This is a Standard Columbia bicycle made by The Pope Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts around 1881. The Standard Columbia was available in models with front-wheel diameters ranging from 42 to 58 inches. This particular Standard Columbia has a 54- inch wheel and sold for $95. Mr. Frank E. Waring used this in the Washington, D.C., area.
In the 1870s Albert A. Pope founded the Pope Manufacturing Company, the first company to manufacture bicycles on American soil. Pope had previously sold bicycles exported from England, but began building bicycles under the trade name "Columbia" in the Weed Sewing Machine Company's factory in Hartford Connecticut in 1879. By 1890, the company was so successful it had bought the factory from Weed because it needed all the space.
This Standard Columbia has a 54-inch front wheel with 44 radial spokes, and an 18-inch rear wheel with 18 radial spokes, weighing 49 pounds. The 1881 catalog states that this model came in two colors . On the left side of the backbone, under the seat, is a brass manufacturer's nameplate. At the upper end of the forged-steel front fork is the open steering head containing the long steering spindle, which can be adjusted by means of a bolt passing through the top of the head. Straight handlebars carry pear- shaped grips of Siamese buffalo horn and a brake lever on the right side that operates the spoon brake on the front tire. The front-wheel bearings are adjustable double cones, fitting into hardened boxes in the hubs. They are adjusted for wear by an eccentric in the bottom of the fork. The adjustable pedal cranks allow the throw to vary from 5 to 6 inches.
This Peterbilt single-sleeper tractor was owned by Werner Enterprises, a national freight carrier founded in 1956. As high speed, limited access highways were built, demand to move small goods created opportunities for trucking companies and truck builders. Tractor-trailers replaced freight trains for many types of products. Peterbilt began making log and lumber trucks in the late 1930s and was known for tailoring its custom designed trucks to the needs of truckers. Peterbilt also pioneered the use of aluminum, which allowed greater cargo weight within legal limits. Model 359, one of Peterbilt’s workhorses, was manufactured from 1967 to 1987.
In 1996, General Motors began leasing a new generation of electric cars to consumers. This car was leased to an individual in California from 1998 to 2000. It is the last one produced in the first series, which had lead-acid batteries; the second series had nickel-metal hydride batteries with greater range. GM developed the EV1 to meet a requirement for emission-free vehicles in California. It was aerodynamic and had a sophisticated, computer-controlled energy management and propulsion system. Many drivers liked the EV1, but GM chose not to mass-produce the car because of its projected high price and limited market.
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), founded in 1949, became a hugely popular sport in the United States by the 1990s, rivaling baseball and football. Dale Earnhardt (1951-2001), a native of Kannapolis, North Carolina, was one of the sport's top figures. Beginning in 1975, Earnhardt won seven series championships, including the Winston Cup, NASCAR's top level, and a Daytona 500, then the most prestigious NASCAR race. Earnhardt's death at Daytona in a crash on February 18th, 2001 was traumatic for his fans and for NASCAR and led to improvements in racing safety.
Earnhardt's helmet from the 1998 NASCAR season, an open-face 1996 Simpson model equipped with a microphone, was itself a major step forward in saving drivers' lives in racing crashes. Prior to 1957, the best protective helmets were made of fiberglass and were lined with resilient rubber foam. In that year the Snell Foundation, named for an amateur race car driver who died of massive head injuries, was formed to find better ways of protecting race car drivers, motorcycle riders, and others engaged in dangerous activities. The Snell Foundation discovered that resilient or bouncy lining materials actually transmitted the force of contact with a hard object to the wearer's skull. The solution was to use non-resilient materials that absorbed the forces of a crash and did not rebound. Earnhardt's helmet was state of the art in helmet construction in 1998. Its lining crushed and did not rebound. After even the slightest blow, the helmet would be replaced with a new one.
In the 2001 crash, Earnhardt's head snapped forward violently, breaking his neck. The death of NASCAR's brightest star at that time led to the adoption of the "Hans device," which supports the head and does not allow it to snap forward in a crash. NASCAR's new chassis, the "Car of Tomorrow," adopted in 2007, also was designed to give drivers added crash protection.
