America's Passion For The Automobile In The Twentieth Century

America’s passion for the automobile developed rather quickly in the beginning of the twentieth century. At the turn of that century, there were few automobiles, or horseless carriages, as they were called at the time, and those that existed were considered frivolous playthings of the rich. They were rather fragile machines that sputtered and smoked and broke down often; they were expensive toys that could not be counted on to get one where one needed to go; they could only be afforded by the wealthy class, who could afford both the expensive upkeep and inherent delays that resulted from the use of a machine that tended to break down time and again. These early automobiles required repairs so frequently both because their engineering was at an immature stage and because roads were unpaved and often in poor condition. Then, when breakdowns occurred, there were no services such as roadside gas stations or tow trucks to assist drivers needing help in their predicament. Drivers of horse-drawn carriages considered the horseless mode of transportation foolhardy, preferring instead to rely on their four-legged “engines,” which they considered a tremendously more dependable and cost-effective means
Many of them were electric cars, even though the electric models had quite a limited range and needed to be recharged frequently at electric charging stations; many others were powered by steam, though it was often required that drivers of steam cars be certified steam engineers due to the dangers inherent in operating a steam-powered machine. The early automobiles also lacked much emphasis on body design; in fact, they were often little more than benches on wheels, though by the end of the first decade of the century they had progressed to leather-upholstered chairs or sofas on thin wheels that absorbed little of the incessant pounding associated with the movement of these