to be traveled to because of newly constructed interstate systems. All of the destinations that were traveled to had activities for both the young and the old. These were and escape from the everyday rigors of suburban and city life.The need for gas stations also increased as the number of automobiles and road trips increased. Back in the 30s and early 40s before the dramatic rise in the number of automobiles, gas stations would be designed in ways to attract customers. These designs often included very unusual facades. They attracted customers when there were low number of cars on the roads. But as the roadways expanded scenic gas stations eventually phased out because they no longer attracted the eye of the public. Also the majority of gas stations in the 1950s were full-service unlike the gas stations of today. They would try to make the customer as comfortable as possible when filling up.Places to eat on the road also sprang up. Diners were an important fixture on the road in the 1950s. However food was not always served as fast as the customer would like it to be at these diners. This lead to the development of fast food restaurants like McDonalds, White Castle, and Burger King. These would allows families to eat on the road and get to their destination more quickly. Diners may have provided better tasting and quality food but drivers on the road liked the fact that they could get their food quickly from a drive thru window. Eventually the small diners died out somewhat and the larger fast food franchises took over. Another aspect of the 1950s American dream was the space race. The space race was a race to see who could put a man on the moon first. It was mainly between the US and the Soviet Union. Although the majority of the space race took place in the 60s it began in the late 1950s with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union. Sputnik was launched on October 4, 1957. It was a very basic satellite and let o...
