Magic Touch Driving

This 1956 Ford advertisement for new "Master Guide Power Steering" shows how cars were viewed as masculine machines and how power steering allowed women to control them. Miss Ann Hart, "weight 98 pounds," is able to get the "ton and half car to do what she wants it to do," thanks to Ford Master Guide Power Steering. Power steering is described as a surrogate for the male who would usually drive the car: it "supplies the muscle" while all Ann Hart needs to do is "guide the car...turning effort is reduced to almost nothing."

In comparison to a more standard car commercial, this Ford advertisement does not showcase the speed and power of the car on an open stretch of beautiful highway. Miss Ann Hart is filmed running an errand at the drug store, after which she guides her car safely home through a carefully manicured suburban landscape. The house-lined streets and local stores of suburbia are offered as the place where women should be with their cars. The highway and the open road are not shown at all. The suburban nature of Miss Ann Hart's drive with her car reflects women's growing reliance on the automobile to perform the daily activities of a suburban lifestyle, such as visiting friends, grocery shopping, or picking up the children.