Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / March 28, 1991, edition 1 / Page 68
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Your Favorite Toy Began Life 1 00 Years Ago BY MARJORIE MEGIVERN If there is one indispensable pioduct in our lives today, it is surely our automobile. As fami ly transporter, status symbol, and general work-horse it is our pride and joy. We are so accustomed to its services, most families now house at least two of them in specially-de signed places of residence. Despite the glamour and useful ness attached to our cars, a book about their history doesn't sound particularly compelling. After all, the automobile is just a pile of met al, rubber, plastic and fabric. What's to say about it? Robert Ireland, a freelance jour nalist, has plenty to say, focusing particularly on North Carolina, in his new book, Entering The Auto Age, published last year by the Division of Archives and History of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. With the subtitle, The Early Automobile in North Carolina, 1900-1930, this 137-page paper back book is chock full of automo tive history and its social and eco nomic significance to our state. It is also liberally illustrated with fascinating photographs of the earli est "buggymobiles," steam boilers that powered them, car dealerships and their products, advertisements, parades, races and the attire re quired for women drivers. One of the most interesting sights recorded was a roadway where about a dozen early automobiles were mired in Orange County mud. Ireland does more than trace the development of the auto from its steam-powered beginnings to the 1930s models of truck and Cad illacs. He explores along the way how powerfully this development affected the way North Carolinians lived and how the state's economy changed as a result. His sources include newspaper accounts, registration records, state laws and, most telling of all, people who experienced the early days of the state's auto age. Quotes from these people bring the whole subject vividly to life. America's first road-tested vehi cle emerged as early as 1857 in New York. It was not until 1880, however, that a North Carolina man, a Sampson County farmer, mort gaged his cotton crop to raise S200 for a steam engine and boiler. From this he built a road vehicle whose remaining parts are now housed in a private museum in Turkey, N. C. It was another decade before the horseless carriage powered by an internal combustion engine appear ed in the state. And still another ten years passed before car ownership was accepted by Tar Heels. Overcoming public indifference, if not hostility to the mechanical monster, was not easy. Though the "horse culture" had pretty much disappeared by 1929 nationwide. North Carolina did not readily aban don its dependence on horses as transportation. As late as 1913, the town of Thorn asvi lie bought a new horse fountain and watering trough despite the existence of 70 autos and two garages in the community. After all, the state's population was less than two million and there were only 50-100 automobiles in BOOK REVIEW The Early Automobile in North Carolina , 1900-1930 BY ROBERT IRELAND PHorooiAfH Couitdy Noith Carolina Couecnon UwvHsmr of North Cajouna U??a?t, Chatr Hiu. AUTOMOBILES mired deeply in the mud were a common sight along North Carolina roadways in the early 20th century. These vehicles were trying to climb a hill near Asheville. use at that time, while 147,000 horses were available, as well as 135,000 mules. People largely distrusted the new machines and feared the disruption of their tranquility by the noise and dirt they created. In 1904, when a Cadillac ven tured forth on the streets of Newton, N.C., the local newspaper used this front-page headline: "Horseless Carriage Comes to Town." The sto ry noted that "horses bolted, ladies screamed and children ran to their mothers." It would be some time, the editor commented, before folks would swap a quiet, safe Sunday buggy ride for a trip in that dirty, noisy contraption that "careens around faster than a horse can gal lop." The transition was made, of BENNETT & BENNETT REALTY 287-6630 Day or Night * Thomasboro Road * Calabash CAROLINA COVE, CALABASH Quiet, comfortable living. Low down payment with long terms. NEW 1990 HORTON doublewide. 3 BR, 2 baths, great room. Quality construction. On large lot. $51,900. LIKE-NEW DOUBLEWIDE, 3 BR, 2 baths, living room plus den. Over 1300 sq. ft. Priced to sell, owners relocating. 545,000. LOTS for new home construction and doublewides. SUNSET HARBOR Lot with camper-S9,500. A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF BOTH PAST AND PRESENT Reny's Any Old Thing Hwy. 130 ? Waccamaw River Ash, North Carolina 28420 (919)287-3182 Christmas Shop and full gift line plus lid. ed. artworks Available at One or Both Locations Including: ? ? - - ?Tom Clark Gnomes (WhiuvUU Only) ? Precious Moments ? Miss Martha Originals ? Maude Humphrey Bogarl ?Alex Haley Remembers ?Sarah's Attic ? Legends ? Cat's Meow ? Hummels ?Raikes ? Jan Hagara ? Memories of Yesterday Any Old Thing Antiques "7A1 D? a ? David Winter 'Lowell Davis 'Whitley Bay 'Department 56 'Rowe Pottery 'Fenton Glass 701 By Pass'South Whiteville, North Carolina 28472 (919)642-3312 1-800-424-628 O w m Use Our 800 Number If You Are Outside Our Telephone Exchanges course; the auto age arrived, bringing with it a more com prehensive roads system, toll roads, and eventually regula tion of the automobile. North Carolina became known as the "Good Roads State," leading the South in road construction. In 1907 it took its first regulatory step, re quiring that "all persons riding on bicycles, tricycle, tandem bicycle, locomobiles, automo bile or other motor vehicle" keep to the right side of the highway and travel at no more than six miles an hour in "busi ness or closely built-up areas." In other areas, ten-15 miles an hour was permitted. This era was not entirely rosy. By 1920 the problem of automobile safety had reared its head, as higher speeds led to a mounting toll of fatalities, in juries and property damage. Remedies included higher in ation of a new state-level bureaucra cy capable of collecting tax rev enues. Indeed, as the automobile be came a leading tax producer, the structure of state government was forced to change. Traffic congestion mounted from 1920 to 1930 as state highways be came major arteries of trade. Local businesses were no longer confined to railway access for supplies, but at the same time, their customers could travel almost anywhere in the state to shop. Trucks, tractors, taxis and buses, all offsprings of the car, were transforming the way North Carolinians carried out agriculture, commerce and recreation. Ireland presents in this book a balanced view of what the auto age brought us: new freedom, status, economic progress and pleasure, but also increased bureaucracy, new taxes, greater debt and violence on the highways. It's a mixed legacy and one whose history is relevant to every one who has sat behind the wheel of a car. Entering the Auto Age is illu minating social comment and good reading, as well. surance rates, law enforcement's speed trap, and in 1922, organiza tion of the Carolina Motor Club. Another outgrowth of this state's entry into the auto age was the ere SAVE_$_SA\/E_$SAVE $ SAVE $ SAVE $ SAVE $ SAVE SAVES on Quality Furnishings! ?Suites ?Sectionals ?Sofa Sleepers ?Recliners ?Coffee & End Tables ?Entertainment Centers LIVING ROOM BEDROOM ?Bedroom Suites Twin ? Full Queen ? King ?Separate Pieces ?Direct Factory Outlet for High Point Bedding 27,000 Sq. Ft. SHOWROOM ujLDINING ROOM < (f) ?Dining Groups ?Dinettes 2 'Separate Pieces Check Us Out! ?vc _ <[ACCESSORIES WAREHOUSE " FURNITURE Rehta!fSa,e 803-249-8874 v Hwy. 90. 1/2 ml. N. of Nixon's Crossroads. NMB L&J We Can Furnish or HP I IVPRV Financing Available Refurnish Any Condo, 90 DAYS SAME Home. Hotel or Motel AVAI LABLE AS CASH ESS A?J WATJ dMcfATJ Aic? Afj
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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March 28, 1991, edition 1
68
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