Our family car in the fifties was a 1953 Chevrolet DeLuxe. It was an underpowered, wussy six-cylinder. You could turn the ignition key a little to the right, take it out of the ignition, and never have to use a key again. These days that would mean massive auto theft.
The windshield wipers were vacuum powered so that when you accelerated, manifold vacuum pressure would drop and the wipers would stop working.
The heater was a little thing that put out just enough heat to keep reminding you how cold you were.
For vacation, Dad put in a swamp-cooler, tubular air conditioner that was held in place by rolling up the driver’s side window. It held a modicum of water to keep the baffles wet so air could flow through and into the car.
There was a string you pulled that rotated the baffles down into the water to rewet them as necessary. If you pulled on the string fast, it would throw water up into the air path and give the driver’s head a good soaking. This was called ‘entertainment.’