ABSTRACT
The people of Potter Addition are committed to giving a fair day's work for a fair day's wage. N Potter Addition, a man's sense of masculinity is irrevocably grounded in the fact that he is a steady worker and the family's breadwinner. It is a poignant fact of lower-class life, however, that the jobs that these men hold seldom command sufficient social esteem. Car repair combines the pragmatics of work with esthetic sensibilities so that what is otherwise hard, physical labor takes on various aspects of play. The particularistic approach to knowledge employed in the lower-class occupational ideal is equally at home in the car cult. A final source of commitment to the car cult originates in the fact that the repair work of the shade tree mechanic comes close to epitomizing the lower-class occupational ideal. Leisure-time auto repair places a premium on both strength and manual dexterity.
