Iconography, Part II.

As long as we are on the subject of cultural icons with German roots, I would be remiss not to note that yesterday was the 62nd birthday of the Volkswagen bus.  It first rolled off the assembly line in 1950 as the Volkswagen Type 2 or the Transporter--a name, given the company's history, that seems a bit unfortunate.  The Volkswagen Type 1, what is now called the Beetle, was the only car the company made when it was conceived with Adolph Hitler's enthusiastic support as a state-funded venture dedicated to creating an affordable, mass-produced "People's Car."  The Volkswagen prototype was called the KdF Wagen, KdF standing for Krafte durch Freude, or "Strength through Joy."   But by the time the car finally made it into full-scale production, Hitler had set off World War II, and the plant, now manned by slave labor, was given over to manufacturing military vehicles.  After the war, the big car companies of the former Allied countries all turned up their noses, allowing the Germans to take control again.  Then in the 60s Madison Avenue taught Americans to "Think Small" and helped make Volkswagen cool to a younger crowd. Thus, in three short decades, Hitler's People Car made the journey to Power to the People van.  Groovy?  You decide.

"And there will be Jews who will sell the
Strength through Joy Wagon
 at a place called Madison Avenue?
Ha! Ha!  You are such a joker, you."