(December 10, 2012) HICKORY CORNERS, Mich. — The Gilmore Car Museum is now offering an exhibition that looks at autos in the Dust Bowl era. The display at the Gilmore Car Museum coincides with the recent airing of PBS' two-part television series, "The Dust Bowl."

The film by Ken Burns features interviews with residents who lived through the Great Depression, drought and wind storms in the 1930s.

The Gilmore museum's display includes Dust Bowl-themed photographs, but its focus is on the cars of the time.

“Historically, it’s important that we show these automobiles in a setting that reflects the social and economic context of the time period,” says Michael Spezia, Executive Director of the museum.
 
“These cars are more than just a ‘pretty face,’” he added, “our new exhibit juxtaposed the cars of the Dust Bowl with some of America’s most extraordinary automobiles built during the Depression.”

An extraordinary Duesenberg custom-built for Hollywood’s elite is displayed right next to an ancient Ford Model T covered with a family’s only belongings.
 
The Duesenberg, one of 11 luxury cars in the exhibit, was introduced at the New York Auto Salon in 1929 and set a new standard for design and power. Its price tag of nearly $20,000 was the equivalent of two typical middle-class homes and two-dozen Model A Fords.
 
In stunning contrast, the nearby 1927 Model T Ford cost $485 new. As an example of what numerous American’s experienced, it is well-worn and covered with sand. Bedding and furniture as well as pots and pans are tied to the fenders and running boards—all that the family could carry on their westward migration. It is displayed with a backdrop of the enormous dust cloud, which locals called the “Black Blizzard,” enveloping the entire community of Rollo, Kansas in November 1935.