What do Kleenex, Xerox, Scotch Tape and Autoettes have in Common?

Each of these products became broadly accepted as not only a brand but as a description. As a result, a Kleenex tissue is synonymous with facial tissue and a Xerox is synonymous with a photocopy, and cellophane tape is more often called scotch tape. So went the title of Autoette. Royce Seevers was so successful at lobbying for acceptance of the Autoette that it was written into legislation, referred to in legal action, and became the common term used to describe the small electric cars of the mid-century. Marques such as Autoette; Mobilette; Marketeer makers of the Marketeer, the Markette and, the Towne de Ville; Marketour; B&Z Electric Car Co., makers of the Electra King; Electric Shopper; Electric Sports Rider; Electrodine; Simpson Electric Car; Electro Master; Taylor Dunn, makers of the Trident; and all of the other brands became known as autoettes. The legacy remains to this day in communities such as Catalina, Laguna Beach, Balboa Island, Palm Springs, and others codes and regulations are still actively applied to autoettes, although they're more likely to be modified golf cars today. The IRS, Veterans Administration, and other regulatory agencies at the Federal level retain the term autoette in the language of the law. Thanks to the efforts of Royce Seevers and other innovators of the time the term autoette will be part of the American lexicon for years to come - perhaps even describing the neighborhood electric vehicles of tomorrow.