Posts Tagged Transportation

Anyone watching the news, browsing the internet or is a fan of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster, Titanic, knows that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. While the ill-fated voyage is certainly getting a great deal of media attention and new information seems to find its way to the top (ugh…no pun intended), I decided to take a different route. No, I’m not going to see Titanic 3-D, because let’s be honest it will always end the same, except this time I would get the added bonus of a slight headache due to the 3D glasses. Nor am I going to bid on the estimated 5,500 recovered artifacts from the Titanic’s watery grave because it seems a bit creepy and sacrilegious. Instead, during the media/information overload I came across an iconic Titanic photo and it was not the subject of the ship that intrigued me, but rather the story of the newsboy in the picture.

The Boy in the Picture

Newsboy Ned Parfett sells his papers in front of the White Star Line’s London offices, April 16, 1912.

Every now and then you come across a photo and you began to think about the people in it and their stories (or it could just be me). This was the case when I stumbled upon the photograph of newsboy Ned Parfett. The particular photo has been listed among the iconic photographs about the Titanic. The National Archives (UK) described it as: “One of the most poignant images of the Titanic disaster is of a young newsboy outside the White Star Line offices in London, holding an Evening News poster announcing ‘Titanic Disaster Great Loss of Life’.”

As I did a little more research into the photograph, I found the story of Ned Parfett’s short life. About six and a half years after this photograph was taken, Ned was killed in World War I. At the time of his death he was only 22 years of age. Ned, along with his three other brothers, joined the British forces during The Great War. In 1916, he enlisted into the Royal Artillery where he served as a dispatch rider. Later, he would be assigned to reconnaissance duties. Though he was young, his youth did not factor in on his sense of duty. Because of his gallant conduct and bravery in a series of missions, he was awarded the Military Medal.

On October 29, 1918, while Ned was collecting some clothes before going on leave, the Germans begun a bombardment. A shell landed on the quartermaster’s stores, killing Ned. Tragically, it was just days before the Armistice and the end of the war. His other three brothers served in other disastrous and bloody battles against the German army, one brother was wounded and gassed at the third battle of Ypres. But Ned was the only one who did not make it home.

An officer, who recommended Ned for special recognition, wrote to one of his brothers after Ned’s death:

On many occasions he accompanied me during severe shelling and I always placed the greatest confidence in him.

[Zim's Note: If you have been reading many of my war posts and the battle of Ypres sounds familiar, you may be thinking about a previous post - Henry Tandey's History Changing Decision. Quite a while ago I also did a post on the Cancelled Passengers of the RMS Titanic.]

Information – National Archives (UK)
Photograph – Smithsonian Institute

The US Vessel Savannah was the first ship to cross the Atlantic using steam power (as well as sails). The Savannah was based out of Savannah, Georgia and cost around $50,000 to build. It’s transatlantic voyage started on May 22, 1819 and took over 29 days to reach Liverpool. On November 5, 1821, the Savannah was wreck after it ran aground by Long Island and was destroyed.

Smithsonian Institution, Timelines of History, New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2011, 275.
Photo

LIFE.com has amazing photo galleries depicting wars, economic crisis, groundbreaking photography, Hollywood’s golden years and photo timelines of influential people. They also have galleries with interesting subjects, for example the photo gallery with the headline – “Animals Driving Cars.” Since I like nothing better than good, but mostly odd, photos, I have decided to share a few here. I do not know why I find them hilarious, whether it is the role juxtaposition or the faces of the people in the photos, these are priceless!

"Sunday Driver," January 1, 1930

"Can't you find a spot near a hydrant?" September 1, 1932

"Asleep At The Wheel," August 10, 1933

"Doggy Driver," October 9, 1937

Source: LIFE

Alice Ramsey

Jahns (left), Ramsey (second on right) and her sister-in-laws

On June 9, 1909, Alice Ramsey set out on a 3,800-mile adventure that would cement her name in automotive history as the first woman to complete a transcontinental drive. The 22-year-old Vassar graduate made the trip along with three other women. Nettie Powell and Margaret Atwood, Ramsey’s conservative sisters-in-laws (who were both in their forties), along with Ramsey’s enthusiastic 16-year-old friend, Hermine Jahns, joined on Ramsey’s journey. The four women started their trip in New York’s Upper West Side. Their destination was San Francisco; it would take the adventurers 41 days and 14 states to get to California. Of the four women, only Ramsey would drive.

