Auto Thrill Shows and Destruction Derbies, 1922–1965: Establishing the Cultural Logic of the Deliberate Car Crash in America

The profuse historiography on the automobile in America near completely overlooks the ubiquitous cultural practice of entertaining live audiences by deliberately crashing cars. This paper seeks to rectify some of this ongoing neglect by providing a socio-historical exploration into the origins of this unique genre. The planned automobile wreck’s birth is traced to the early 1920s and is situated contextually within an established tradition of disaster and destruction reenactments, key historical developments in the system of automobility, and the phenomenon of traffic accidents. By exposing the political economy behind this form of amusement and the dominant discourse surrounding it, the paper provides an explanation for how and why the deliberate demolition of such an iconic and celebrated technology was able to flourish in America.