Building Route 66 in the mid-1920s stirred public excitement. Motorists could anticipate an all-weather route from Chicago to Los Angeles and reduced dependence on passenger trains. One symbol of infatuation with the new highway is the Phillips 66 gasoline trade name. Introduced in 1927, the name was inspired by a test drive at 66 miles per hour on a stretch of Route 66 in Oklahoma. The Phillips 66 sign, unveiled in 1930, combined the trade name with the shape of a US highway route marker. The sign has continued in use with minor revisions. This example was made in 1956.
Avon Products celebrated the recreational pickup camper with this dual container for Deep Woods after shave lotion (truck) and Deep Woods talc (camper). Pickup trucks were larger and more powerful by the 1950s, and the manufactured pickup camper became a new, practical alternative for vacationers, hunters, anglers, and others who wanted to spend the night in a recreation vehicle. A truck-mounted camper offered many advantages over a motor home or trailer: it was less expensive, lighter, faster, and easier to maneuver. The added weight over the rear drive wheel provided better traction in mud and gravel.
The EV1 was the first modern electric car designed for a mass market. Beginning in 1996, General Motors built 1,117 of the cars at the Lansing Craft Centre in Lansing, Michigan and leased most of them to consumers in California, Arizona, and Georgia. This bottle of Electrolight home brew, donated by GM engineer Jon Bereisa, represents the camaraderie of EV1 staff members, who volunteered for their assignments and socialized after work hours.
This 1953 Glasspar is an example of fiberglass-body sports cars made in small quantities after World War II. Some American motorists, particularly veterans returning from overseas duty, wanted European-style sports cars. Several American companies began small-scale production of sports cars with molded fiberglass bodies. This type of body could be made in small quantities without the expensive tooling, dies, and presses needed to make steel bodies. William Tritt, a California fiberglass-boat builder, introduced the Jaguar-like Glasspar in 1951 and sold several hundred bodies. The Glasspar body fit on a used automobile chassis that the owner obtained and customized by shortening the wheelbase. A fiberglass body was not only simpler to make; it was lightweight, rustproof, dent-resistant, and easy to repair. And it was inexpensive; a Glasspar body sold for only $950, one-fourth the price of a Jaguar and less than half the price of a Ford convertible. Tritt improved the technique of making fiberglass bodies and made more bodies of this type than his competitors. He understood the importance of casting an automobile body in one piece, and he developed techniques to avoid shrinkage, tearing at metal joints, and mismatched parts. Dale L. Dutton, a Glasspar enthusiast, donated this car to the Smithsonian in 1996.
Major auto manufacturers dismissed plastic bodies following an unsuccessful Ford experiment in the early 1940s, but William Tritt demonstrated that a body made of polyester resin and glass strands was practical, economical to produce, and superior to steel in many ways. Tritt introduced the Glasspar in 1951 and made about 300 sports car bodies by hand over a period of several years. Despite its advantages, the plastic car seemed destined to remain a low-volume vehicle because of slow production and limited capital investment; only one Glasspar body was made per day. But in 1953, General Motors decided to make Corvette bodies of fiberglass and consulted with Tritt
This homemade leather license plate bears the brass numerals “2272” and the letters “DC” for the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia required that all vehicles operating on its streets had a license from DC, but did not issue plates itself until 1907, when it began to issue porcelain plates.
As the number of motor vehicles reached tens of thousands, state and local governments assumed a new power: authorizing vehicles and drivers. In 1901, New York became the first state to register automobiles; by 1918 all states required license plates
By the 1920s, commercial signs and billboards turned the roadside into an advertising medium. Allan Odell, sales manager of the family-owned Burma-Vita Company, created serial roadside rhymes in 1926 to advertise the company’s brushless shaving cream. He was inspired by a string of signs leading to a service station in Illinois, each sign promoting a product or service available at the station. The earliest Burma-Shave signs boosted sales significantly; the sign program spread so rapidly that the company began a nationwide contest, resulting in dozens of selections annually. Some verses merely extolled the Burma-Shave product, while others made light of facial hair, shaving, and intimacy with the opposite sex. Gradually the company introduced “public service announcements” in the form of humorous reminders to drive safely or suffer the consequences. This rhyme is a commentary on the serious problem of drinking and driving. Verses of this type cautioned motorists to be aware of the risks of expanded personal mobility and drive safely and responsibly.
