Madison Square Garden Automobile Parade 1899

Dieses Video habe ich vor zwei Tagen vergessen. Nochmal reisen wir zurück in das Jahr 1899, als vor den Toren des zweiten Madison Square Gardens eine Automobil-Parade über die 26. Straße rollte. Am Anfang ist das Video noch etwas grieselig, aber in der Mitte wird die Qualität besser.

Hier zum Vergleich nochmal eine Fotografie des Schauplatzes:

Feb. 6, 1900. Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

Madison Avenue & 26th Street

The New York Auto Show (now the New York International Auto Show) began in Madison Square Garden in the 19th century as ''The Bicycle and Automobile Show.'' It remains one of New York's longest running shows.

New York Times / January 22, 1899

THE BICYCLE AND AUTOMOBILE SHOW.

CONTRARY to the prediction of many prominent people in the bicycle trade, Madison Square Garden was, last evening, again thrown open to the public with a most cordial invitation to come and witness the grandest show, both of bicycles and automobiles, that has ever been held in this and perhaps in any other country.

 

A Horseless Carriage? I Just Don't Know.....

On October 30, 1900 the first modern automotive show opens at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This was neither the first auto show in the United States nor the first at Madison Square Garden, but it was the beginning of car shows as we know them today. It was a week long event sponsored by the newly formed Automobile Club of America. The price of admission to the show was 50¢. Thirty-one vehicles were exhibited by sixty-six exhibitors. Among them were Ford, King, Winton, Olds, Daimler, McKay, Chrysler, Riker, and the long forgotten Werton. Included in the exhibition space were accessories and working displays which showed acceleration and braking, as well as a ramp to show hill climbing abilities. Many of the cars at the show were electric or steam powered. Gas fueled vehicles would have to wait until 1901 when new oil fields in Texas would make liquid fuel affordable.

Ransom Eli Olds, not Henry Ford, was the first to mass produce an automobile called the ''Runabout.'' Between 1897 and 1901 the Olds Motor Company of Lansing, Michigan produced 425 automobiles. This was the factory which had the first assembly line production. Between 1901 and 1907 the Runabout, also known as the ''Curved Dash'' sold for $650. Oldsmobile was sold to General Motors in 1908.

In 1901 New York becomes the first state requiring auto license plates. The fee is $1.

 
(Begleittext bei youtube)