Hunt
You have arrived at stop #30. There are 32 stops in all, so you're nearly finished.
The hunt begins at noon (Mountain Time Zone) on Friday, April 4, 2014. You may have arrived here before the start which could mean all of the sites aren’t ready quite yet. Once the official start has begun, you can work your way through the sites, gathering clues, and entering bonus giveaways, until you arrive at the final stop which will be back at the very beginning, on Robin Lee Hatcher's site (where the Scavenger Hunt Rafflecopter entry form is located).
We have prepared a page with direct links to each author's post in case a site goes down or a link gets broken. We'll be working on getting all of the links prior to the start of the hunt, but sometimes there are still issues even after the hunt starts, so make a note of the URL for the Participating Authors & Stops page so you can check back and be able to complete the hunt.
The hunt is open to international entries. The grand prize is a Kindle Fire HDX (valued at $229) + $100 gift certificate. Two runners-up will receive all 32 of our latest releases. Terms and conditions of the giveaway listed on the Rafflecopter Form on Robin's page.
Now it is my pleasure to introduce you to friend and fellow author Rachel Hauck. I've known Rachel for several years and she's as phenomenal a woman as she is a writer! Welcome, Rachel!
Meet Rachel Hauck
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| Rachel Hauck |
Rachel Hauck writes the stories she loves to read. She lives in Central Florida with her husband and little dog, too.
Through The Headlights – America’s Auto Tableaux with Rachel Hauck
I’m fascinated by cars.
Not so much to tinker with them––I
don’t like grease under my fingernails. But I’m intrigued by the automobile’s
reflection of American culture.
Henry Ford, often thought to have invented the car, (he
didn’t) was the first automobile maker who believed the automobile should be parked in every American driveway. He perfected the assembly line making it possible for cars
to be mass produced, cheap. Before the assembly line, cars were nothing more than a motorized
horse-n-buggy with a driver escorting the rich around town.
Automobiles were luxury items until the Model T came off the
assembly line in October 1908.
From Wikipedia:
The car was very simple to drive, and easy and cheap to repair. It was so cheap at $825 in 1908 ($21,430 today) (the price fell every year) that by the 1920s, a majority of American drivers had learned to drive on the Model T.
Ford’s simple
vision of a car changed the landscape of our culture! Travel became easier. The
pace of life picked up. In our day, the
advent of the Internet and home computers have changed our cultural landscape.
Think back to the mid ‘90s. To your bulky PC desktop running Windows 3.1.1. Now
we tap a “mini computer” screen and talk face-to-face.
In the early 20th
century it was the automobile that enhanced the American life. In the early 21st
century, it was the smart phone that changed everything. Suddenly,
communication had an element of speed… Can you imagine life without cars? Without the car would we
have the airplane? The importance of invention is fostered in a free society.
It’s why our freedom and dependence on God and ourselves (not Government) is so
vital.
Ford was also fascinated with race cars. He developed Engine
#999 in 1901 and in the coming decade set speed records. Since then, America, the world, has been enthralled with the
automobile. Throughout the centuries we moved from big luxury cars to the
compact economy car to the electric car.
After World War 2 when the world was finally at peace and
prospering, we see the big Cadillac’s and the invention of sports and muscle
cars.
The first Corvette was introduced by General Motors in
1953. The Mustang hit American
streets a decade later in 1964. Three years later, the Camaro rolled off the
assembly lines. Gas was $.25 a gallon as the ‘60s came to a close. Cars were
cheap to operate and fun to drive.
More than that, these cars reflected the social and economic
boom in post-war America...
Jobs were aplenty.
Suburbs were developing. The baby boomers were growing up, learning to
drive. Older Americans coming off of a Depression and World War
wanted ease and luxury. Their hunger for prosperity and freedom was
demonstrated by the cars on the road.
When the economy and oil crisis of ’79 hit, American’s were
forced to think differently about the size of our car. And they way we drove
them. The ‘80s and ‘90s introduced the compact, more economic car,
replacing the big luxury mobiles like the Caddy and the Oldsmobile. We also saw some of the most hideous car designs. The AMC
Pacer anyone?
Today we drive hybrids and Smart cars. Some of them so small
I’m not sure they are really safe to drive. But they reflect where we are as a
society. Wonder what “tomorrow’s” cars look like? How they will
function? I’m envisioning a large, gasoline powered iPad. Can you see it? I used my own fascination with cars for my heroine in Princess
Ever After. She restores classic cars and is intrigued, herself, by an antique
racer much like Ford’s Engine #999.
I created a car called the Starfire #89. This car becomes a
key to her past and her present. In dream language, cars represent a journey. So when we look at American automobiles, we see America’s
sociological journey. I had fun creating a car in Princess Ever After, using it to
symbolize her life – a past she never knew existed and a future she was
challenged to "restore." Cars, movement, travel, the transient American culture is a
fascinating study.
What do you think? How has the American automobile impacted
your life? Do you have a favorite car?
~ Rachel
~ Rachel
The Scavenger Hunt Skinny
Tamera here again…
Thanks so much for stopping by my site and participating in the 2014 Spring Scavenger Hunt. Before you move on to Stop #31 (Rachel Hauck's blog) to pick up your next clue, be sure to write down the Stop #30 clue: “ITS AUTHOR."
Before You Hurry On, TWO Bonus Prizes
While you're here, you can earn chances to win a signed copy of To Whisper Her Name and Loveless Cafe Biscuits and Jam by liking my Facebook Page. If you already like my Facebook Page, simply give the "I'm a Fan" button in the Rafflecopter box below a click and your name will go into the drawing. Then you'll get an opportunity to earn another five (5) chances by signing up for my quarterly e-mails. This bonus giveaway is for US mailing addresses only. Hey, Southern biscuits are heavy!
Also, don't forget to enter the MASSIVE A Beauty So Rare Giveaway
being sponsored by Bethany House Publishers