Borg 6

social hierarchy of technological knowledge

suburban paradox--as Americans became more dependent on automobiles, the status of mechanics went down, not up
people who could afford it were encouraged to buy a new car every 2 years

women worked as mechanics during the war but the end of the war brought a flood of men back into the field

p. 122 "the artifact still retained a high degree of postproduction interpretive flexibility."

• artifact--automobile
• post-production--after it comes off the assembly line
• after these identical objects are produced consumers turn them into something other than what was originally intended
• stock car racing
• hot rodding--souping up cars for higher performance
• low riders
• monster trucks
• interpretive flexibility--it could mean different things to different users
  
• a way of showing off
• wealth
• macho
  
• expression of family values
• mass production has become more flexible and more variety is offered.  You buy the specialized product for your special purpose instead of modifying a stock item
• safety regulations have pushed in the direction of buying cars designed for whatever purpose
  

Smokey Yunik, mechanic as hero
large culture of do-it-yourself

mechanics did not in general gain status or higher pay  why?

• after WWII ended, it left a surplus of mechanics
  
• competition between dealers, small shops, and mass merchandisers
• mass merchandisers like Sears paid mechanics less, charged lower prices
  
• flat rate/piecework system held wages down and discouraged initiative
• in the 1960s dealers started to offer longer warranties, meaning they did more repair work
• car companies reimbursed this at a low labor rate