Are We There Yet?
Posted by havealittletalk on September 4, 2009
Today’s images are all from the National Archives.
Before you leave home this holiday weekend, consider all options:
Poster circulated in Philadelphia in 1839 to discourage the coming of the railroad. It reads in part: “Philadelphians, your RIGHTS are being invaded! regardless of your interests or the LIVES OF YOUR LITTLE ONES. THE CAMDEN AND AMBOY with the assistance of other companies without a Charter, and in VIOLATION OF LAW as decreed by your Courts, are laying a LOCOMOTIVE RAILROAD! RALLY PEOPLE in the Majesty of your Strength and forbid THIS OUTRAGE!” 30-N-46-1957. (american_cities_096.jpg)
Maybe they were right, considering the scene less than 60 years later.
Horse-drawn wagons and carriages, an electric trolley car, and pedestrians congest a cobblestone Philadelphia street in 1897.30-N-36713. (american_cities_100.jpg) [Archives]
This happy couple has chosen a gentler means of travel for their 1886 Washington tour. Would you call this a quadcycle?
Archives 77-RP-7347-4. (american_cities_056.jpg)
Here’s another shot from 1886. These folks are in Loup Valley, Nebraska. No indication of where they started from or how long they’ve left to go.
Archives: 69-N-13606C
In 1912, covered wagons shared the road with automobiles in Nebraska.
Covered wagon with jackrabbit mules encounters an automobile on the trail near Big Springs, Nebr. By A. L. Westgard, 1912. 30-N-9OO6. [Archives]
Don’t forget to pack a picnic. Rifle optional.
Officers and guests lunch under giant cactus near Fort Thomas, Arizona. February 18, 1886. 111-SC-83730
