Splish Splash car was takin’ a bath
I don’t know when car washes were invented, but one didn’t arrive in our corner of PA until the late 60’s. It was erected in a less fashionable part of the city….literally one block long. An amusement park ride for adult males.
I’d say that it was maybe half the length of a football field. The brushes were huge, but when you consider who would patronize the place (white middle class males with large cars or station wagons), it makes sense.
You had to get out and watch the process, which everyone did. Moving window to window, mouth agape at this another new technology that made our lives easier in the sixties. I have no idea what it cost, but I have to say that the car friggin’ sparkled at the end. Oh yea, and they also vacuumed the car as part of your payment–front and back and squeeged ALL the windows. Daddy was wowed–his chrome glistened and his silver hubcaps told everyone that here was a big shot.
Of course, yours truly had a plan. Mommy got to take her car in to be washed after school, and I stayed in the car as it went through. Oboy! I guess some kids could be scared shitless seeing these huge brushes coming at you from all sides, but that was just super cool to me.
Of course, that was another dirty little secret of me and mom, but other kids were fascinated by my story.
The little ‘wash it yourself’ places sprung up within a few years, like garden weeds. It didn’t take long for daddy to go the cheap route and wash cars himself. I was too young to be forced into slave labor at that point, but eventually, I could drive the cars and wash them. Mom always gave me more money than I needed, so the excess went into buying albums.
Now think about it–doesn’t this song complement the machinery of a car wash?