# The so-called "Good Old Days"

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-so-called-good-old-days/198400>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [December 16, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-so-called-good-old-days/198400 "2024-12-16T14:52:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-so-called-good-old-days/198400/1 "2024-12-16T14:52:49Z")

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Take a look at the length of the warranty on tires in the early 20th Century:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/c/2/c20e4f9bc661d744ca014f7f1532acc38caa5df0.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-so-called-good-old-days/198400/2 "2024-12-16T15:17:49Z")

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But to be fair, that was probably still 3-5 years… Yes I just pulled that number out of my… lol

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**Author:** ![JoeMario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JoeMario](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JoeMario)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-so-called-good-old-days/198400/3 "2024-12-16T15:30:08Z")

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I’m surprised how expensive the tires were way back then.  
Here’s another Sterling tire price list from the 1920s.

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/d/3/d3982cc7a167f716c6197324dd37a62e59fe82cd.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-so-called-good-old-days/198400/4 "2024-12-16T15:53:17Z")

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The ad shows white tires which means the date is pre 1912 or so. $23 for a tire in 1912 is $750 in todays money… for 3500 miles!

Carbon black improved the durability by about a factor of 10. The biggest supplier of carbon black in the US came from Binny and Smith that also made Crayola crayons.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-so-called-good-old-days/198400/5 "2024-12-16T16:30:43Z")

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> [@davesmopar](#):
>
> But to be fair, that was probably still 3-5 years

That’s a good point. Between the terrible condition of most roads at that point (the feds had built only 455 miles of paved highway by that year), the unreliability of the cars, and the need to frequently repair punctured tires, most folks who owned cars probably drove no more than 1,000 miles per year.

This expedition was an exception:

> **[How a Group of Enterprising Auto Executives Convinced America We Needed a...](https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/11/holiday-travel-who-to-thank-or-curse-for-americas-highways.html)**
>
> How a group of enterprising auto executives convinced the nation to pave its dusty paths.