After World War II ended with a big bomb the American economy exploded.

As they are known now Baby Boomers were just babies back then.  And, more was better.   Population growth meant economic growth and the housing, car, and television markets, amongst many others, took off like a Pan Am jet.

Those were the good times.  Peace and prosperity reigned.  Dinner parties were all the rage and were but an excuse for lots of drinking and smoking.

Smoke em’ if you got em.”  And most everyone did.  Advertising men, or ad men, were Mad Men back then.   Newspapers, magazines, and then tv ads for cigarettes littered the mediums like the lung darts themselves filled the ashtrays.

“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.”  “Newport refreshes while you smoke!”  Paul Hornung was the star football player and the star of the Marlboro magazine ad with the tag line “the filtered cigarette with the unfiltered taste.” Hell, Kool Super Lights helped you discover the most refreshing low ‘tar.’  Yummy.

But, by the mid-sixties, smoking was linked as a direct cause of cancer.  And, one full generation later, smoking went from sexy to tres gauche.  By the dawn of the 21st-century smoking was not only frowned upon but was banned in many public places and private spaces.

But all the while, America’s love affair with the gasoline-powered automobile grew and grew.  Post-WWII houses generally had one car garages.  But that gave way to two, three, and even four-car garages as Motor town, or Motown, revved.   Owning a car was 1A after the dream of owning your own home.

But, now, another generation later a company named Tesla is threatening to make GM’s gas guzzlers and Ford’s loud exhausts as relevant as Taryton and Pall Mall.  Will Tesla make 2040 America look back and laugh at when 2010 America was asked “wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?”

Did you know that Ford now only manufactures two cars along with its extensive line of trucks?  One is the Ford Fusion.  The other is the iconic Mustang.  But, even Mustang will offer a battery-operated version.

Wall St thinks so with a stock market valuation on Tesla greater than all other American car companies combined.

The cig is to your lungs as the combustion engine car is to your climate it seems.   The cigarette industry and the oil industry both produce filters for their product.  The former is on life support and the latter is gassed.

Apple Corporation agrees.  It announced this morning that it plans to roll out a line of electric vehicles by 2024 with a battery that will revolutionize the market.  Wowza!

Chevrolet is still punching out Malibus while Apple is already reinventing its replacement.

GM and Ford are running out of money.  Tesla and Apple are printing it.

Smoking is out of style.  Innovation never goes out of style.