100th Anniversary of American Automobile Manufacturing

(Published in the Bolton Community News, June 1996)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of American automobile manufacturing. It is truly amazing to contemplate how far the transportation industry has come in one century. Take for example these rules published in the early part of this century by the Farmer's Anti-Automobile Association in Pennsylvania:

"Automobiles traveling on country roads at night must send up a rocket every mile, then wait 10 minutes for the road to clear. The driver may then proceed, with caution, blowing his horn and shooting off Roman candles, as before.

"If the driver of an automobile sees a team of horses approaching, he is to stop, pull over to one side of the road, and cover his machine with a blanket or dust cover which is painted or colored to blend into the scenery, and thus render the machine less noticeable.

"In case a horse is unwilling to pass an automobile on the road, the driver of the car must take the machine apart as rapidly as possible, and conceal the parts in the bushes."

1892 Duryea, Manufactured in Hartford, Connecticut
1892 Duryea, Manufactured in Hartford, Connecticut