Before there
were motorcars, there were horses and carriages. Goods and people could be
taken from one point to another with horsepower so what brought about the
change to the horseless carriage? Keeping horses was, as it still is, an
expensive proposition far beyond the purse of most of the middling classes and
totally out of reach for those at the bottom of the class system. Add to that
horses could be cantankerous, had to be fed whether they were being used or
not, had to be kept in good health and decently housed. Carriages were also not
very protective of their passengers so injuries and even death could result
from accidents.
It was not
only buggy accidents which could be injurious to health, but the animals
themselves, or rather, what they produced. Around about the time that
automobiles were invented, germ theory of medicine was gaining converts.
Efforts were made to protect food from contamination. Those with a stake in
public health realized that the fly was a major contaminator which picked up
and spread germs from various sources such as horse droppings in the street and
stables.
When cost
and public health were taken into consideration the motorcar seemed a good
option, at least for the well-to-do who could afford them. And so it remained,
until Henry Ford and his production line came up with a car with the aim of
being affordable for the masses – the Model T. The Model T began production in
1908; and continued to be produced for 19 years. Ford produced millions of
them. Maybe your family owned one. Maybe they still do, as many have survived.
Ford cars on display at Steamship Days, Bowen Island
Sources
Robertson,
Heather. Driving Force: The McLaughlin
Family and the Age of the Car. McClelland & Stewart Inc., Toronto, 1995
Sherk, Bill.
60 Years Behind the Wheel: The Cars We
Drove in Canada 1900-1960. Dundurn Press, Toronto, 2003.
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