Dan Dunn
Director of the Kenneth E. Behring Blackhawk Museum
Dan Dunn. The Blackhawk Auto Museum.
The automobile solved the Great Horse Manure Crisis, but what led people to make the transition from the horse to the car?
"I think it was a combination of the horse manure and economics. There was great health concern having so many horses living in the cramped quarters of a major city. I am sure that your research has shown the impact on city budgets for dealing with large amounts of manure, horse urine in the streets and the removal of dead horses from city streets. Diseases caused by these unhealthy conditions had many city health departments stretched particularly during the hot summer months.
The automobile, for many people, was a novelty and were purchased to have the new thing on the block. This being said, there were car companies, particularly those producing electric automobiles that marketed their product to city dwellers. The electric cars, like Baker Electric, were specifically for people in the cities that would have access to electricity and the limited range of the car would not be a limiting feature. I also would imagine that for many people the upkeep on a car verses a horse was an attraction in favoring the car."
How well did cities adapt to the changing mode of transportation?
"As most cities were fairly developed by the time that the car came into popular use, there was an easy transition from horses to cars. Indeed people coming into the city by wagon were normally stopped by police and asked their destination so as to be routed away from auto traffic. It became a traffic management issue involving control of traffic at intersections and keeping frightened animals away from streetcars and other vehicles."
What inspiration did automakers pull from the horse?
"If you look at the car from the turn of the 20th century you can readily see the similarity to the carriage or the bicycle. Indeed until the public demanded styling the car looked like a carriage without a horse pulling it."
How did automakers convince Americans to make the switch?
"Particularly American car manufacturers went to some distance to prove how rugged their cars were. They drove their new models over rough fields and up courthouse steps knowing that American drivers would want a product that could also make it out in the country. For city dwellers car makers would talk about how clean, safe and dry their cars were and would want people to recognize the luxury of owning a car over a horse. For many city dwellers the horse was 'old technology.'"
"I think it was a combination of the horse manure and economics. There was great health concern having so many horses living in the cramped quarters of a major city. I am sure that your research has shown the impact on city budgets for dealing with large amounts of manure, horse urine in the streets and the removal of dead horses from city streets. Diseases caused by these unhealthy conditions had many city health departments stretched particularly during the hot summer months.
The automobile, for many people, was a novelty and were purchased to have the new thing on the block. This being said, there were car companies, particularly those producing electric automobiles that marketed their product to city dwellers. The electric cars, like Baker Electric, were specifically for people in the cities that would have access to electricity and the limited range of the car would not be a limiting feature. I also would imagine that for many people the upkeep on a car verses a horse was an attraction in favoring the car."
How well did cities adapt to the changing mode of transportation?
"As most cities were fairly developed by the time that the car came into popular use, there was an easy transition from horses to cars. Indeed people coming into the city by wagon were normally stopped by police and asked their destination so as to be routed away from auto traffic. It became a traffic management issue involving control of traffic at intersections and keeping frightened animals away from streetcars and other vehicles."
What inspiration did automakers pull from the horse?
"If you look at the car from the turn of the 20th century you can readily see the similarity to the carriage or the bicycle. Indeed until the public demanded styling the car looked like a carriage without a horse pulling it."
How did automakers convince Americans to make the switch?
"Particularly American car manufacturers went to some distance to prove how rugged their cars were. They drove their new models over rough fields and up courthouse steps knowing that American drivers would want a product that could also make it out in the country. For city dwellers car makers would talk about how clean, safe and dry their cars were and would want people to recognize the luxury of owning a car over a horse. For many city dwellers the horse was 'old technology.'"
Dunn, Dan. Email. 9 May 2012.