There is some truth to the labor saving aspect. Advertisements of the 40s and 50s showed automatics as being so advanced, it would be like driving a car from the Stone Age if you still had a stick. (No, I won't agree with that!) Other advertisments demonstrated how easily a "housewife," to use period nomenclature, could park a large American car when power steering first became widely available. With the trend toward modernization in the 50s and 60s, the American car buyer followed the marketing and bought Automatics. Now it is so engrained into the everyday driver psyche, that a manual transmission is reserved for those who A)are driving enthusiasts, like to feel the connection between car and road, B)need the functionality/lower maintenence for work or recreation, C)drive small import ultracompacts like the Geo Metro or Ford Festiva, or D)have a much older car (pre-war) for which an automatic transmission was not available.