possibly the oldest manufacturers license plate still in use!

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=5320174561366424&set=pcb.5320177908032756

1 of 10 Knox tractors made in the USA for the French army, Decauville semi trailer, and Schneider crawler. WW1.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=560117402825391&set=a.466479202189212

Touring Europe at 18-mph clip on a leisurely 7,000-mile trek through Europe in a 1901-model one-cylinder antique Knox auto.

By Brendan P. Mulready | Stars and Stripes | Published: June 8, 1960

Believed to be the only car of its kind in the world that is still fully operational, the auto was one of 100 built in 1901 by the Knox Auto Mfg Co., of Springfield, Mass.

"I know of five others in museums but I have never heard of another still running," said Johnson, who, at 58, still wears a look of boyish enthusiasm when he talks about his car.

The Johnson travel saga really started in 1933, when he first laid eyes on the ancient auto. "It took me 18 years of persuasion to get the owner to part with it. Then it took another three years of careful work to restore it to working order. So, it was 21 years after I first saw it that we took our first ride it it," Johnson said.

On their previous tour of Europe and a. trip from Massachusetts to Florida, plus participation in various antique car rallies, the Johnsons put more than 10,000 miles on the old car.

The car has two speeds forward and no reverse. "We don't need reverse gear because we can turn around in a nine-foot circle. And from Cherbourg to Germany we have not had to shift to low gear at any time. We move along pretty steadily at 18 miles an hour, on the level, up hill and down grade," Johnson explained.

The power plant is an eight-horsepower "porcupine" engine. The name comes from the fact that there are 1,818 4-inch long threaded pins sticking out from it to radiate the engine heat as the car moves along.

https://www.stripes.com/news/touring-europe-at-an-exciting-18-mph-clip-1.63337

a Knox Martin tractor used to collect garbage from a central point to then get it to the city dump I suppose

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-shots-from-days-gone-by-part-2.1154030/page-874#post-13842150

in the winter of 1914, Springfield Massachusetts was hit with 30 inches of snow. This Knox, and a few snowplows, were the only things capable of moving on the streets

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-shots-from-days-gone-by.428585/page-6129#post-12950569

a steam pumper pulled with a Knox tractor

https://onceuponatown.tumblr.com/post/89119874465/boston-massachusetts-fire-engines-state-of-the

one mighty big bus, pulled by a Knox tractor

A self promoting omnibus manufacturer in New York used this as self advertising while moving 120 people at a time. I count 31 on the roof alone.

the banner on the bottom says Pride of the Nation, and that reminded me of where I'd seen this omnibus before, the Stephenson omnibus that got the company started on making trains and rail cars

the above was modified so it could be pulled by the Knox tractor instead of a team of horses. How did I come across that? I remembered that I posted about Stephenson in 2015 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-development-of-john-stephenson.html

and this impressive horse drawn bus in 1850.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=879842865508865&set=a.112945212198638.19931.100004494786173&type=3

San Jose Fire Dept historical photos thanks to Phil!

http://sanjosefirefighters.org/dsp/slideshow.cfm?catid=0%202-Logging

New York's first piece of motorized fire fighting apparatus, 1909 Knox hose wagon

http://yngfire.com/index.php/topic,1331.0.html?PHPSESSID=5f814bd7ace5015f0d8843d226f3ba09

from a 1913 Scientific American magazine, Tarvia, and the early method of switching from horse drawn to motor powered fire dept hook and ladders

Appears to be a Knox tractor

the self taught racer so good, that within 7 years of learning to drive, she nearly beat De Palma, and caused male racers and the AAA to ban women drivers, because they felt that threatened. I present, Joan Cuneo

She was banned from ascending the road up New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. The American Automobile Association, AAA, who sanctioned the race, deemed the ascent up the steep and winding carriage road “too dangerous” for the woman driver, likely as a result of complaints delivered by her male counterparts. 

At the time, driving a car required considerable strength, and racing required a vague indifference towards bodily injury; that a woman could drive as well as a man was emasculating and crushed the egos of the male racers. Fast Forward to New Orleans:

same car, Knox Giant, above and below

With the big Knox Giant racer.

In early 1909 she ran this car to numerous victories at the New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration, at one point nearly beating the famous Ralph De Palma. She was named the National Amateur Champion and claimed five trophys.

Not long after her stunning victories in New Orleans, and despite the fact that Mrs. Cuneo had been a member of theirs since 1905, the American Automobile Association (the organization that sponsored most of the big events) banned not just women drivers from their events, but women passengers as well.

