The Washington Auto Show: Past, Present and Future
While a love of cars is now an American tradition, The Washington Auto Show was born of a very simple marketing goal. In 1921, a group of 20 Washington area car dealers and distributors planned the first show to sell the public on the virtue of the horseless carriage. From that humble beginning, The Washington Auto Show has truly been on the fast track in terms of growth and popularity.
Housed in a variety of area venues, the show was staged for 18 years in the DC National Guard Armory. The show has gone on hiatus only twice in over six decades once for World War II and once more due to poor economic conditions in the 70s. The Washington Auto Show even captured presidential attention in the 1930s and was used by President Franklin Roosevelt to overcome seasonal buying peaks disrupting the economy.
The Washington Convention Center and The Washington Auto Show opened together in early 1983. By this date, the auto show had grown to require every available foot of display space, covering nearly eight acres almost four times the physical size of the DC Armory shows with three times as many models.
Steady growth in size and prominence has made The Washington Auto Show one of the industryês most prestigious events. Since 1988, The Washington Auto Show has been held between Christmas and New Yearês Day, garnering a tremendous base of loyal fans and annual visitors. It is with those supporters in mind that the upcoming date shift was made.
The date change will enhance the size, stature and magnitude of the show Washingtonians have so loyally supported for generations, says WANADA CEO Gerard N. Murphy. It means more cars, more manufacturers, and a heightened level of involvement from exhibitors because the industry will get the chance to showcase the latest products and innovations before Congress and the agencies.
The Washington Auto Show now includes exhibits its founders could have never foreseen, including a Media Preview Day to accommodate more than 250 registered media members and industry leaders reporting to a public that now eagerly awaits every new development of the horseless carriage. The auto showês tradition of charitable giving would also be a welcome evolution for those early planners, already active in civic causes. The 2005 Washington Auto Show Congressional Gala and Charity Preview will benefit many area health and childrenês charities, carrying forward a giving tradition that has been in place 12 years.
Planners in 1921 who looked for every imaginative twist to draw attention to that new-fangled mode of transportation would be amazed to see todayês auto show displays and the full-slate of entertainment, contests and interactive displays for visitors and their families.
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