Early T in Colorado

[John kuehn]

I wonder if autos can still close to the balancing rock in Colorado. The page that the photo came from said the rock had to have concrete added under it because vandals tried to chip away the bottom to get it to fall, luckily it didn’t. This was taken years before the valdalism.

[Daisy Mae]

I'd like to think Daisy Mae sat beside that rock....I wish there were pics of her on that trip. She made the trip from MI to CO to see the inaugural Pikes Peak race in '16.
What's interesting about that picture to me is that it appears to me ithe car was also modified with electric headlights....kind of fuzzy, but not sure they're acetylene...that and no generator. Daisy was modified in the same way for that journey.

[John kuehn]

Wow! Could it be the same things that were done to your car? Very interesting. Looking closer it does have a water bag on the side. These folks were making a trip to and from somewhere.

[mtntee20]

John, That photo was taken in The Garden of the Gods park, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The rock is STILL there today. The most common photo is of the opposite side including another famous rock: Ship Rock.

[Daisy Mae]

Researching old news articles about the '16 Pikes Peak race, I was amazed at what a huge event it was. Thousands of people traveled across all points of the nation to attend. It was reported there wasn't a vacancy to be had anywhere in the surrounding area of Colorado Springs, and people were forced into parking/camping in large open lots.
Imagine traveling cross country in your T...finding your way across dirt, questionable, or even no roads....
You wonder what kind of advertising was done nationwide to compel so many to make that kind of effort in '16 with their car. Spencer Pemrose, who completed the road, converting it from the old narrow carriage road, also created the race using the event to promote the new road and advertise & promote his yet unbuilt Broadmoor Hotel, which wouldn't open until 1918. The race did not occur in 1917, returning again coincident with the opening of the Broadmoor in '18, but did not run again in '19.
Must of truly been an adventure to make that kind of trip. It's fun knowing Daisy made the trip, but I sure wish I had pics and stories....she has a lot to tell....

[Wayne Sheldon]

Wonderful photo! Thank you for sharing this here John K.

Kurt, So nice to have history like that for your model T!

The old photo appears to be a 1913 runabout with a larger after-market trunk in back. It does appear to have similar to yours after-market electric headlamps.
After-market electric headlamps became very popular quickly after the introduction of the electric starter on some cars in 1912. They were handled in two distinctly different ways. One was kits that fit into the gas headlamp buckets, the other was headlamps fully manufactured as electric to replace the original headlamps buckets and all.
Either way, in era photos, electrified or electric headlamps can often be spotted by the reflectors being up front and close the the headlamp lens. Acetylene gas headlamps use a focusing mirror way in the back of the headlamp. As a result of this location of the mirror, they "usually" cannot be seen from an offset angle from ahead of the car. And if seen from straight on, they "usually" appear as only small mirrors in the rear of the bucket. Electric headlamp reflectors fill in behind the lens, gas mirrors do not. However, there were some (usually but not always larger?) higher quality gas headlamps that had a reflective focusing shield directly behind the lens that can give the appearance of being a reflector for an electrified headlamp. Just something to confuse the issue.

To me? Automobile and general history is fascinating. In the early 1910s, acetylene lamps were common in many places besides automobile headlamps. It was familiar and comfortable technology. Many people didn't trust the "new-fangled" electric lamps. On the other hand, many other people were ready to embrace the new technologies! Era photos do show some 1909/'10/'11s with electrified headlamps, and electrification kits were available even before the advent of the electric starter. However, it is 1912 model Ts where electric headlamps began to show up in large numbers. The earlier cars were a couple years old already and owners were I think less likely to spend the money to upgrade the car by then. I think many model Ts beginning in 1912 would be upgraded to electric headlamps soon after being purchased.

[Dan Hatch]

There were lots of people traveling cross country then. Look up Automobile Blue Book. It was not a book of used car values. It is the road Altas of the day. First one published in 1901. It used landmarks to navigate by. I used to pick them up at Hershey for $5. Now you hardly see them. I think in 1915 there were 4 volumes. 3 for the states east of Mississippi River and one that covered everything west of the Mississippi.
They also would approve hotels, garages, tearooms and etc across the country. Later I think became part of AAA.
Makes for some interesting reading.
Here is link I found to an article about it.
https://ica-proc.copernicus.org/article ... 7-2018.pdf

[Daisy Mae]

Thanks Dan, I would love to find one of those to display with Daisy. Dead reckoning/landmark navigation is still an issue when you get lost on Farmer Fred's road in Podunk Nowhere!
Ya I bet those are fun to read. All of which just makes for great fodder for the imagination. Still gotta give a whole lot of cred to those travelers.
In my own family, we know my Great Grandmother/husband/ children made a cross country trip from Burbank CA to Johnstown PA in the teens.