o celebrate the 1950 Chicago Auto Show - the first major car expo since the United States entered World War II in 1941 - the exhibition's management steered the show's theme to one of patriotic excess. Giant portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln served as the backdrop curtains for the show's "Wheels of Freedom" revue, which was staged twice daily during the expo. The massive 24-foot-tall murals' lavishness reflected the cars' post-war luxuriance, epitomized by the Cadillac Debutante, with its leopard-skin upholstery and 24-karat-gold instrument panel.