Quoted Text

The museum's collection also contains a number of experimental cars, a number of cars that were produced in relatively small numbers, and some brands that gained favor for a brief period and then failed. There were hundreds of auto manufacturers in the early twentieth century, and although you might never have heard of Franklin, Kelsey and Tilney, Riker, Balzer, or Winton, these “unsuccessful” automobiles can help us understand American history in all its richness and complexity.


               
The first car the Smithsonian Institution collected was an experimental gasoline-powered automobile. Designed and produced by Stephen M. Balzer, this 1894 Balzer automobile was technologically interesting—it had a rotary engine—but Balzer never mass produced motor cars, and the Balzer Motor Company was not a commercial success.

     
                    
          
          1894 Balzer Automobile          
          

     
     
1894 Balzer Automobile

                    
                    
          
          
          
          Balzer's patent, numbered 573,174, December 15, 1896          
          

     
     
Balzer's patent, numbered 573,174, December 15, 1896
                    
          
          Balzer-Manly Aeroplane Engine          
          

     
     
Balzer-Manly Aeroplane Engine

               
                    
          
          Elwood Haynes in the Haynes Automobile          
          

     
     
Elwood Haynes in the Haynes Automobile
     
In 1910, Elwood Haynes donated a car to the Smithsonian. The Haynes “Pioneer” was test driven on July 4, 1894. This car, although not the first American-made automobile, is one of the earliest made cars in the museum's collection, and is also gasoline powered.

In contrast to Stephen Balzer, who got out of the car business in 1902, Elwood Haynes stayed active in the business until his death in the 1920s. The Haynes Company did relatively well in the early twentieth century, but like many auto companies of the time, it failed during the 1920s.



     
     
Different Fuels, Different Futures


          
Building a gasoline car didn't guarentee sales and a future in the automaking business, some of the car companies that failed in the early twentieth century backed the wrong horse when it came to fuel type. Inventors and manufacturers built steam, gasoline, and electric cars. Gasoline has its problems as a fuel—it is inflammable and emits pollutants, to name but two of them—but gasoline-powered vehicles became the norm within a generation.


          
                    
          
          1904 Columbia Electric           
          

     
     
1904 Columbia Electric
     
                    
          
          Columbia Motor Car Ad, from Town and Country, 1911          
          

     
     
Columbia Motor Car Ad, from Town and Country, 1911

          
Electricity was a new technology in the late nineteenth century, and its modernity may have made it appeal to urbane city residents. City dwellers were the largest market for electrically powered vehicles, since such cars operated best on smooth roads and over short distances. Electric cars were quiet and easy to drive, and they were often seen as a replacement for a carriage for the wealthy: many early electric vehicles look like carriages. But electric cars had disadvantages: they couldn’t go very far between charges, batteries needed maintenance and wore out, and you couldn't carry a spare can of electricity in your car. Bad roads also limited electrics' usefulness.


          
                    
          
          Riker Electric Automobile, built about 1900          
          

     
     
Riker Electric Automobile, built about 1900
     
                    
          
                    
          


          
                    
          
          1914 Rauch and Lang Automobile           
          

     
     
1914 Rauch and Lang Automobile
     
                    
          
          Steam-powered Locomobile in about 1906, outside the home of Mrs. H. H. Smith. Smith's twins are seated in the car.          
          

     
     
Steam-powered Locomobile in about 1906, outside the home of Mrs. H. H. Smith. Smith's twins are seated in the car.

               
                    
          
          W. E. Todd's receipt for purchase of the Locomobile, dated July 4, 1901.          
          

     
     
W. E. Todd's receipt for purchase of the Locomobile, dated July 4, 1901.
     
Steam power had been harnessed for factories and for railroads in the nineteenth century. Of the three main fuels for automobiles, it was the most tried and true. But steam didn't work as well for small personal transportation as it did to fuel large locomotives. Steam cars took time to warm up and be ready to drive, and the boiler that made the steam could explode. Steam cars were initially popular but they faded from the market.

     
     

Quoted Text

White steam automobile
Catalog #: 309,497, Accession #: 101,849
In collection
From the Smithsonian Collection
Thomas H. White founded the White Sewing Machine Company in Massachussets in 1858, but he moved it to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1866. The company produced a lot more than sewing machines and cars: in 1901, it also made bicycles, roller skates, phonographs, screw machines, and kerosene lamps, among other things. Thomas's sons Rollin, Windsor, and Walter were all auto enthusiasts, and they helped get the company into the automobile manufacturing. The company began making steam-powered automobiles in 1900. White Steamers were a popular brand of steam car, and Cleveland became a center of early American automobile production. Other manufacturers in the city included the Winton Motor Car Company, the Cleveland Motor Car Company, and the Peerless Motor Car Company.

In November 1906, the automaking part of the business split off into a separate company, named the White Company. After 1911, the company stopped making Steamers and focused on producing gasoline-driven engines. Over the course of their steam-making career, the company produced 9,122 White Steamers. In 1918, the company stopped making cars (except if they were specially ordered) and concentrated on making trucks. It still makes trucks and buses.


Physical Description

This open-bodied automobile has one seat for two people and a hinged body top. There is a two-cylinder steam engine beneath the seat. A nameplate on the rear of the body is marked “White Sewing Machine Co., Cleveland, Ohio, [numerous patent dates] No. 260"

Details

Date Made:
1901
Locations:
Ohio
Note:
Cleveland
Credit:
Gift of the White Company, Cleveland, Ohio

Quoted from senders

those who control transportation control the trade
those who control trade control the masses
those who control the fiat control the trade
those who control the fiat control the masses

Quoted from Madam X

ACA gives the government complete control, over that system, too. Gone is the last thing you thought you owned.