During the presidential campaign of 1928 once of the slogans that the Republican Party advanced in support of their candidate, Herbert Hover, was: "A Chicken in Every Pot, A Car in Every Garage." The slogan was meant to be both a reminder of the previous eight years of Republican prosperity and a promise of even better times to come. While the subsequent single-term administration of President Hoover witnessed the onslaught of a terrible economic depression, the linking of chickens and automobiles apparently is still seen as good business. Last summer, Perdue, Inc., the biggest seller of premium fresh chicken in the eastern United States and the 12th largest grain producer, announced the formation of Perdue BioEnergy L. L. C., a new company that will focus on supplying soybean oil and grains to biodiesel and ethanol plants.

The use of ethanol is often put forth as one means to lessen dependence on gasoline/petroleum as a fuel for motor vehicles. Ethanol has attracted increasing adherents in the United States, where it is also seen as a renewable and environmentally friendly fuel that could prove to be a boon to farmers and agriculture in general. The marketing by General Motors of so-called "E-85" flex fuel cars, which are capable of operating efficiently on a mix as high as 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, and the mandating by Delaware of a 10-percent ethanol/90-percent gasoline mix for all motor fuel sold in that state augur well for the future of this commodity.

Thus, the concept of powering American cars with fuel derived from agricultural products is not very radical or futuristic in nature. Clearly, the technology exists to do so. Cut off from oil supplies during World War II, Germany successfully ran its military and civilian motor vehicles on alcohol for the duration of the war. More recently, stunned by its vulnerability during the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s, Brazil determined to achieve fuel self-sufficiency, and has achieved such through a biofuel progam using sugar cane derivatives. Some experts have concluded that with strong backing from the Federal government, ethanol could be a major source of fuel in the United States within three to five years.

Such a development would not only be beneficial to farmers and to the environment. It would also all but eliminate American dependency on foreign oil producers and, as such, would likely change the geo-political map that has dominated our lives in recent years. But all this is not likely to happen. Despite occasional outbursts, the American people appear willing to accept increasing gas prices, and their representatives in Congress are seemingly beholden to oil and related business interests. Even a President who claims that he wants make the United States energy independent again seems unable or unwilling to put the tremendous clout of his office behind that idea in the same manner that President Kennedy did when he committed the country to a manned lunar landing within a decade. All of which could have been written off as "politics as usual" if it weren't for the fact that, in today's tight market, an international event that cut off oil imports from even one of the world's major suppliers could lead to a breakdown of the American national economy on a scale unknown since the presidency of Herbert Hoover. That is not a game of chicken in which the American people should be asked to participate.

More positively, my column in the last issue exploring the possible creation of a collegiate degree in automotive history has generated a significant amount of feedback. Not surprisingly, none of the correspondents have argued against the concept. One member has suggested that an historical survey of the bicycle might be part of the foundation undertaken by the students pursuing the degree. Another writer argues that such a degree ought to offered in a manner similar to the traditional mail correspondence course, which might provide the student with a degree of individualization and flexibility greater than that possible in an online format.

A graduate of McPherson College observes that that institution's automotive restoration technology curriculum has been broadened in recent years to include a concentration in "Historic Automotive Technology," and that a further evolution might lead to something very much akin to the curriculum that I proposed.

In that regard, it is interesting to note the publication this spring by the Johns Hopkins University Press of Kevin L. Borg's Auto Mechanics: Technology and Expertise in Twentieth Century America. Borg's book is the first scholarly treatment of the automotive repair shop from the 1890s to the near present.

Finally, the head of the docent-training program at an automotive museum has shared with me the curriculum that they use, which, in an abbreviated form, contains many of the elements of the proposed automotive history degree. Should the correspondence warrant it, I will have more to say on the degree in future columns.

- Mike Berger, SAH President