Many writers of the day felt it was because too many men drivers would stay away if they were consistently beaten by a woman.

Joan Cuneo did not protest; she just more or less retired from racing. She bought a duplicate of the Knox Giant from the factory and continued to run non-AAA sponsored tours, and setting track records in exhibitions.

In the March 1908 issue of Country Life in America she wrote an article titled "Why There Are So Few Women Automobilists" that is still quoted today in histories of early woman drivers.

In the 1908 Glidden Tour, Cuneo drove a 1908 Rainier touring car while representing the Chicago Motor Club 2 team, and despite the numerous hardships encountered during the race, managed to finish with a perfect score of 1,000 points. More impressively, Cuneo had driven the entire tour herself, while other entrants, too tired to press on, called for the services of relief drivers.

http://www.viewsofthepast.com/topics/fr-automobiles.htm

For her efforts, Cuneo received a silver cup from the other entrants for her sportsmanship and “pluck,” as well as a gold medal from the AAA and a second cup from the Chicago Motor Club for her efforts on its behalf.

In 1914, she told Country Life magazine that she had already owned eighteen automobiles.

She moved to Vermont in 1918 and eventually to Ontonagon, Michigan where she died in relative obscurity in 1934.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/12978#comment-136792

Elsa A. Nystrom, a professor of history at Kennesaw State University, has written the definitive book about Joan Cuneo:
http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Speed-Racing-Newton-Cuneo/dp/0786470933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454993735&sr=8-1&keywords=Mad+for+Speed+%E2%80%93+The+Racing+Life+of+Joan+Newton+Cuneo.

"The story of this auto racing pioneer is essential reading for anyone who appreciates motorsport or is intrigued by the role of women making their mark on American culture. Elsa's thorough research and breezy writing style insures the time you spend with this engaging biography will be a great investment in not only your education but entertainment as well."
--Mark Dill, former Vice President, Marketing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

It's not often you get a look into a garage of 110 years ago

http://www.velocetoday.com/mad-for-speed-book-review/

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/11/19/racing-heroes-joan-newton-cuneo/#&gid=1&pid=4

In 1911, Cuneo would set a woman’s speed record of 111.5 MPH behind the wheel of a Pope Hummer on the Long Island Motor Parkway, but the bulk of her racing glory was behind her by then.

A little more than four years later, by the end of 1915, her marriage to Andrew Cuneo would be over, and in 1917 she would turn her back on New York for a rural life in Vermont. Even this relocation was temporary, as in 1922 she followed her son and his wife west, settling in Ontonagon, Michigan. Joan would marry James Francis Sickman there in 1928, but would die just six years later, in 1934, at age 58.

http://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/articles/joan-cuneo-new-orleans

her 1905 White

http://www.viewsofthepast.com/topics/fr-automobiles.htm

https://new.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/91786_rare-sports-and-historical-memorabilia-#page=2

early Knox truck adding motive power to the ladder wagon about 100 years ago

Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/Fordmodelt/

If you want to look through some other very early fire fighting vehicles that were bridging the gap from horse drawn to motor powered, http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-transition-of-steam-pumper-from.html

hot damn, Steve finds more interesting stuff... the origin of the phrase "tractor trailer" and inventor of the rocking 5th wheel still used today, the Knox Martin tractor

 

 The Mt. Vernon (New York) Fire Department (below) was paying out $36 per fire engine for horse upkeep.  The Knox road tractors that replaced them cost $2 each per month.

 Knox's introduction in 1915 of their Model 35 tractor with four wheels put and end to the three-wheeler.

thanks to Steve http://serviside.blogspot.com/2011/09/tugboat-of-land-commerce.html who still has to add this info to HIS post!

He is kinda busy, but reads my blog, and when I post something I know nothing about, he blows my mind with his deep knowledge of it.. this post is due to the photo I put up yesterday:

the Knox Martin Tractor was introduced at least by 1911, and was built at least through 1914.  Its inventor, Charles H. Martin was acknowledged to be the father of the semi-trailer, having invented (and commercially applied it to the Knox) the rocking fifth-wheel that is still in use today - along with the term "tractor-trailer."  In 1911 Martin opened his own factory to build Martin Tractors, while advertising that only the Knox and Martin were licensees of Martin patents.

above image only, found on http://truquetructruk.tumblr.com/