The Horseless Age, July 1896
THF277052 / The Horseless Age, July 1896 / front cover
01
Artifact Overview
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 contraptions. This issue of The Horseless Age was published soon after Roper's death in June 1896.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Magazine (Periodical)
Date Made
July 1896
Subject Date
July 1896
Place of Creation
Collection Title
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
86.185.117
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Henry Austin Clark, Jr.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Printing (Process)
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Brown
Dimensions
Height: 11.75 undefined
Width: 9.125 undefined
Keywords |
|---|
02
Related Artifacts
Artifact1865 Roper Steam Carriage
This vehicle is the oldest surviving American automobile. In the 1860s, a small steam carriage running under its own power -- without horses! -- was so startling that people paid to see it driven. It was a curiosity, not transportation. By the time its inventor, Sylvester Roper, died in 1896, new innovators were transforming horseless carriages from curiosities into practical vehicles.