A Century of Automobility

Bibliographic Data

ID4019871
AuthorsRudi Volti (corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume37
Issue4
Pages663
Publication date1996-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTechnology and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0040-165X • E-ISSN: 1097-3729
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3107094
OpenAlexW2313708534
LanguageEN
Citations received12

Essay A CENTURY OF AUTOMOBILITY RUDI V O L T I When Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea along with a few associates put together thirteen crude automobiles in 1896 for sale to the pub­ lic, they likely had no notion that they were participating in the cre­ ation ofa system oftransportation thatwould profoundly alterAmer­ ican life. In the hundred years that have followed, the automobile has brought such massive changes that we are still trying to com­ prehend its full significance. Our relationship with the automobile has always been a complex one, and its history throws into sharp relief the myriad ways in which technology and culture shape each other. The automobile has been the subject of a vast literature, most of it devoted to particular cars,1 motorsports2, and do-it-yourself repair and modification. But as a subject of scholarly inquiry the automo­ bile remains vastly underexamined. There is certainly no lack ofglib generalizations about the automobile and its consequences, though most rest upon a slim basis of evidence.3 To take one notable exam­ ple: we can state with some confidence that the automobile played a role in changing sexual mores, but we have in fact very little sub­ stantive support for that claim.4 It is a topic that would benefit from systematic research; this essay will, on occasion, note others. Dr. Volti is professor of sociology at Pitzer College. He thanks Harvey Botwin, Robert C. Post, Mark Rose, John Staudenmaier, and John D. Sullivan for the many helpful comments they made in response to an earlier draft of this article. 1 In a recent catalog ofmotoring publications, I counted thirty-seven in-print books covering various aspects of the Model A Ford. For conniosseurs of automotive medi­ ocrity there is even a rather expensive book devoted to the Ford Falcon. 'For a study of one type of motor racing that also addresses some fundamental issues regarding the nature of technology, see Robert C. Post, High Performance: The Culture and Technology ofDrag Racing, 1950—1990 (Baltimore, 1994). 3It is remarkable how often segments of Middletown by Helen and Robert Lynd reappear when the sociology of the automobile is addressed. See Helen Merrill Lynd and Robert S. Lynd, Middletown: A Study ofAmerican Culture (New York, 1929). 4David L. Lewis, "Sex and the Automobile: From Rumble Seats to Rockin' Vans," in The Automobile and American Culture, ed. David L. Lewis and Lawrence Goldstein (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1983).© 1996 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/96/3704-0001$01.00 663 664 Rudi Volti The Genesis ofMass Automobility The bicycle craze of the 1890s revealed a hunger for personal transportation, although the cantankerousness of early automobiles made them unlikely candidates for this role.5 "Personal transporta­ tion," of course, has never been simply a matter of getting from point A to point B; generations of hikers, horseback riders, and bicy­ clists could attest to the maxim that thejourney is often more impor­ tant than the destination. Early automobiles provided the pleasure inherent in physical travel, to which was added the fascination of mechanisms that worked tolerably well at times and fell mysteriously silent at others. Rising to the challenges presented by primitive car­ buretors, magnetos, and pneumatic tires appealed to many motor­ ists, and was of even greater significance for manufacturers. For many pioneers of automobile production, a strong dose of techno­ logical enthusiasm was at least as important a motivator as the chance of turning a profit.6 As with all significant innovations, the history of the automobile shows that technological advance is fueled by more than economic calculation. To be sure, enthusiasm, technological or otherwise, gets you only so far—as thousands offailed automotive entrepreneurs would sadly attest. The automobile industry also needed an abundant supply of financial capital. Many early entrepreneurs kept their firms going on cash flows provided by the sale of their products, but the ones that flourished needed a sounder financial footing. Many of them found it; like biotechnology stocks in the 1980s, the early automobile industry generated intense interest among investors.7 Some of the funds sunk into the fledgling industry were irretriev­ ably

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