The Family Car: Know Your "Automotive" Decades

Part of being able to identify a car in any family picture means that you have to be able to understand something about the automobile industry, from 1900 to 1980.

In those eighty years, American drivers watched cars evolved from trouble prone, limited range mostly open crude machines - and that is exactly what they were in those early days, crude machines -  to very sophisticated, large vehicles with creature comforts.  But lets take a "QUICK" look at how cars evolved by the Automotive decade, from 1900 to 1932 today, because cars have never evolved in sync with calendar year decades, which are off a few years to the calendar.

1890s to 1915
During this era, there were more than 400 companies making automobiles, and they all looked very much like one and other.  The life span of a car company could be six months, or longer, though most were insolvent after the first year of production.  Cars of this vintage were open, meaning that riders were in the elements, usually under a canvas top.  These were called "Touring Cars" because people would load them up and tour about.  With the top down, the site lines were limited only by the condition of ones eyes. There were some enclosed cars, but they were for the very rich.  This era is also referred to as the "Brass Era" because so many fittings used on cars were made of brass, which was durable, heat tolerant, and weather poof.

Yes, that is a car.  An early Winton cyclecar.

One thing that ALL cars had in common was that the passenger compartments (floors, doors and all) were framed in wood and then covered with steel panels.  Total steel bodies wouldn't appear until the mid 1920s, and the change over from wood in passenger cars wouldn't be complete until the early 1940s.

A touring car from the Brass Era

There were two type of vehicles in this era, gas and battery powered, called electric.  Electric vehicles were more reliable than gas cars, they didn't smell as bad, and their range was more limited.  Electric Vehicles were popular in larger cities, and were often marketed to women.   Gasoline powered cars, would run as long as the motor and parts held up.   There were steam powered cars, like Stanley, but the steam car never quite caught on because of the time it took to heat the water to steam.  Brand names from this era include Ford, Everett Metzger Flanders (EMF) which was taken over by Studebaker.  Also available were Stearns, Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile. Pierce Arrow, Packard and Peerless, what the press called the "Three P's of Motordom" were the luxury leaders, and would remain so through 1929.

Woods Electric.  There was no need for an engine compartment because the
Electric motor was in the rear.  The batteries were kept up from.
Steering was done by a "tiller" (a bent lever), instead of a steering wheel.

1915-1921

By 1915, gasoline powered cars were reliable enough that they began outsell electric vehicles by wide margins.  And a great deal of that reliability was owed in part to Henry Ford and the simplicity of his Model T, introduced in 1908.  The draw of the Model T was that it was rugged and reliable.  It also brought motoring and automobiles to millions who otherwise couldn't afford a vehicle on their own at an average workers wage.  The Model T also helped spur the development of "Streetcar Suburbs."  These were neighborhoods, built away from city center's, with houses close to street car lines.  Many of the spec homes built in these neighborhoods had small garages accessible off of alleyways. But as the American middle class grew, driveways, connecting the street to the garage began to emerge.  As a side benefit, some builders began including Model T automobiles in the sale of the house.   Model T's came off the line painted black - the lacquer used to paint the bodies was called Japan Black, and it had a quick drying time, and was durable. 

For the very rich, an Owen Magnetic, "The car of a 1,000 speeds".  Custom coach work and all, what made these unique is that the speed was controlled via an electro-magnetic transmission, like battle ships of the era.  No fooling.
Enrico Curoso owned one.  So does Jay Leno. 

Car bodies in makes other than Ford became more refined during this period.  Brass was used less and less for bodies and trim, and steel became the predominant.  Passenger compartments would still be framed in wood, clad in steel. Hoods lengthened as engines became bigger. Head lights and radiators were housed in black metal.

Former General Motors head Charles Nash bought the Jeffery Motor Car Company
renamed it after himself and brought out vehicles that were expertly engineered, well
regarded and highly sought after. 

Car production continued throughout Word War I, and when the war was over ramped up again to meet an emerging demand. More than 100 companies manufactured automobiles in this era, which saw the emergence of a core group of manufacturers that have familiar names dominate the marketplace: Ford, Overland, Oakland, Maxwell-Chalmers, Hudson and Essex, Nash and an emerging Chevrolet.  

1922-1927

During this short, five year period, to important features of automobiles came about.  In 1922, Hudson's Motors' companion make, Essex, introduced the first affordable modern enclosed automobile.  It sold like no other car.  Plain Jane, it began a revolution in American cars.  By the end of the decade, the Touring Car, which had been the number one body style in 1920, was unpopular and on its way to extinction. 

1923 Essex Coach.  Revolutionary in its time. 

The other huge event that hit the automobile world was DuPont paints a bright blue cellulose lacquer that dried as fast as the industry standard Japan Black.  Called "Duco Blue", and introduced on GM's newest companion make, Pontiac, the response from consumers was immediate.  Color was in for cars from that point forward. 

1926 Pontiac in Duco Blue.  Note the steel disc wheels. 

Finally, in 1927, the final Ford Model T rolled off the line.  By now, hopelessly outdated, Edsel Ford finally convinced his father to withdraw the car for something more modern.  The car was losing sales, Chevrolet was over taking Ford, even though it was priced at a mere $295 for a roadster.  It would take Ford almost a year to retool for its Model A in 1928.

1928-1932

Ford introduced its Model A.  Though not as huge a success as the Model T, for a car that hung around for almost four years, it sold better than most and kept pace with Chevrolet. 

The stylish 1930 Chevrolet, the bane of Henry Ford's existence. 

The big news in the era was the launch of the LaSalle, the companion make to Cadillac.  Priced to fill the gap between senior Buick's and Cadillac, the LaSalle never sold well, but its design changed the way Detroit sold cars.

Harley Earle was hired at GM after his LaSalle design became a revolutionary moment.  The design caught everyone manufacturer off guard.   And they scrambled to catch up.  Prior to the LaSalle, the one unique element to every car was its logo.  Some cars had unique grille shapes or designs, but the LaSalle represented that idea that every car could have a style of its own, and consumers loved to buy cars that looked good.  

1927 LaSalle.  Exciting, stylish, it was the anti Model T. 

When the stock market crashed in October, 1929, the American auto industry was already in trouble, and consolidating to stay alive.  Cleveland, Ohio, which had been only second to Detroit in building cars, and for having the HQ's of car companies saw the whole collapse starting as early as 1926.  By December, 1929, Chandler, B. F. Stearns and Stearns Knight were toast.  Peerless, one of the three "P's" of Motordom stopped producing cars in 1931, opting instead to produce beer under the Carling "Black Label" brand with the coming ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment.  

By the end of 1932 American car production was limited to General Motors, Ford, Chrysler (which evolved from the ashes of the Maxwell Chalmers Company), Packard, Nash, Hudson, and Studebaker. Willys was almost dead, but it hobbled through into WWII, where it met its salvation - the Jeep.  

As for the others? Durant,  Huppmobile, Graham, Auburn, Dusenberg and Cord, Reo and Pierce Arrow limped toward oblivion.  By 1942 all would be gone from car production, though some lived on as manufacturers of other items. 

Which of these cars were owned by your family members?  Did they build them?  Sell them? Own them? Did they own stock in the companies?  How would these cars and their times impact your family members?  It is part of their story.

Tomorrow, we'll give an overview of 1933-1942 American Cars.