CATALOG OF THE AUTOMOBILE AND 

 MOTORCYCLE COLLECTION OF THE 

 DIVISION OF ENGINEERING, UNITED 

 STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



By Smith Hempstone Oliver 



INTRODUCTION 



The automobile is one of the most important factors in our every- 

 day life. To many persons it is a convenience and a means of recrea- 

 tion, but to many more it is an absolute necessity. Modern 

 transportation is based in substantial part upon the services of the 

 automobile, and a slight idea of what life would be like if the auto- 

 mobile suddenly ceased to exist can be recalled from the days of tire 

 and gasoline rationing during World War II. 



When we consider the number of people engaged in manufacturing, 

 selling, operating, and maintaining passenger automobiles, trucks, 

 and busses, and in incidental businesses such as those connected with 

 oil-refinery products, accessories, insurance, and highway construc- 

 tion, it is apparent that our economic structure is most decidedly 

 related to the automobile. Our living today is definitely geared to 

 this form of conveyance, and its existence affords a livelihood to 

 millions. Few people, however, in a generation that has always 

 known the automobile, realize how brief its history is. Not too many 

 years ago the automobile was considered the work of madmen de- 

 termined to upset the enterprises of the harnessmaker, the blacksmith, 

 and the horse breeder; while even more recently it was looked upon 

 merely as a plaything of the wealthy. 



Only 30 or so years ago highways became seas of mud in rainy 

 weather. Then the horse was still the master, extracting untold 

 numbers of mired vehicles from muddy traps. But, with the con- 

 tinued lowering in cost of the automobile, bringing its purchase within 

 the ability of more and more people, the demand increased for more 

 and better roads and streets, resulting in the excellent trafiic arteries 

 of modern times. 



Today, because of fine roads, and the automobiles that travel upon 

 them, it is possible to make in several hours trips which formerly 

 took as many days. Workers are easily transported to and from their 

 places of business, farmers carry goods to market with little effort, 

 heavy construction material is swiftly delivered directly to the job, 



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