back when it wasn't crazy to bring along 4 spare tires.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
before the people realized how badly the politicians treated them, the politicians had no reason to fear meeting with people that had pitchforks in hand, and outnumbered the suits
I wonder when the greed and corruption became so well known that the tide turned from respect of politicians to despise. Probably after politicians quit wearing beards. It must have been before Nam. Obviously anyone in New York City and Chicago were familiar with it, I bet that they still teach Tammany Hall in public school.
I would guess the Illinois governor streak of prison sentences isn't over yet, nor California governors facing recall, and the District of Columbia consistently has the highest rate of federal public corruption convictions, followed by Louisiana, Montana, South Dakota, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
There once was a blanket cover up by reporters for the illegal activities of politicians, maybe they were stuck in hero worship mode due to WW1 and WW2, Sgt York, Charles Lindbergh, Chesty Puller, Chuck Yeager, and Glen Armstrong, etc. But somewhere, things turned to where reporters went out to shine a light on the crimes and shames.
I suppose it was some time after we stopped electing farmers (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Carter) and it became only possible to get elected if you were a millionaire without a job.
Saturday, January 10, 2026
I wonder how the rich figured out how to get permission for specific times to use their cars on the railroads. Hmm, well, I suppose they met at parties and talked to the railroad owners, or the golf course.
Glidden made his fortune in the telephone industry before retiring in 1901. He was the millionaire sponsor of the Glidden Reliability Tours from 1905 to 1913.
His 1902 circumnavigation of the globe with his wife Lucy and a "Motor Engineer" Charles Thomas covered over 48,000 miles, showcasing the endurance of early automobiles.
His Napier was with flanged wheels to operate on railroads, as those were the only roads across most countries that carried the wealthy in comfort, from city to city, vs small country towns with no luxury hotels
Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Glidden drove this 24hp Napier automobile during several notable journeys, in 1904 they completed the first crossing of the Canadian Rockies by automobile, arriving in Vancouver, Canada, after a 3,536-mile trip from Boston, Massachusetts.
This journey was part of the AAA Glidden Tour, a reliability run that aimed to prove the viability of automobiles for long-distance travel. The couple had previously participated in the 1904 St. Louis Tour, where they arrived in Albany, New York.
The couple’s 24hp Napier was a symbol of early automotive exploration and reliability testing, and their journeys helped establish the automobile as a practical tool for travel and commerce.
The couple’s 24hp Napier was a symbol of early automotive exploration and reliability testing, and their journeys helped establish the automobile as a practical tool for travel and commerce.
Mr and Mrs Charles J Glidden in 24hp Napier which they toured for 8 years, beginning in 1901, covering over 46000 miles, here travelling on rails with a railway official.
I'd forgotten that I'd posted these two magazine clippings in 2019, http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/04/this-is-first-ive-learned-that-glidden.html
He recognized early the potential of the phone together and experimented together with Alexander Graham Bell with telephone connections over the telegraph lines.
Glidden funded the construction of telephone lines in Manchester, New Hampshire and was the first to recognize that the female voice was more suitable for the early telephones than the male. Accordingly, he hired women as telephone operators.
The telephone exchange, which he had initiated, grew to a syndicate, which, amongst others, covered the U.S. states of Ohio, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Texas. The first long-distance telephone connection (from Lowell, Massachusetts to Boston) was established on his initiative.
He and his wife Lucy, stopped into all the major cities of the world, seen here in London in 1902
In 1902, his world tour took him over 46,528 miles through 39 countries and ultimately around the world twice.
The Glidden Tour trophy originally sported a sterling silver 1901 Napier automobile perched atop the porcelain enameled globe. That priceless little objet d'art vanished long ago.
Anderson was visited by the 1909 and 1910 Good Roads Tour, (New York Herald and Atlanta Journal) the 1911 Glidden Tour, and the 1912 Army Road Test. 7 decades later, Bosch, BMW, and Michelin USA would take residence there, as well as the ICAR, Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research
For an example of what a luxury tour it was to be a part of, read https://steamboatminnehaha.org/the-glidden-tour-of-1909/ which goes into detail of how the wealthy on tour were treated to all the best each city on the tour had to offer, such as in Minneapolis.
