A moment of time changing the history of employment, the horsedrawn fire engine in route to the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire

found on http://edwardianera.tumblr.com/page/7

A variety of interesting car stuff, on tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com

Imagine, how crude a car has to be to think that 2 hundred miles is an incredible achievement

Air pump, relevant tools permanently attached, and a rack to hang the bike while working on it. Installed on campus at the University of Virginia.

 A 1920's photo of a sign pointing the way to the Lincoln Highway

 Reason that big wheel is called a Penny Farthing

And the pain in the butt that a rental car can be.
these and more mixed in with an ecclectic and informative collection http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/

the drastic effect of the assembly line technique

The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory in 1902. The assembly line style of mass production and interchangeable parts had been pioneered in the U.S. by Thomas Blanchard in 1821, at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. This concept was greatly expanded by Henry Ford, beginning in 1914.

As a result, Ford's cars came off the line in fifteen minute intervals, much faster than previous methods, increasing productivity eightfold (requiring 12.5 man-hours before, 1 hour 33 minutes after), while using less manpower. It was so successful, paint became a bottleneck. Only Japan black would dry fast enough, forcing the company to drop the variety of colors available before 1914, until fast-drying Duco lacquer was developed in 1926. This is the source of Ford's apocryphal remark, "any color as long as it's black". In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four months' pay.

Ford's complex safety procedures—especially assigning each worker to a specific location instead of allowing them to roam about—dramatically reduced the rate of injury. The combination of high wages and high efficiency is called "Fordism," and was copied by most major industries. The efficiency gains from the assembly line also coincided with the economic rise of the United States. The assembly line forced workers to work at a certain pace with very repetitive motions which led to more output per worker while other countries were using "less productive methods". (higher quality work from master mechanics, master carpenters, master craftsmen were forced out of auto manufacturing, replaced by unskilled labor at drastically less per hour) http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/07/changing-times-in-auto-industry.html

In the automotive industry, its success was dominating, and quickly spread worldwide seeing the founding of Ford France and Ford Britain in 1911, Ford Denmark 1923, Ford Germany 1925; in 1921, Citroen was the first native European manufacturer to adopt the production method. Soon, companies had to have assembly lines, or risk going broke; by 1930, 250 companies which did not, had disappeared.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile

The first bus in America, was built by Mack in 1900

Jack was 14 when he ran away from home, became a mule driver on the railroads and then went on to be an engineer on heav equipment and ships. Later he went into business with his brothers

Now, the Mack trucking company has a museum and heritage center in the Mack Customer Center in Allentown Pennsylvania http://www.macktrucks.com/assets/mack/Bulldog/BulldogMagazine2011Volume1.pdf page 3

“It gives us a powerful way to immerse customers from North America and around the world in the products, history and culture of the Mack brand.” said Mike Reardon, Mack vice president, marketing.

Created inside the company’s former engineering development and test center, the Mack Customer Center includes a product showroom, an 18,000-square-foot modification center and a two-lane, .73 mile oval track, allowing customers to put their vehicles to the test. The track has multiple grades, on- and off-road durability courses and a skid pad.


Inside, customers can relax, meet and work in a comfortable reception area or at the “Bulldog Café.” The new facility also houses the Mack Museum and Heritage Center, which will open to the public beginning November 1, 2010. http://www.macktrucks.com/default.aspx?pageid=5094  

interesting distinction, tri 5 sedan delivery vs station wagon

Sedan delivery is classified as a commercial vehicle and therefore a truck, a station wagon is just a car. Which do you think has a better chance of winning against the competition?

B&M bought Flowmaster

Flowmaster was founded in 1983 and really came into their own during the late 1990′s. The company has floundered recently in the face of stiffer competition and though economic times have cut into their market share. B&M Racing hopes that the iconic brand can be restored to its former glory, and sees Flowmaster as a key to expanded beyond their core business of shifters and transmission products.