Duryea Motor Wagon with Barnum & Bailey Circus, 1896

Summary

Early automobiles were more of a curiosity than practical transportation. Duryea Motor Wagon Company was the first American firm to try to make a business of building and selling automobiles. In this photograph, a Duryea is displayed by the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1896 -- an excellent advertisement for the company. The only known surviving 1896 Duryea is in the collections of The Henry Ford.

Early automobiles were more of a curiosity than practical transportation. Duryea Motor Wagon Company was the first American firm to try to make a business of building and selling automobiles. In this photograph, a Duryea is displayed by the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1896 -- an excellent advertisement for the company. The only known surviving 1896 Duryea is in the collections of The Henry Ford.

Artifact

Photographic print

Date Made

circa 1905

Subject Date

1896

Creators

Unknown

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

P.1774.CO.92

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of the Family of Henry Austin Clark, Jr.

Material

Cardboard
Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8.5 in

Width: 10.5 in

Inscriptions

Handwritten on back: From Stevens Duryea Company Chicopee Falls Mass Do not return. Handwritten on back by Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Copy neg #92.

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