MTFCA Forum

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Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919) was “the first Black woman millionaire in America” and made her fortune thanks to her homemade line of hair care products for black women. Most notably, she was the first black woman to own and drive a Model T Ford automobile.

Born Sarah Breedlove to parents who had been enslaved, she was inspired to create her hair products after an experience with hair loss, which led to the creation of the “Walker system” of hair care. A talented entrepreneur with a knack for self-promotion, Walker built a business empire, at first selling products directly to Black women, then employing “beauty culturalists” to hand-sell her wares. The self-made millionaire used her fortune to maintain her beloved Model T Ford, fund scholarships for women at the Tuskegee Institute and donated large parts of her wealth to the NAACP, the Black YMCA and other charities.
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Madam C. J. Walker and her 1912 Ford Touring
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Madam C. J. Walker and her 1912 Ford Touring

Great story. I’ve not seen all those pictures before now. Thanks for the post!

The top picture (with the four ladies) shows a door handle on the driver's side. Being a '12, it would have had "Fore Doors", but I've never seen a Fore Door with a handle installed. In the text below the image there is mention of some images having been retouched. Now I'm wondering if the car really had an outside driver's door handle, or if some well meaning artist added it to the image.

Steve Jelf wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 22, 2021 2:53 pm

I recognize Booker T. Washington next to Madam Walker on the YMCA steps, but I can't ID any of the other men.

https://images.indianahistory.org/digit ... 399/id/222
Madam C.J. Walker stands with Booker T. Washington (to her left) at the dedication of the Senate Avenue YMCA. Madam Walker donated $1,000 to the project and worked tirelessly to bring in more donations for the project. While she is known for her business ambitions, she was also devoted to helping those less fortunate.

The other gentlemen in the picture, from left to right, are Indianapolis Freeman publisher George Knox, Walker Company attorney F.B. Ransom, Indianapolis World publisher A.E. Manning, Dr. Joseph H. Ward, Louisville YMCA secretary R.W. Bullock and Senate Avenue YMCA secretary Thomas Taylor.

This woman made a good life for herself, and enriched the lives of many others.

I have seen the first picture, and read some of the history before. Madam Walker should be an inspiration for all.
The model Tis interesting. It has the two-piece firewall, making it an early 191 model, or even a 1911. The driver's side fore-door is also interesting. Not only did the factory fore-doors not usually have a door handle, generally, the driver's side fore-door did not open! The fore-doors may be after-market, and the car may be a 1911?

The first photo appears to have been taken in front of the house in the last photo.

Any woman driving a car back then was a novelty. What I want to know is how they kept those hats on? Is that where the term "hat pin" came from?

I looked through a bunch of photos for 1912 Ts, refreshing my memory a bit. And found this 1911 advertisement.
Not quite the same, but close. I am fairly sure the car is a 1911 with after-market fore-doors. Notice how her car's fore-door is lower than the rear door, and cuts straight to the lower early style firewall. The standard early 1912 fore-doors are even with the rear doors, and dip down to meet the early style firewall.

Tim J, Hat pins were quite popular in the early days of the automobile. For precisely that reason. It seems almost silly to us today, with most automobile driving at the time being under 20 mph. We today tend to think of 20 mph as barely moving, however in the horse and buggy days where most carriages were driven a about 10mph, 20 mph felt like one was flying! However again, hat pins actually go back many years earlier, to the French elites in the 1700s!

I don't want to take this off topic....but....

Copy and paste:
Edwardian hatpins’ primary purpose was to hold hair and hats in place. The ends were often highly decorated with jewels to make the ensemble even more attractive.


Hubba Hubba!

My grandmother had some hat pins. Even when I was very young, women's hats were nowhere near the size of the huge and elaborate constructions worn earlier in the 20th Century. I think some women still used hat pins and similar hardware for decorative effect, although early 1950s hair styles and hat styles didn't make them a necessity. I haven't seen a hat tree or a spittoon in years, or a woman wearing gloves, or a man wearing suspenders, or anyone carrying an umbrella. As far as that goes, ash trays have nearly vanished.

I haven't seen a hat tree or a spittoon in years...

I remember spittoons in the local bank when I was a wee tyke in the forties. They weren't antiques then.

My grandma and grandpa had a chamber pot under their bed but it wasn't for spit.

John Heaman, I have to ask. Is that Topo Gigio as your avatar picture?

In the first picture what is the purpose of the spare tire and rim on a car with not demountable rims? Or is it just a spare tire and tube? Art

Spare tire & tube.

Wayne Sheldon wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 23, 2021 2:40 am

John Heaman, I have to ask. Is that Topo Gigio as your avatar picture?

Wayne, it is a picture of a Topo Gigio doll I grabbed from the World Wide Interweb.

Copy and paste:

Topo Gigio is a 10-inch-tall puppet, who is part marionette. In addition, the puppet is moved by three puppeteers, hidden by a black background. Ed Sullivan saw a tape of the puppet on Italian television and booked Maria Perego and Topo Gigio for the show starting in 1963. The pair made many appearances over the years.
Maria Perego, Topo's creator passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 95.

Regarding that "spare tire and tube" in the first photo (above)---just wandering ---is there some sort of mounting hardware to keep it in place, as seen in this `12 photo ? I`ve got a new tire and tube (clincher rim type) I`d like to mount in that location on my `12 touring. Thanks for any input! paul

We used to watch that mouse on an RCA model 630 TV... if the "interference" wasn't too bad...

Eddie kiss me goodnight.

tiredfarmer wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:03 pm

Eddie kiss me goodnight.

Good times and great memories!

I always enjoyed how Ed Sullivan interacted with such a wide variety of acts, divas, comedians, and singers. On camera, he interacted with Topo Gigio like any other real person. The amazing thing is, after nearly fifty years, I still remember Topo Gigio's name.

Her car was a pre-fore-door 1911 touring equipped with Ervin aftermarket fore-doors.

There was a very nice article about her in the Horseless Carriage Club Gazette about a year ago.

Keith