GON
$100 Site Donor 2024
Mr. Cary W. Smith in front of his office in Volga, South Dakota in his 1906 Crestmobile automobile. Said to have been the first automobile in Volga, South Dakota.
Said to have been the first automobile in Volga, South Dakota.
- Thread starter GON
- Start date
Hnmmm.....an attorney has the first automobile in town, go figure.
I wonder if the steering wheel being on the right side says something about the source of the car's design.
English 'blueprints' brought over here?
Steering wheel on the left not established as a custom in this country yet?
English 'blueprints' brought over here?
Steering wheel on the left not established as a custom in this country yet?
^^^^^^^Google 1906 automobiles in America and all the pictures show the steering wheel on the right side, interesting.
Some, not all or even most, early cars in the US had the steering wheel on the right. Supposedly this was so the driver could see the edge of the road back when most roads were crappy anyway. By 1910 or so this was dying out in favor of universal left-hand drive.
Some Scandinavian countries drove on the left side of the road as in Britain until the 1960s, but left-hand drive in vehicles was already the norm there for the same reason, being able to see the edge of the road in bad weather.
Some Scandinavian countries drove on the left side of the road as in Britain until the 1960s, but left-hand drive in vehicles was already the norm there for the same reason, being able to see the edge of the road in bad weather.
I just figured this was a picture of one of our many long term members.
The real question is, what oil would one use it that back in the day?
Land office,not Law office.
1906 OLD MAGAZINE PRINT AD, VELOCITY AUTOMOBILE OIL, FOR FLYERS, GEAR GREASE! | eBay
Co ndition of this 114+ year old Ad is Excellent. Double Protection - Safe and Secure!
www.ebay.com
Perhaps I took a bit of a leap there but that office looks like a private practice vs a city/county office plus a lot of attorneys use their initials, for instance my FIL was a Land/Probate attorney and went by J.R. LastName.
interestingly enough my son and his GF got a ride in a 1911 Buick last night. He shared pictures of the car and the steering wheel was on the right hand side in that photo as well. I thought weird at the time but maybe it was a thing on early automobiles...
just my $0.02
just my $0.02
I love the grades of lube mentioned in measurman's 1906 ad (#10), "light, medium and heavy". I betcha it smelled.
Using first initials helped reduce telegraph fees.
Using first initials helped reduce telegraph fees.
Thick vs Thin ... even in 1906.
I've been through Volga many times as a kid fun to see it mentioned here I've not heard of it in near forever.
