'Didn't need no welfare state, Everybody pulled his weight, Gee our old LaSalle ran great, Those were the days!
What was Archie Bunker’s car? If he was 50 in 1968 (a guess) he bought his first car 1936-40, also a guess.
LaSalle was a companion brand to Cadillac starting in 1927. The brand was only produced until 1940. So if Archie was 50 in '68, he’d be 20 in 1938 and old enough to buy a new or used LaSalle
Since LaSalle was a companion to Cadillac, it was not a cheap car. A 20 year old coming out of the Great Depression likely could not afford a new or even a used one. Maybe their parents car?
Or maybe the lyrics were chosen because a 2 syllable word worked in the song
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+1
LaSalle was not typically owned by blue-collar people.
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My guess they bought a well used one after the war for little $$.
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Songwriters often choose names for the number of syllables or rhyming. I think this is likely the reason. Songwriters Strouse and Adams were old enough to know about LaSalles and likely inserted the name because they liked the cars and the name fit.
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Agreed. Notice it does not say “Gee our new LaSalle ran great”…
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In 1958, I looked at a 1940 LaSalle at our local Oldsmobile/Cadillac dealer. The price was $75.
Right after WW II, car prices were really high. It wasn’t until about 1950 that used car prices dropped.
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It’s very possible that a hot-rodder bought it. It seems that a lot of hotrods in the '50s & '60s used a LaSalle transmission.
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The 1934 LaSalle was offered with an L-head (valve in block) straight 8 engine similar to Oldsmobile’s. 240 cid making 95 hp. Cost about $1850 in '34.
It had an independent double A-arm suspension and a solid axle rear on leaf springs (I think).
3 speed manual trans but I read the 37 and later 3 speeds (LaSalle and Cadillac) were the strongest.
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Archie Bunker turned 50 years old in season 4, episode 17 of All in the Family (Jan. 1974).
I don’t recall the vehicle from the theme song being mentioned during the show, but it would make sense for Archie to have bought a used car after returning home after World War II.
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If Archie was a true NYC native - it’s highly unlikely he ever owned a car. Public transportation is the best way to travel in NYC. I have cousins who live in NYC and they’ve never had a drivers license.
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Everyone I knew from NYC had cars. Two lived in Brooklyn and the other in Queens. Limited scope, but they did own cars. If you meant Manhattan, then I’d be surprised if anyone owned cars. I visited my friend’s home in Queens and there were cars parked behind the row homes and on the street. Since it was a residential area, I imagine almost all the cars were owned by residents.
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I think the Bunkers were in Queens. And indeed in Queens, Brooklyn, along with Staten Island and the Bronx owning a car is rather common. It’s in Manhattan (the core of NYC, of course) that car ownership is more scare and public transport always accessible. In the other buroughs it’s not always as accessible. Thus the cars.
There was a mention of owning an automobile early in the series but for most of the series it was said that they didn’t own a car. When they last owned a car is unclear, during one episode Edith said that Archie lost a car years ago while dealing with a gambling problem. When the storyline included a vehicle, it was usually Munson’s cab.
The Bunker’s house: 704 Hauser Street, Astoria (Queens) New York was a fictional address.
The house shown during the opening credits is believed to be the one in the picture below located in Queens.
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That’s my guess. I thought it fun to speculate about, expected you-all to have good guesses.
People use old sometimes to mean something they had for a long time, even if they bought it new.
Considering that there were no new cars made during the war.
You’re a better watcher than I was.
I remember an episode when the IRS audited him for not reporting his income from cab-driving.
You have to remember these are all Hollywood make believe stories. Any relationship to real life should just be enjoyed as part of the story.