The contestants were treated like celebrities with streetcar rides to Minnehaha Falls and spent the afternoon at Fort Snelling, where military troops met them with a full-out dress parade, including mounted cavalry and artillery men. A reception was held shortly after at the Officer’s Club before the party moved on to an afternoon horse race featuring World Champion pacer Dan Patch.
the Glidden contestants enjoyed Sunday at the Tonka Bay Hotel on Lake Minnetonka. The TCRT excursion boats Plymouth and Puritan were hired for the afternoon to give tours of the lake before the drivers retired to the Lake Minnetonka Automobile Country Club for drinks and dinner.
From 1905 to 1910, Glidden was the first president of the Aero Club of America. From 1908, he began to promote aviation. He praised the lighter than air technology (balloon flight) and was of the opinion that private planes would be similarly ubiquitous as motorcycles.
For dozens more photos of the Gliddens on their many years of explorations, see https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/search?f%5B0%5D=mods_subject_topic_ms%3A%22Glidden%2C%20Charles%20J.%20%28Charles%20Jasper%29%2C%201857-1927%22
way back when horse shoe nails were loose everywhere and repairing a flat happened all the time. The license plate is 1911
interesting memorial to public service streetcar tracks, Haddonfield, NJ
These tracks were found when the street was reconstructed. I worked on this project. The town put this in to commemorate the tracks.
Interesting tour bus in the Smoky Mountains, it's got dual rear axles, and the name under the drivers window "Miss Oconolufty" (likely refers to the Oconaluftee River/area in North Carolina)
and there was also a #21 "Miss Nantahala" 1933 Packard Super 8 10 pass,
I think this is the Biltmore
I think this is the Biltmore
Martin Roemers’ photo book "Homo Mobilis", a remarkable series of photographs of people posed with their cars show you can tell a lot about someone from the vehicle they drive.
Roemers traveled the world armed with a large white backdrop, a camera, and one simple question: “Would you pose with your vehicle for me?”
Homo Mobilis gives the reader the ability to view the relationship between humans and their vehicles, examining how mobility, as a cornerstone of modernity, shapes our identities and societies.
This has resulted in a typology of vehicles with their drivers against a stark white background. This deliberate removal from their usual context invites viewers to contemplate the deeper narratives that these vehicles carry.
Vehicles are more than mere modes of transportation; they are powerful symbols of status, culture, and personal identity. A vehicle can be merely functional for some but for others it so much more: it becomes a crucial part of who they are.
(really interesting interview at https://martinroemers.com/homo-mobilis/about I recommend)
funny how 50 million dollars are in limbo, and neither Southwest Airlines nor the TSA are willing to refund them to the ticket buyers
TSA insisted it isn’t equipped to refund the 9/11 security fee to millions of travelers—while the agency defended a $48 million penalty against Southwest for allegedly failing to refund that same fee. The fight boils down to a simple question: when a passenger cancels and never flies, who has to send the money back—an airline, or the government that collected the fee?
Trainspotting, 1942 til about 1990. Young UK boys hung around railroads and train stations, notebooks in hand
Trainspotting began in 1942 when Mr Allan was a 19-year-old trainee in the public-relations office of the Southern Railway at Waterloo. Tired of replying to letters from railway enthusiasts demanding details of locomotives, he suggested that the office produce a simple booklet listing their vital statistics.
His boss was not interested, so Mr Allan decided to do it himself.
The ABC of Southern Locomotives was a simple pocket- sized index of engine numbers and types. At a shilling each, 2,000 copies sold out immediately. ABC guides to other railway companies soon followed.
Partly in order to teach safety to young spotters, Mr Allan started the Loco- spotters Club.
By the late Forties it had a quarter of a million members. In the Fifties and Sixties a million ABC guides, listing 20,000 locomotives, were being sold every year.
The ABC of Southern Locomotives was a simple pocket- sized index of engine numbers and types. At a shilling each, 2,000 copies sold out immediately. ABC guides to other railway companies soon followed.
Partly in order to teach safety to young spotters, Mr Allan started the Loco- spotters Club.
By the late Forties it had a quarter of a million members. In the Fifties and Sixties a million ABC guides, listing 20,000 locomotives, were being sold every year.
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