Photograph
Khomeini Drive 55 Billboard
| Billboard urging Wisconsin motorists to obey the 55 miles per hour speed limit that is illustrated with a portrait of Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution. The linkage of the speed limit with the Iranian leader graphically illustrates the degree to which the national speed limit was enacted as a security measure not as an energy saving device. |
| Image ID: | 41022 |
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| Creation Date: | after 1979 |
| Creator Name: | Sandell, David |
| City: | |
| County: | |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| Collection Name: | Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin, photographs, 1936-1980 |
| Genre: | Photograph |
| Original Format Type: | photographic print, b&w |
| Original Format Number: | PH 3601 |
| Original Dimensions: | 9 x 8 inches |
| Americans first became aware of the nation's dependence on foreign oil during the gas lines of the oil embargo of 1973-1974. That awareness was reinforced after the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by Islamic fundamentalists in 1979. Several responses to the crises of the 1970s were permanent (the place of small Japanese-made automobiles in the U.S. market and the self-serve gasoline station); the unloved and widely disobeyed 55-mile per hour speed limit was not. |
| Billboards |
| Petroleum industry and trade |
| Outdoor photography |
| Clergy |
| Automobiles |
| This image is © copyrighted property of The Capital Times and is provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society subject to contract. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Collections Division. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with a staff member. Please Credit: Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Location: | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, 4th Floor, Madison, Wisconsin |
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