From 1956 to 1963, Dinah Shore would end her Sunday evening NBC “Dinah Shore Chevy Show” singing the show’s theme song “See the USA in your Chevrolet.” The song always ended with her famous farewell kiss to the television audience.

This was during the era when automobile advertising ruled the television airways. It was there you would see glimpses of the new models but never enough to know what they really looked like. I saw those first fins that jumped out from Dodge and Chrysler; I saw the first Ford hardtop convertible and the ’57 Chevy that will forever be a classic on television.

The new model year was in September. There were no midyear unveilings. When you bought a new car it was from the same year. You could not buy a 1957 in 1956 as is the practice now.

As many of you who follow this column know, I was born and raised in Lakeland, our neighboring county. We had three automobile dealerships, Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet. Each year around the time for the new models, the manufacturers would begin delivery of the vehicles. Never would you see one of the new models in the showroom until the date and time that every dealer in the country made the official presentation. Valdosta attorney Pete Stone and I, who were best friends during this time, never missed one of the big automobile open houses. Going straight from school, we would go to the three dealerships on their special day to get a first-hand look at the new models. We were not by ourselves. This was a big event in the town. It was like a chamber business-after-hours except that just about everybody in town showed up.

During the mid-’50s, Murray Chevrolet in Lakeland had a grand opening of their new dealership next to the courthouse. I have only seen photos but that was an event I would have liked to have attended. The building was like no other around. A large showroom with high ceilings with wood walls built to showcase the new Chevrolets of the time. The floors shined to the point of reflecting in the hub caps of the cars and trucks on display.

In the years that followed, much of my childhood world began to change. My hometown with three car dealerships, two drug stores, three grocery stores, three department stores, a dime store and a bank began to give up to the competition. Last Friday, we had a bank, drug store and the Chevrolet dealership. Today we have a bank and a drug store left of the original group in the downtown. A few days ago, the cars of the last dealership in town were loaded and hauled away. I see this as not only the end of an era but the end of a love affair; our love of the American automobile is over. The government can bail out an automobile company but they cannot bring back that special feeling we had for American cars and trucks.

My mother cried, my father said, when he traded their ’37 Chevrolet for a ’49 Ford and she did it again when that car left our house. Today I cry not over a special car but a special time when those new car models brought excitement to a couple of school friends; when a good tobacco crop meant a new family truck; when fender skirts meant we were cool; and when those side window vents kept us cool on those long trips to grandmother’s.

Bring back that love and you will bring back the American automobile.