The 1950s were perhaps the peak of American culture. The Post-War economy was booming and a future of flying cars driven by robot housemaids was all but guaranteed. On the West Coast, one local transit authority even had a bus for cleaning other buses.
Known as the “Cyclone” Coach Cleaner, “this modified Motor Coach was used as an enormous vacuum cleaner to rid busses of litter left on board. Pulled along side another bus, the accordion-like seal was extended to the door and a powerful blast of air turned the bus interior into a literal cyclone of flying debris, saving hours of hand sweeping” according to the SFMTA Photo Archives. [Flickr via Uptown Almanac]