A Famous First

[Rich P. Bingham]

No date on this photo, probably 1930s ?
Did all Model A's sport a pretty brass rein rail like that ?
I suppose it would have been handy if one had to resort to flesh and blood horsepower.

[Rich Eagle]

It was standard equipment initially and was offered on the first Cadillacs too. I see later ones without it so it may have been dropped.
It does add some ornamentation to the front.
Here are some Kim Dobbins photos of one.
https://earlyfordregistry.com/phpBB3/do ... hp?id=2495
https://earlyfordregistry.com/phpBB3/do ... hp?id=2494
Rich

[TXGOAT2]

Some very early farm tractors were designed to be driven like a horse or mule, the idea being to provide a machine that a farmer with no experience whatever with power equipment might feel comfortable operating, and to provide a machine adaptable to pulling existing horse-drawn equipment, allowing one man to operate both the tractor and the implement. The U.S. Military also operated a few such machines.

[Rich P. Bingham]

Pat, that's true, and examples of some of those strange adaptations are wonderful curiosities to behold ! I don't think they were very common, however. Many folks are amazed to learn that the high-water mark of the U.S. draft horse population was in the mid-1920s. The Depression and WW II slowed the transition from horses to tractors. Plows, disks, harrows, planters, mowers, rakes, grain binders were all made for the operator to sit behind the motive force into the early 1950s.

It's a mistake to make assumptions on the operation of equipment one has no experience with, but I would hazard those "replace the horse" arrangements were nowhere near as maneuverable or effective as a good team. Another aspect is the fact that horses, smarter than many give them credit for being, as well as creatures of habit, make very agreeable partners at work, readily learning the patterns of the tasks they are put to !

[TXGOAT2]

A friends' dad told a story about mules used in contructing a state highway in Central Texas around 1923. According to him, the mules worked all day and would stop at 5 o'clock, expecting to be unhitched and put away for the night. Sections of the 2 lane paved road they built still survive. The same roadway was in regular service until 1969.

[Kaiser]

Here's one of those 'mechanical horses' on classic tractor fever :
https://youtu.be/NXXa03wf52k

[JohnM]

Fantastic! To make the engine run faster, you should be able to slap the reins and yell GIDDYUP!

[Wayne Sheldon]

Rich B, If you don't mind? I am going to "borrow" this picture and share it on the Early Ford Registry site. They have a photo over there that may likely be the same car. I will try to copy their picture over here.

[Rich P. Bingham]

Wayne, you are welcome to share everything I've stol. . . uh, "borrowed" !

[TXGOAT2]

Were any Model T Moxiemobiles ever built?

[Kaiser]

Reportedly one of the first, it's a Buick? not familiar with them so can't put a year on it, the first one was built in 1918, who knows more ?

[Kaiser]

The first Moxie car, the horse has not yet grown out of the floorboards , is it a steamer, Stanley ?

[Wayne Sheldon]

Another "First Ford" photo! The sign is different, but the claim is the same. The car in both photos is showing some age and effects of years in the weather. Clearly the car was a good number of years old when the photos were taken, but which photo was taken first? And how many years were between them?
I have looked closely at both photos and have not found any detail to pin down when they were taken. Were these photos of a 1904 Ford taken in 1910? Or 1920? Or even in the late 1920s? Men's fashions don't help a lot. While certain fads in styles came and went, more typical fashions didn't change a lot in those couple decades. Typical women's fashions can often be narrowed down to about a five year span. However, men's fashions not so easily.
I would speculate from the suits and ties, lapels and other details, that the photos were likely taken in the early 1920s. But that is a guess as much as anything.
The Veedol and Tydol cans in this photo might help if a timeline can be found for the can labels.

Thanks to Rich Eagle for posting this photo on the EFR forum!
The Early Ford Registry forum doesn't get a lot of traffic, not like here. But it is a great place for pre model T Fords! Quite a lot of early Ford photos, and some wonderful discussions.
Several of the MTFCA's frequent posters also visit there regularly. With its niche focus, it hasn't attracted a lot of activity, but with its relationship to early Model Ts deserves some support. Anybody interested in early Fords or just really early automobiles in general should give it a lookover!

[Wayne Sheldon]

A quick link to the EFR;

https://earlyfordregistry.com/

which by the way is considered a "specialty" chapter of the MTFCA.

[Rich P. Bingham]

Thanks for posting that much better picture Wayne ! Promoting the "first Ford" may have been an on-going thing for Australian dealers over many years ? As you say, men's fashions aren't the greatest indicators of the era. Hats in the first photo may have been a nod to earlier times ? In the second photo, collar style, spats and higher crown hats with rolled brims indicate 1920s.

There appears to be an electrical toggle switch on the seat frame below the driver's knee - original? or a modification? The Ford script blazoned on the hood seems to be an alteration of the photograph as it's "out of drawing" to agree with the perspective and curves of the hood. Also, it's not present in the first photo.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Hey Rich! I am fairly sure that switch is not original to the car, although I have seen similar switches on other early automobiles. It looks like a typical surface mounted electrical switch from the early day electrification of homes. Similar switches can date from before 1900 well into the 1950s as post construction electrification continued in outlying rural areas.

When I saw the two pictures apart, I wanted to get them together so that they could be studied and discussed together. I am hoping one of our Australian forum friends can see them and enlighten us about the dealer involved?

[Rich P. Bingham]

Just because it's a good picture of a Model A, with Henry hisself at the wheel. Likely a posed photo many years after the car was new.

[Rich Eagle]

I would think that was an early '40s photo. Looking back at the horse and carriage days with some sentimentality. Do you suppose Henry has a bit of regret? He certainly was proud of his legacy by then.
Rich

[Luke]

Wayne, Rich,

In my view that image is suspect (the one posted on the 27th).

It has been modified by someone using a later version of Adobe Photoshop and there are aspects of it that don't 'gel' (rear mudguard, 'Ford' sign on bonnet for example).

If one could track down an original, if there is such a thing, it might be better to start with that?

Update:

After some further research I've decided this is likely the most useful source of online information re these two photos at this time:

https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/2 ... 28982.html?

In my view the photo remains somewhat suspect for the reasons I earlier espoused, although if anything was done to it then it looks to have been 2012 or earlier...

Luke.