Before leaving, the women gathered outside the Maxwell auto company’s New York showroom. When asked about the feat she was about to undertake and whether a woman could accomplish it, Ramsey responded, “I see no reason why any woman who can drive a car cannot take one across the continent. All that is needed is a good car such as I have, and careful driving in the bad spots, and the trip can be, I think, consummated without trouble.” The car the women chose for the drive was a dark green, four-cylinder, 30-horsepower 1909 Maxwell. It was a touring car with two bench seats and a removable roof. It required the women to hand-crank it to start the car.

The women embarking on their cross-country drive.

Ramsey only began driving a year prior, after her husband bought her a car. Within the first summer, she put on around 6,000 miles from driving on the dirt highways around her home near Hackensack, NJ. She first gained the attention of the Maxwell-Briscoe Company when she entered a 200-mile endurance drive. Maxwell-Briscoe came up with an idea that would both promote their car as well as give Ramsey countrywide recognition. Through her all-expense paid drive, Ramsey would show the reliability of Maxwell cars, even with a female driver.

She was not the first to attempt the transcontinental drive. Six years prior to Ramsey’s historic trip, Dr. H. Nelson Jackson of Burlington Vermont and his chauffeur, Sewall K. Crocker, completed the first transcontinental drive. Their trip, however, took 22 days longer (with 63 total days) to travel from San Francisco to New York.

Ramsey changing a tire.

On some tedious days, they would only travel a few miles. Daily mileage ranged from 4 to 198. They relied on Blue Book guidebooks for directions. The downfall to this series was that it used such things as “yellow house and barn,” as directional landmarks. The books also stopped at the Mississippi River. Past the Mississippi River, they directed their route based on tracks and towns. Of the 3,800 miles of road, only 152 miles were paved. In Nebraska alone, Ramsey and her travel companions bottomed out in two separate holes within one mile of each other. They had to be pulled out, she later recalled, “The farmer’s son caught one of their horses in pasture and pulled us out – for a fee – then walked on to the next hole, repeated his towing, but doubled his fee!” The rear axle broke twice and they encountered their first flat tire near Chicago. Throughout the trip, the women changed over 11 tires. In Dean Blaine’s article on the historic road trip, he also described the interesting things the women encountered.

Outside of Ogallala, Nebraska, the ladies were delayed for two hours by an armed sheriff’s posse trailing a murderer. In Opal, Wyoming, Alice and crew suffered a serious case of bedbugs from a roadside motel. In rural Nevada, the women found themselves surrounded by a Native American hunting party on horseback, bows and arrows at the ready. [The hunting party was hunting jackrabbits and largely ignored women.]

On August 7, 1909, the women reached San Francisco and were welcomed with great fanfare. They returned home by train. Though the women received support and encouragement, they also encountered a fair share of criticism. At the time, some newspapers called their journey “ridiculous” and that it was “beyond the capabilities of women drivers.” Ramsey addressed these statements in her 1961 memoir, Veil, Dusters and Tire Iron.

[The] criticism, of course, merely whetted the appetites of those of us who were convinced that we could drive as well as most men. . . . It’s been done by men and as long as they have been able to accomplish it, why shouldn’t I?

For much of the rest of her life, Ramsey continued to make a cross-country drive once a year. There were small changes in the later trips however. The biggest difference was that the once 41-day trip would later take only one week. Nights sleeping in the car gave way to better hotel offerings and luxuries such as those. Cars that are more reliable were manufactured and readily available and roads became paved and marked.

Ramsey was named the “First Lady of Automotive Travel” by the Automobile Manufacturers Association in 1960. On October 17, 2000, Ramsey was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, becoming the first woman to receive the honor.

Throughout her driving career, Ramsey received only one ticket, for making an illegal U-turn.

