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A sportsman meets a motorist
Currently on display
From the Smithsonian Collection
This postcard, sent in 1908, although jocular, reflects the increasing awareness of the deadliness of automobile accidents. |
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Physical Description |
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postcard. Image shows man in a stopped open topped car and a hunter with a gun. Printed on the card are the following words: “Motorist - hello, killed anything? Sportsman - No, have you?” The person who sent the postcard wrote in ink on the front of the card: B. L?. Sept 4th/08. I have just sent one of these to [unclear] - rather good! two unclear initials.
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Details |
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History |
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The first person to be killed in a car accident died in New York city in 1899. He was not the last—automobiles have been responsible for thousands of deaths. In 1913, more than 4,000 people died in car accidents. By the 1930s, more than 30,000 people died every year. Automobile accidents became a part of people's lives, and were incorporated into advertising, novels, songs, and postcards.
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