The invention of the automobile changed the way people lived and traveled. It brought a system of highways into being, and became a part of the American Dream.
Not everyone was immediately enamored with the new contraption. In January 1910, a report out of Washington noted that, "in spite of the greatly increased use of the automobile, the self-propelling vehicle has been unable to depress either in number or value, its rival, the American horse." The report asserted this because the price of a horse had increased over the past year despite the automobile’s arrival.
However, the car was on the rise. By 1912, auto shows were in full force. On this date, residents in Grand Forks could get a demonstration of the new Buick and take a free ride.
In February of 1917, an Auto Show was conducted at the armory in Minot, and the show includes a musical and vaudeville program, to "furnish something new and novel in the way of conducting an auto show."
In March of that same year, an "auto show section" of the Weekly Times Record in Valley City noted that it was Chalmers Day at the Automobile show – and that every day was Chalmers Day, "because so many people want this car."
A poem, modeled on the song “America, (My Country ‘tis of Thee)” was published anonymously in newspapers across the country. It pokes fun at the car, and it begins like this:
"My auto' tis of thee, short road to poverty, of thee I chant. I blew a pile of dough, on you three years ago, now you refuse to go, or won't or can't. Thru town and countryside, you were my joy and pride, a happy day. I loved the gaudy hue, the nice white tires new, but you’re down and out for true, in every way. To thee, old rattlebox, came many bumps and knocks; for thee I grieve. Badly the top is torn, frayed are the seats and worn; the whooping cough affects thy horn, I do believe.”
Dakota Datebook by Sarah Walker
Sources:
The Wyndmere Journal, January 1921
The Pierce County Tribune, January 27, 1910
The Ward County Independent, February 15, 1917, p1
The Weekly Times-Record, March 22, 1917, p12
The Evening Times, January 30, 1912, p12
Healdsburg Enterprise, May 1, 1915
Cambridge Chronicle, July 23, 1921
