Sylvester H. Roper, Inventor, circa 1890
Add to SetSummary
Massachusetts machinist Sylvester Roper built at least seven steam-powered carriages and two steam-powered motorcycles years before automobiles -- as we know them -- appeared. Roper never produced his vehicles commercially. Instead, he exhibited them at circuses and fairs where crowds marveled at the self-propelled contraptions. Steamboats and steam locomotives were common, but steam-powered carriages were genuine novelties.
Massachusetts machinist Sylvester Roper built at least seven steam-powered carriages and two steam-powered motorcycles years before automobiles -- as we know them -- appeared. Roper never produced his vehicles commercially. Instead, he exhibited them at circuses and fairs where crowds marveled at the self-propelled contraptions. Steamboats and steam locomotives were common, but steam-powered carriages were genuine novelties.
Artifact
Print (Visual work)
Subject Date
circa 1890
Keywords
Collection Title
On Exhibit
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
2011.0.26.4
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Ink
Pencil (Marking material)
Technique
Engraving (Action)
Printing (Process)
Handwriting
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 7 in
Width: 5.5 in
Inscriptions
on front of print: (printed) Eng. by E.G. Williams & Bro. N.Y. / (handwritten) S.H. Roper / Inventor on back of print: (handwritten) Sylvester H. Roper / Roxbury, Mass. / Print from a book / of biographies / Please return to: / Mrs. Lester W. Claflin / 8 Storrs Rd. / Hanover, N.H. / great-granddaughter of / Sylvester
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