Das Auto, part 3

Crankshaft,
chassis, ignition, 
clutch, displacement, magneto,
cylinders, throttle, valves, transmission,
carburetor, sprockets, battery, radiator, lubrication,
and H. P. — horse power 
 

It was the new age of the motorcar
and it required a new nomenclature
for people to learn.

This comical illustration of a man and woman dressed in absurd heavy clothing and standing next to the front wheel of an automobile is the work of German postcard artist Carl Robert Arthur Thiele (1860 – 1936), known as Arthur Thiele from Leipzig. It comes from a postcard captioned 60 H. P. and is another one in a series of Thiele's artwork that I've featured before in Das Auto, part 1 and Das Auto, part 2. Though this card was never posted it dates from 1907-08 when it was part of a popular set of Thiele's postcards sold throughout Central Europe.  

Thiele was satirizing the fashion fads of early motorists who dressed in ridiculous garments made of fur and heavy waterproof canvas for protection against the elements. Germany, of course, was proud to be the birthplace of the first motorcar which was a small three-wheel buggy powered by a one-cylinder two-stroke engine. It was patented in 1886 by Carl Benz (1844–1929). 

Benz Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 1, 1886
Source: Wikipedia

Carl Benz along with his competitors, German engineers Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), the so-called "father of the motorcycle", and Wilhelm Maybach (1846–1929), the "King of Designers", were together responsible for developing the first internal combustion engines used to power  motor vehicles. They all became leading automotive industrialists manufacturing motorcars and motorcycles. Eventually their  companies merged into the Mercedes automotive company, also known as DMG - the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. 

The silly motoring clothing that Thiele poked fun at was actually pretty close to the real thing. Motor car magazines from the 1900s often included articles about special "motor raiment" for people to wear when riding in an automobile. The fashions were promoted mainly for women but men were also a target since the automobile market itself was a very masculine craze.

Motor magazine
January 1906

To understand the context of these unusual garments, we should remember that in the 1900s road conditions were largely variations on primitive dirt tracks. Dirt that could be either dry dust or sticky mud. Only in urban areas were roadways paved with cobblestones which made streets suitable for heavy traffic. Of course, this surface was originally intended for draft animals pulling carriages, wagons and carts. 

When the first motorcars took to the roads they mainly had open tops and small windscreens. Drivers and passengers were subject to all the dust, mud, rain and snow thrown at them, so clothing companies quickly recognized a new need of the burgeoning automotive consumer. As explained in this magazine article from January 1906, for winter driving, furs were recommended, perhaps made of beaver and squirrel pelts. Ladies might appreciate a handheld wind shield to deflect stones and dirt clods. 

Motor magazine
January 1906

There were arctic style mufflers to protect one's face against frigid winds. Even chauffeurs were offered special attention since their place behind the wheel was the most exposed. 

In this era both women and men always wore some kind of headgear when outside. While riding in a motorcar, long scarfs were desired for tying hats on securely and for covering the face. Heavy gloves were de rigueur since automobile engines always needed maintenance handling nasty grease, oil, and petrol. 

Motor magazine
November 1914

Marketing fashion was not new, but artists worked hard to create attractive and desirable fashions for advertising motorcars. It was how the new romance of the the automobile was marketed along with recreational travel and holiday tourism. People were no longer constrained to follow the railroad routes or limited to the short distances a horse could pull a carriage. The automobile promised freedom to explore the world on your own terms. 

Arthur Thiele produced another postcard series which focused on the encounters between motorists and rural folk. In this scene a farmer's wife confronts a motorist with a dead goose. The pitchfork and flail hint at some rough treatment if compensation is not granted.

This postcard was sent on 28 January 1907 to someone in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Note the 15 different names for "postcard". I think Arthur Thiele was very good at painting country folk  with a universal appeal regardless of nationality.

In August 1906, the American magazine LIFE published a cartoon
about a motorcar driving along a countryside road with nearly the same sentiment.

LIFE magazine
24 August 1906

“Just think, William!  Probably the only pleasant break in the monotonous lives

of these poor people is an occasional passer-by like ourselves.”

Motor magazine
July 1909

In July 1909, Motor, the magazine founded by publisher William Randolph Hearst, ran a full page caricature of a family losing their hats. It was captioned: "Their First Spin."

In this next postcard by Arthur Thiele, a motorcar races down a narrow village lane forcing a trio of street musicians to jump out of the way. The bass drum is injured in the fender bender. The caption reads: Hindernisfahren ~ Obstacle Driving. 

This card has a postmark of 28 April 1911 from Mühlhausen, in northwest Thuringia, Germany.  

It was a new age that needed a new vocabulary to cope with rapidly changing automotive technology. Local and state governments and police soon realized that new laws were needed, too. The new  motor vehicles were literally on a collision course with the old ways of using the roadways. 

Motor magazine
August 1907

Speed was the probably the most overriding motivator to attract this first generation of motorcar enthusiasts. Thiele's 60 H.P. mocked motorists' fanatical zeal for seeking more engine power just to go faster and faster. Advertisements in auto magazines pushed similar illustrations that promoted the thrill of speed, especially when compared to rail travel. This August 1907 cartoon from Motor magazine has a family automobile upsetting a farmer's wagon as it races a train. 

Collier's magazine
14 May 1910

In this example from May 1910 an advert for Oldsmobile shows a motorcar going faster than a steam locomotive. "Power—Silence—Speed—with Safety" is the slogan for Olds Motor Works.

Motor Age
3 February 1910

This full page illustration has a motorcar leading a race against a motorcycle, an airship, a balloon, and a biplane. "King Still!" is the caption. The publication came out in February 1910, less than two years after the Wright brothers demonstrated the first practical airplane. It was a portent of a more powerful technology that would create the next craze for more speed and fantastic machines. The age of the automobile was about to be overtaken by the age of aviation.  

Or would it?

Suppose we could have flying cars?

Motor magazine
July 1906

The Motorist's Dream, No. 2 –
He was out of reach of the speed laws at last,
dashing among the clouds 'till his gasoline tank ran dry
and he fell–out of bed. 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where everyone loves that new car fragrance.