A narrator in 1945 looks back to 1900, when his parents were courting and his dad took mom out in a 1900 Columbus Roadmaster. The narrator follows the family’s fortunes on this block in Anytown , USA, as dad and mom marry, have two children, need a larger car, and drive a 1905 Holzman, a Stanley Steamer (bought after the neighbors get a 1910 Mitchell Touring car), a 1913 Model T, big brother’s roadster (great for picking up flappers), the narrator’s jalopy, and then, by 1935, a reliable sedan that mom drives. The changing automobile, which opened the world to folks in the first half of the twentieth century, is celebrated as part of birth, courtship, marriage, and business.