Presume that this (and other Ford transparencies in this series) are photographed on Kodachrome film? The amazing pastel colors of the vehicles would do Kodachrome justice in the deep range of that medium.

[It would be Ektachrome. Production of Kodachrome sheet film ended in 1951. - Dave]

In a way, it's interesting to see what was considered "modern" in automobile technology the year I was born.

When I was 4, our church had a summer festival with a drawing for a brand-new, dark-blue-over-light-blue 1954 Ford Tudor sedan. My parents were sitting outside enjoying the evening when they heard my dad's name read over the public address system. They'd won the car!

Dad had just bought a used Rambler wagon, and I can dimly recall that wagon sitting on the front lawn with a for-sale sign on the windshield. Dad kept that Ford until 1964, when he bought a new Mercury Comet two-door sedan.

I love the Shorpy classic car tours! Thank you!

That is an impressive bank of fluorescent lights illuminating the workers and the cars. You can see that it stretches back into the factory. I imagine that replacing light bulbs would have been a full time job in that place.

[Two banks, actually. - Dave]

The 1954 Fords were going for around $2,000, give or take a few hundred depending on model.

My dad left us many things when he passed at age 91. In his collected belongings was every pay stub he received over 30 years as a civil servant.

One of those cars would have cost him about 10 months' salary back then. But our always-frugal Dad opted for a Nash Rambler instead.

-- is adorable.

What's with the bag over the center front bumper?

[Protection from scratches in case the cars bump into each other on the line. - Dave]

The first brand new car my parents bought was a 1954 Ford station wagon. Coincidentally, I was the first child, also Class of '54. It was white and whatever color Ford called pink, similar to the red and white second unit in the photo. Six jobs back is a pink vehicle. I always thought the station wagon was a 1956 but my dad, now 92, said it was a '54. Besides the two-tone colors my most vivid memory of the wagon was my mom having to hit the brakes and a metal dash my face didn't appreciate very much. Hey, it was the '50s!

- Goldenrod Yellow
- Torch Red
- Skyhaze Green
- Sandstone White