The Maxwell-Briscoe Company did not receive the lasting success as Ramsey did; Chrysler absorbed it in 1926.

Information:
Jensen, Cheryl, “By Blazing a Coast-to-Coast Trail, She Helped Put a Nation on the Road,” New York Times, June 6, 1999.
Blaine, Dean, “Alice Ramsey’s Historic Road Trip,” EnCompass.com.
Ruben, Marina Koestler, “Alice Ramsey’s Historic Cross-Country Drive,” June 5, 2009, Smithsonian.com - Photos found here as well.

Owney and an unidentified Albany, New York letter carrier

On a recent trip to the post office, I always take a little time to browse the new stamps. I love a good stamp and lately the post office have had a lot of great stamps. On the last visit, I picked up a sheet depicting Owney the Postal Dog.

Owney the Postal Dog - 2011 United States Postal Stamp

During the late 1880s, a dog, likely a terrier mix, appeared in the Post Office in Albany, New York, where clerks took a liking to him and named him Owney. Fond of riding in postal wagons, Owney followed mailbags onto trains, where Railway Mail Service employees considered him their good-luck charm. As Owney traveled the country, clerks affixed medals and tags to his collar to document his travels, and Postmaster General John Wanamaker gave him a special dog-sized jacket to help him display them all. Owney later toured the world by steamer and became an icon of American postal lore. his adventures highlight the historical importance of the Railway Mail Service, and today he enjoys a place of honor at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

Owney (on the mail train) with mail clerk workers.

The Smithsonian National Postal Museum describes the main reason the Railway Mail Service employees considered the dog a good luck charm.

At a time when train wrecks were all too common, no train Owney rode was ever in a wreck. The Railway mail clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot, marking his travels by placing medals and tags on his collar. Each time Owney returned home to Albany, the clerks there saved the tags.

Information:
Description located on the back of Owney the Postal Dog stamp sheet.
Smithsonian National Postal Museum website.

Air Force One

The following are the presidential aircraft call signs (meaning the air traffic control name given to any aircraft carrying the president).

• Perhaps the most well-known call sign is Air Force One, the Air Force plane carrying the president.
• Any helicopter the president is on is called Marine One.
• If the president is on a U.S. Navy aircraft it is called Navy One.
• Coast Guard One would be the call sign for a president on a Coast Guard aircraft. A president has yet to be on one of these aircrafts so the call sign has not been used.

Do you see the pattern? The call signs are determined on whatever military service possesses the aircraft (Air Force, Navy, etc…). An exception to this is if the president is traveling by a commercial (civil) aircraft. The call sign would be Executive One. If the aircraft is carrying the vice president, the call signs would be the same except Two would replace the One.

[Zim's note: I highly recommend the Harrison Ford movie Air Force One, not so much for the accurate details of the plane or the governmental guidelines in case of a presidential hijacking, since it is a fictionalized action movie. I recommend it mostly for the great movie quotes such as "If this works, you get to be Postmaster General" or the more famous quote "GET OFF MY PLANE!"]

Photo and information can be found here. Air traffic information can be found here.

Skateboarding (or “sidewalk surfing”) originated in the 1950s by Californian surfers who started putting wheels on their surfboards so they could still “surf” when the waves were flat.

[Lowe, Charlotte. History Fact-O-Pedia. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2011, 241.]

[Photo via Getty Images]

John Pierpont (J.P.) Morgan

By 1895, J.P. Morgan & Company had become America’s first billion-dollar corporation. J.P. Morgan then decided to try his luck at shipping. His company took control of White Star Line, which fleet included the infamous Titanic. Since Morgan controlled the majority of interest in White Star Line, he owned the Titanic. Additionally, he was booked on the maiden, and last, voyage of the Titanic. However, due to last minute business conflicts, Morgan did not board and subsequently was not involved in its deadly fate. Interesting enough, Morgan is not the only well-known cancelled passenger of the Titanic.

The ill-fated Titanic, 1912

Industrialist Henry Clay Frick’s wife sprained her ankle, which held them up in the Mediterranean. They were unable to make the Titanic’s voyage.

