welcome to chicago, this historic motor road district. 1905 to 1936. with an emphasis on architecture and automobiles. my name is barbara barrett and

i'm a history entertainment speaker. that is, i love sharing history and an entertaining way. i'll be your host this afternoon as we explore the fascinating architecture in automobiles for sale on chicago's storied motor show. if you love history. if you love chicago. if you love architecture. or if you just love automobiles. and i know that you do, you're in the right place. so let's buckle our seatbelts and start your engines. ladies and gentlemen.

well, you just might wonder where and what is chicago's historic motor road district? well, it's a group of 59 properties, primarily on south michigan avenue and secondarily on wabash and indiana avenues between roosevelt road on the north stephens expressway on the south mccormick place on the east and the red line rapid transit tracks to the west. now, here's a map of the area. here we have running down the middle michigan avenue, running fromorth to southnd the north end. roosevelt road and the south end. the stevenson expressway. off to the east is lake michigan, along with t museum campus, including the field museum, the john g. shed aquarium, the adler planetarium soldier field and mccormick place. off to the west, you have the red line rapid transit tracks.

and in addition to michigan avenue, we want to point out indiana avenue as well as wabash, another important feature of this area is the prairie district. that's where the wealthiest chicagoans lived in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. the chicago's historic motor road district really began in 1905 and is considered the largest intact motor colony in the united states. presently at its peak. if you can imagine 116 different makes of autos were sold and serviced and motor room. it was designated as a chicago landmark park in 2000 and added to the national register of historic places in 2000 and to enlarge parts, the efforts of mayor richard i'm daley at the time were there auto rows in other cities. well of course they've developed

in numerous cities at the turn of the last century as car companies sought to create districts where the sale and repair of automobiles would become an easy urban shopping experience. so you could find them in chicago, california, indianapolis, indiana. milwaukee, omaha, even in canada, in edmonton, alberta. but that was not by coincidence that chicago's motor road developed on south michigan avenue. it was intentional. first of all, it was the gateway to the prairie district as i indicated previously, where chicago's millionaires lived close to chicago's downtown area, close to the area of finance and commerce and entertainment. it was considered one of the best paved streets in the city at this time. the majority of roads in the city, as well as the country were unpaved and unimproved. but michigan avenue was one of

the best, and it was near the chicago coliseum, located at 1513 south wabash avenue. and we'll see why that was important in a moment. eric travel was an end in its infancy and the international aviation meet was held along michigan avenue and there was an automobile store already there, a small local mobile store. here we have the chicago coliseum in this photograph a it was on 1513 south wabash avenue, just a stone's row from michigan avenue or motor road. what happened there? ll the very first chicago auto show was held there. it was helon march 23rd through the 30th, 1901. at that time, it was called the national automobile exhibit. now, it's interesting to note that the chicago auto show is the longest continuously running auto show in the united states.

beginning in 1901 and next year in 2023, it'll be its 116th edition, the only year in which it was not held was between 1942 and 1949, due to world war two. now, what about that prairie district that i mentioned? who lived there? well, people like marshall field. here's his mansion in the prairie district. it was built at theosof $2 million. it was one of the first residences in chicago to be electrified. and as you can see, it's an imposing and a very attractive home. three stories high built in the second empire style mansard roof punctuated by dormers. no frame building here. brick and stone. they learned their lesson from the 1871 great chicago fire. who else lived in the neighborhood? george pullman.

here's a photograph of his mansion once ain. stone very imposing. three stories. he had one up on marshall field. he had ptico here and the side of his home, as well as ornamental ironwork along the roofline. and here is a photograph. the 1911 international aviation need along michigan en. here we have michigan avenue grant park here, where the railro les, which have since been replaced by millennium park, an air field, of course, lake michigan. so michigan avenue was the place to be. but how in heaven's name did we get from a scene like this? lake michigan drive in 1905 where you have a beautiful wooden boardwalk, a pedestrian boardwalk here on a sunday afternoon. and off to the right, we have a

pathway for horse drawn carriages. no automobile is to be found in this photograph. but how did we get from here to here. well, at the end of the 1800s, beginning in 1900s in the united

