White wall tires!!!!!!

As I was walking through the parking lot at work the other day I got to thinking:

"What ever happened to white wall tires?"

No car in the parking lot had white wall tire and on rare occasion I may see a car with "white walls" while driving around.

I'm not too young to actually remember my parents owning cars that had white walls. I even remember my mother contemplating white walls when purchasing new tires. What I don't know is if white walls were more expensive than tires that didn't have white walls?

What was the allure of white walls? Did they just add a certain look to the car or did they serve a real purpose? When did the white wall fad fade away? I can't seem to put my finger on a time frame when white walls disappeared, but it happened that's for sure.