Initially, Banker Horace J. Harding and his wife took J.P. Morgan’s vacant reservations but instead they opted to take an earlier ship back to New York City.

George Washington Vanderbilt, builder the Biltmore Estate, and his wife Edith, were to be passengers on the ship. Their suitcases were boarded, along with one of their servants on the ship, but some family members were concerned with the safety of the maiden voyage. Vanderbilt and his wife decided not to board, but their luggage and servant were lost along with the Titanic.

Former United States Secretary of State, Robert Bacon and his family were delayed by business matters and were unable to make their reservations on the ship’s departure.

American confectioner and founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company, Milton S. Hersey and his wife Catherine were to sail back to New York City on the Titanic but cancelled when Catherine became ill.

[Information and J.P. Morgan’s photo are found here. Titanic picture via Getty Images.]

Parking meter in Long Beach, CA, circa 1940

The first coin-operated parking meter was installed on July 16, 1935 in Oklahoma City.

• Carl Magee, a lawyer and publisher, invented it. He came up with the idea while working on a traffic study for the local chamber of commerce.
• It cost one nickel to park for an hour.
• A 1961 report found that parking meters brought in revenue of $130 million per year.

New York City first employed 100 “Meter Maids” on May 2, 1960. They enforced parking regulations and consisted entirely of women. “Meter Men” joined the ranks on October 2, 1967.

• Between 6,000 to 7,000 women applied for the original 100 job openings.
• The average yearly salary of a meter maid was $3,150.

Information:

New York Times, “Oklahoma City Autoists Plan to Fight Nickel-in-Slot Curbstone Parking Meters,” July 17, 1935.

New York Times, “6,000 Hopefuls Seek 100 Meter Maid Jobs,” October 8, 1959.

New York Times, “Wagner to Swear In Meter Maids Today,” May 2, 1960.

Stengren, Bernard, “Meters Bring In Millions,” New York Times, April 2, 1961.

New York Times, “Meter Men Joining Maids in Enforcing City Parking Rules,” October 2, 1967.

Photo – UCLA Library – Digital Collection

By today’s dollar, the journey from Ireland to the United States during Ireland’s Great Famine (1845-1852) was $10.

[Photo]

The first traffic light in the United States was put up in Cleveland in 1914.

[Traffic Light Photo]

Serial #1 Bike

William Harley and Arthur Davidson, joined later by Arthur’s brothers Walter and William, formed Harley-Davidson Motor Company in 1903.

Elvis Presley on a Harley-Davidson

While Harley-Davidson motorcycles are far from being the first motorcycle produced, it has become the largest, continuously produced American motorcycle company. Howard Roper, in 1867, created a motorcycle powered by coal with a steam engine. Years later, in 1885, Gottlieb Daimler, assembled the first gas-powered motorcycle when he attached the engine to a wooden bike.

Harley-Davidson’s early competitors were other new companies. These include Pierce, Merkel, Excelsior, Thor, Schickel and its main competitor, Indian. Only Indian lasted through the Great Depression, but it declined after World War II and eventually went bankrupt and stopped production in 1953.

The “Bar & Shield” logo of Harley-Davidson was first used in 1910. Besides minor changes, the logo has stayed relatively the same.

"Bar & Shield" Logo

In 1914, Harley-Davidson produced the first sidecar for their motorcycles.

Nearly 20,000 motorcycles were manufactured for the United States government during World War I. Corporal Roy Holtz was the first American to enter Germany after the Armistice signing and he rode in on a Harley-Davidson.

During World War II, the majority of Harley-Davidson motorcycles went to help the war effort and many were shipped overseas to US allies in Britain and France.

In 2004, the William Harley, Arthur Davidson, Walter Davidson and William Davidson were inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame. The United States Department of Labor states the following about the men:

Through periods of both war and economic depression, Harley-Davidson has endured because its founders both used and believed in its products and relied on the dedication of its employees to produce quality motorcycles. Today, with over 9000 employees worldwide, Harley-Davidson builds well over 300,000 of the most well-known and popular motorcycles in the world.

Further Reading

Harley-Davidson Website (location of photos used)

Library of Congress

US Department of Labor