History:   Ernesto  —  though as yet un-named  —  was declared a Tropical Depression on Thursday, August 24, 2006;  and by 1700 hours EDT on Friday, August 25th, had strengthened to the point of being named, as a Tropical Storm.

Duryea Day, which was begun in 1966, is so named in remembrance of Charles Duryea, who manufactured automobiles in Reading, Pennsylvania, just 15 miles from our Museum, between the years of 1900 and 1911.   In fact, he, and his test driver daughter Rhea, used the road up Mt. Penn to the Pagoda to test every vehicle they manufactured.   The criteria was:  If it could climb the hill in high gear, it passed;  if not, 'twent back to the shop for adjustments.

Four paragraphs ago, we sort of backed into the subject of The Fin Years, as we posted the photo of the white 1961 Chevy Impala, which signaled the beginning of the snip-the-fins years.   For those of you who advented too late to first-hand-witness the rise-n-fall of The Finnies, perhaps we shouldst shed a little light 'pon the matter.   •••   In this section, we'll attempt to mini-chronicle  —  through pictures  —  what the design departments of the automotive industry were sending to dealer showrooms throughout the late '50's. Counting the basic makes of the The Big Three auto makers in the United States, there were 14½.   GM had the Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac.   Ford had the Ford, Edsel, Mercury, Lincoln, and Continental.   Chrysler had the Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, and Imperial.   You will find examples of all fifteen here  —  mostly the 1959's, as that was the height of both the fad, and the fins.   But we will also extend to the extremes:  1955 and 1961.

Though The Fin Years (having started in '55) concluded around 1961;  The Boat Years (which began in '57) continued for about a dozen more (beyond '61)  —  until The Petrol Crunch of '73.

The term "boat" implies largeness.   From 1957 to 1973, generally, cars were big  –  wide  –  long  –  tall of tail  –  tremendous of trunk  –  resplendent of chrome  –  flashy of color  –  horsey of power  –  and guzzlers of gas.   •••   Such was a result of the attitude of the generation which followed the end of the Second World War, when everyone seemed to believe that we would live happily ever after in a kind of perpetual prosperity.   And Detroit not only shared our psyche  —  in many ways they had become its prime promoter.

Our somewhat startling wake-up-call came in October of 1973.   As oil reserves plummeted:  petrol deliveries abated, and pump panic set in  —  with the lines spilling well out into the street  —  and halfway down the block.   Twas then that the boat became drydocked.   •••   And.   The Japanese began to win "the war."