Posted on 04/25/2005 7:37:51 PM PDT by qam1
On an afternoon in Sacramento, Calif., 147 vehicles are parked outside a theater complex under a hazy spring sky. There are shiny Town Cars and rusty Ford pickup trucks, perky Rav 4s and burly Silverados.
For all their differences in name and prestige, they have one thing in common: Their backsides are pristine. Not one of them sports a single gem of wisdom plastered to a bumper.
Bumper stickers, first used in election campaigns after World War II and once a powerful form of political and cultural expression, can still be found in trinket shops and Internet stores. But fewer and fewer of them seem to be showing up on the backs of cars.
The main reason, observers say, is the increasing political prickliness of Americans. In a divided society, commuters are wary of announcing the way they feel about the president or the war or religion or any other controversial subject.
“The car is the American icon, so there was something wonderful about the bumper sticker,” says Carol Gardner, who traveled the country a decade ago for a book about bumper stickers and the people behind them. “They used to represent the town hall of the American roadway. Now they’re disappearing, and it’s kind of a shame.”
Gardner, whose “Bumper Sticker Wisdom: America’s Pulpit Above the Tail Pipe” (Beyond Words Publishing, $19.95) got national attention when it was published in 1995, has a couple of theories about why fewer people seem to be adorning their cars with messages these days.
“With all of the violence and terrorism in our world today, people just want to be careful about expressing their views,” she says. “They are afraid of the consequences.”
Baby boomers who once plastered their Volkswagen vans with slogans that spoke to issues such as abortion and politics have become more introspective and less activist, notes Gardner, who remains a student of stickers.
“Bumper stickers really became popular in the 1960s when baby boomers were out there taking on all of the issues,” including civil rights and women’s rights, she says. “In the 1990s, the boomers were turning 50 and started buying ‘self-help’ and ‘how to’ books rather than standing up for causes and talking about issues.”
Others point to the fact that more people are driving leased cars or otherwise costly vehicles that they are reluctant to decorate with stickers, which likely will fade, peel and prove difficult to remove.
That helps explain the popularity of the colorful car magnets in the shape of ribbons that promote everything from breast-cancer awareness to supporting the troops. Bumper stickers, observers say, are more likely to end up in cubicles or bulletin boards today than on vehicles.
“We all have nicer cars now,” jokes Deborah Chausse, owner of Evangeline’s gift shop in Sacramento. “I think that’s the reason you rarely see bumper stickers. I know I wouldn’t want to put a sticker on my car that might leave some kind of residue.”
Chausse drives a Lexus.
Sales of bumper stickers have steadily eroded during the past decade as a percentage of all promotional trinkets, including hats and shirts, bags and computer mouse pads, according to an international trade association.
Promotional Products Association International reports that buttons, badges and stickers represented 3.5 percent of sales of such items in 2003, compared with 6.8 percent in 1993.
But although bumper stickers may be less ubiquitous, they do not yet appear to be in danger of going the way of the 8-track tape. Particularly during election years they remain popular, says Bill Prickett of the trade organization.
It was a website I saw on a bumper sticker called JosephLied.com
I've seen all kinds of religious bumper stickers before, but never one like this. There's a huge Mormon temple on a prominent street in my city...so I figured it would be something about Joseph Smith. I found the topic of the website interesting, coming as it did from a former Mormon.
Oh yeah - I remember those. How 'bout 'Nuke a gay whale for Jesus' from the Reagan years?
Let's see, you live in MA., Northern California or Oregon? Correct?
You got that right. I'll remember it and use it if you don't mind.
I think we live in the same neighborhood.
The sweethearts will key an SUV without a bumper sticker... Ya gotta love 'em. (NOT)
I moved to Santa Fe NM about a month ago. One of the first things I noticed is how many bumper stickers are on the cars here. Of course, 99% are wacky liberal sayings, Kerry/Edwards, NO WAR, peace is patriotic, etc., some cars are plastered in the back with 10 or more. The libs here (and they are the majority) are very vocal I would say, I would be afraid to get my car keyed by a "tolerant" native if I put a sticker on my car. There are a very few W stickers, mostly on pickup trucks. But my guess in this town is, no sticker, the driver is a conserative.
He ought to place the post office eagle/emblem next to it. `:-D
I remember that one, a friend had that one on her car. I thought it was one of the best and funniest. The only one that might have been better was one that said "StickerBumper"
Bumper stickers I can live with.
But who in their right mind came up with all those gawd-awful Christmas-tree-ornament sparkly bright cheapo plastic running lights and turn signals?
Good thing I wear my sunglasses at night...
;-)
Up here in Massachusetts, it is a rarity not to see a car with an arrogant liberal bumper sticker, especially around the college towns. Some of the cars are literally plastered with them, and I bet they are holding some of those heaps together!
And yes, up here vandalism is considered 'heroic' by the libs. There was one house I drove by twice a day with a 'Vote Bush' sign at the end of the drive...I lost count on how many times the homeowner had to replace it. Amazing how the Diversity and Tolerance crowd is anything but, isn't it? And the scary part is that they just don't see what hypocrites they are. The title of Michael Savage's latest book is not just an attention grabber: it's true!
My favorite from the era: From A Chicken In Every Pot, to A Chicken Smoking Pot
My Lexus has a Bush/Cheney sticker...
You've got to find a find a quality message if you're driving a quality car! :-)
That's a good one!
The only time I ever thought a camera would be useful on my cell phone was a couple weeks ago when I was walking home from work and saw a Subaru with a sticker that said - I sh!t you not - "PAVEMENT IS FOREVER".
....without a doubt the most idiot bumper sticker I ever saw.
I don't know about this. Our Republican headquarters in my Southern California town gave out an enormous number of Bush and W-04 bumper stickers last year. In our mostly Democratic community, a truly amazing number of these Bush stickers are STILL on cars, as are many Kerry stickers. (And I know for a fact that ours, at least, can easily be peeled off.)
Yet another sign that Republicans aren't quite the wimps they used to be!
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