Are You Out There — Life
Wise People Don’t Deface Their Cars With Bumper Stickers
That’s what my parents told me growing up.
They would be mortified if a bumper sticker was ever applied to any of our vehicles.
My father said it gives away personal information about you.
They said the glue could never be removed from the car. Maybe in the 70s that was true. Now there are magnetic signs and easy-to-remove adhesive.
The history of the bumper sticker started with advertising.
The idea of using a vehicle for advertisement was used in the horse-and-buggy days. The automobile was not even invented. It was common for people to adorn horsefly nets with advertising slogans.
Early cars did not have bumpers.
The bumper safety feature came about in1927 when Ford released the Model A. Drivers decorated their bumpers with signs made of cardboard or metal.
The bumper sticker as we know it today can be traced back to a screen printer in Kansas City, Mo. named Forrest P. Gill.
In the 1940s, Gill found himself with a surplus of two wartime technologies: adhesive-backed paper and fluorescent paint. He combined the two and the bumper…
