On radiators:
These cooling devices were nothing more than banks of tubes through which water could flow.
During summer months, after school and on Saturdays, we used to have boys come in and string tin washers on tubes. When the washers were all in place we would dip the tubes in solder so as to make them one part.
On customer service:
One day I received a frantic letter from a Brooklyn doctor who had purchased one of my cars.
A few days later I was standing in his barn, looking at the machine, which, he said, wouldn’t run.
I examined the gas tank. It was all right. I looked over the spark plugs. Tested the batteries. Got down under the car and stared up underneath. Everything seemed all right, so I went around in front and spun the motor.
Finally I ran my fingers under the mixer.
Then I broke in on the physician’s sarcastic twitterings with this question: “Why did you plug the hole in the bottom of the mixer?
“To keep the gasoline from leaking.”
A few days later I was standing in his barn, looking at the machine, which, he said, wouldn’t run.
I examined the gas tank. It was all right. I looked over the spark plugs. Tested the batteries. Got down under the car and stared up underneath. Everything seemed all right, so I went around in front and spun the motor.
Finally I ran my fingers under the mixer.
Then I broke in on the physician’s sarcastic twitterings with this question: “Why did you plug the hole in the bottom of the mixer?
“To keep the gasoline from leaking.”
It was my turn to be sarcastic. "It happens that gasoline has to be mixed with air before results can be obtained.”
I punched another hole in the mixer, drained off the gasoline which had flooded the cylinders, put the fluid back in the tank, turned the crank, and started the motor.
That was one thing we pioneers in automobiles had to do that presidents of companies miss today. We had to give personal service to our customers. Many times I have piled out of bed on a winter’s night to aid a stranded driver. A good many times, too, I left my telephone receiver off the hook so I could get some sleep.
I punched another hole in the mixer, drained off the gasoline which had flooded the cylinders, put the fluid back in the tank, turned the crank, and started the motor.
That was one thing we pioneers in automobiles had to do that presidents of companies miss today. We had to give personal service to our customers. Many times I have piled out of bed on a winter’s night to aid a stranded driver. A good many times, too, I left my telephone receiver off the hook so I could get some sleep.
The air starter:
It came about in a simple way. I was looking at a car one day when one of my men came along and began cranking it. The motor was cold and it was hard work.
“Next year we are going to equip our cars with starters,” I told an associate, standing with me.
“You mean so cars won’t have to be cranked?”
“Yes.”
I went inside, made a drawing of the idea that had come, built a mechanism that could be operated by pressing down a foot, and we had the starter that took the pressure from the cylinders, stored it in a tank, and kept it ready for use. This air starter was the forerunner, in a sense, of the present electric starter.
“Next year we are going to equip our cars with starters,” I told an associate, standing with me.
“You mean so cars won’t have to be cranked?”
“Yes.”
I went inside, made a drawing of the idea that had come, built a mechanism that could be operated by pressing down a foot, and we had the starter that took the pressure from the cylinders, stored it in a tank, and kept it ready for use. This air starter was the forerunner, in a sense, of the present electric starter.
For the rest of his article, as I only want to show a couple examples, read
“Get a Horse,” The Saturday Evening Post, February 8, 1930 https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/sep-keyword/winton-motor-carriage-company
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