More than 280 motorcycle manufacturers have been recorded in the United States, but only two have had lasting significance or sold in large numbers. One, Harley Davidson, began production in 1903 and is still going strong today. The other is Indian, which began in 1901 and ceased manufacturing motorcycles for the public in 1953.
By far the most individual and distinctive Indian models were produced in the 1940s; they are characterized by flared, skirted mudguards that convey a strong sense of speed even while standing still. So powerful is this style element that in 1999 Kawasaki copied it for its Drifter cruiser model. This 1941 stock Indian example sits squarely in this streamlined category.
Recreational motorcycle riding became increasingly popular during the Depression and early years of World War II. The number of local clubs chartered by the American Motorcyclist Association grew from about 400 in 1936 to 498 in 1938 and 645 in 1940. Indian motorcycle production grew from about 5,000 per year to 10,000 per year during the same period. Police departments also found motorcycles useful for patrol duty, and and small retail businesses used them for delivery purposes. The years 1940-1941 proved to be a high point for civilian sales and usage. The leading manufacturers, Harley-Davidson and Indian, began producing motorcycles for the British and French armies, and by 1942 they were concentrating on military production for the United States Army. During World War II, many motorcycle enthusiasts entered the armed forces, depleting clubs and reducing pleasure travel. Motorcycle tires, like automobile tires, were rationed. The AMA cancelled its National Gypsy Tour and other club events but automatically renewed memberships for those in the service.
William J. McDaniels of Ohio was the first owner of this motorcycle. Soon after purchasing it, he moved to San Bernardino, California, riding the motorcycle the entire distance. He worked at Norton Air Force Base near San Bernardino in the late 1940s.
The Indian brand name continues to resonate in the motorcycling industry. In the 1990s, three different companies were formed to purchase the rights to the name and begin manufacturing cruisers. But after a brief period (1999-2003), production ceased again.
Reference photograph courtesy of donors Katie and Taylor Smith.
The nation's first network of highways, built in the late 1920s and 1930s, created new opportunities for motorists and small business owners. It also created a perception that highways benefited ordinary Americans, enhancing their personal lives and giving them more freedom. These advantages contrasted with railroads, which benefited corporations and allowed them to control people's movements and the cost of their travels. In 2000, Oklahoma truckers moved 50 feet of concrete pavement from U.S. 66 to the collections of the National Museum of American History to mark the significance of U.S. numbered highways, and Route 66 as a prime example.
In 1926, almost 60 years after the first transcontinental railroad was completed, U. S. 66 was conceived as a public thoroughfare linking the Midwest, Southwest, and southern California. Its all-season route soon brought heavy traffic. Motorists and business owners adapted Route 66 for their needs and oriented their lives around it. Some earned a living by driving a truck or operating a roadside business, while others enjoyed leisure trips, advertised products, or moved to new homes. Clusters of roadside buildings made Route 66 the main street of a new community—one that was of, by, and for people on the move.
Route 66 also served as a conduit for mass migrations of workers, farmers, and their families who saw the highway as a path to a better life. During the Depression, Midwesterners saw it as a way out of hard times and failed farms, and they followed it to seek jobs in the Southwest and California. G.I.s traveled to defense camps during World War II, and after the war they settled in new homes nearby. Hordes of vacationers followed the advice of songwriters Bobby and Cynthia Troup: "Get your kicks on Route 66." Americans relied on Route 66 to change their circumstances for the better, and the highway earned a special place in American culture. Today, historians commemorate its importance.