Before the automobile was there an equivalent commodity that Americans used as a visible expression of personality and status in the same way?

by Vampire_Seraphin

Other than clothing and houses. Clothes are kind of a given and homes are not mobile goods.

fuck_communism

Carriages. If you wanted to show off your wealth publicly, you had an ornate carriage. Many carriage makers evolved into automobile or automobile body manufacturers. I know short answers are taboo here, but that's pretty much all there is.