The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Pickups - Hardcover Book, by Peter Henshaw, 212358 - 448 Pages

Pick-up trucks were the workhorses of an entire nation for the best part of a century a constant presence through American history. In the 1920's, hard-working Midwestern farmers relied on their Model Ts and Chevys to coax a living from the land before loading up and fleeing to California as fields turned to dust in the 1930s. Militarized pickups helped to win the war, though by the '50s and ‘60s pickups were back on the farm, on the building site, or acting as carry-alls for rapidly-expanding businesses.

Until the early 60's, pickups were working vehicles but sales rocketed through the decade as they were used to haul boats and camping trailers or transport hunters into the field. It began to dawn, as two-car families became increasingly common, that two-seater pickups weren't quite as impractical as they seemed, and it was not unusual for the owner of a sedan or station wagon to buy a pick-up as well.