states, there was little interest in the automobile. which is surprising because in europe, there was a tremendous amount of interest with the introduction of karl benz and his automobile. but interest really exploded once america's first automobile race was announced in 1895. it was sponsored by the chicago times-herald newspaper. it involved not only a road race of 54 miles from chicago to evanston and back, but it also involved qualifying tests. how reliable was your automobile? now, what was the great incentive? the prize purse of $5,000, which in today's dollars is $155,000. so every tinkerer, every bicycle mechanic, every engineer got busy because they wanted to enter the first automobile race

and get their portion of the prize. so here's the path they took, started in jackson park, which was the setting for the 1893 world's columbian exposition. only two years earlier, they went up michigan avenue, lakeshore drive, all the way to evanston and came back south, went a little bit further west, picked up milwaukee avenue, went through humboldt park, garfield park, douglas park, and back to jackson park. now this competition was announced in the summer of 1895. but for various reasons, the actual race wasn't held to later in the year. it was actually held on november 28, 1895, which was thanksgiving day initially over 80 individuals registered to participate in the race. but when it came to the actual day of the race, as pictured here, only six vehicles showed up, two of which were electric

vehicles. well, take a look at this photograph. here we are at the starting line and it's in the same location as the 1893 world's columbian exposition. and you can see one of the buildings left, which was the palace of the fine arts. then, which is the museum of science and industry today. and as luck would have it, chicago weather being what it was, they had a massive snowstorm on the night before the race, which really discouraged a number of the entrance. well, nonetheless, yes, frank and charles drury of springfield, massachusetts, they won the race and they're credited with inventing the first american automobile in 1893. and here's graph of their vehicle at the starting line. and it's a primitive, very mple v, high wheeler, a cart, and it is controlled by a tiller. but he won his portion of that $5,000.

once that race was held and it was held consecutively in subsequent years, interest in the automobile exploded. and early automobiles came in three flavors electric, such as this detroit electric steam car, such as the stanley and gas powered cars such as this studebaker. so there was tremendous interest in the automobile and it grew quickly. now, my interest in motor world really stemmed from a trip my husband and i took down michigan avenue one sunday afternoon, not too long ago on our way to a piano recital. of course, we were stuck in traffic. so naturally, i'm looking up and admiring the buildings and i notice the names of early automobile makers were appearing at the top of many of the buildings. buick, local mobil premier, peerless. one of the three p's marmon and hudson. now i knew that local mobil and

marmon had particular histories when it came to the american automobile industry. because i knew in 1906 local mobil won the 19 eight vanderbilt race as pd . now, why was that significant? well, it was significant because it was the first american made automobile to win the vanderbilt cup. i also knew thathe very first indy five wa run in 1911 and won by ray jerome and he was driving a marmon wasp. but what about the first vehicle in chicago that happened to be this particular photograph in 1890 to the very first auto drove down the streets in chicago. this, too, was a primitive looking vehicle. and what was it, a car, basic with two bicycles on either side

and controlled by a tiller. now, this was in 1892, but in a few short years, this is what the automobile industry produced in 1912. cadillac model three, touring car. so things progressed very quickly. just to give you a little perspective in 1910, there were 12,926 passing autos registered in chicago, compared to 58,000 horse drawn vehicles. but just 15 years later, what a difference. 300,000 passenger ohios and only 18,000 horse drawn vehicles registered in chicago. what did automobile manufacturers make before automobiles? our yugo horn brings up a question. well, if you thought bicycles, you would be correct. and one of the most successful bike bicycle manufacturers was winton.

they enjoyed a tremendous number of sales, but late in the 1800s, there was an economic downturn and the bottom fell out of the bicycle market. but winton didn't really fancy itself in the bicycle business. they thought of themselves as being in the transportation business and naturally they came up with the horseless carriage or a winton car as pictured here in this print. and this is a 1905 winton. now early car buyers, what was what was important to them? was it color? was it speed? no, it was reliability. and oftentimes, print ads included testimonials, such as this one from mr. c.l. roy. he took a trip of 2235 miles of extra ordinary travel, driving his winton, of course, from mexico to puget sound, from sea level to 5000 feet above, over

mountains, over rocks, through rushing streams, canyons and adobe mud and extreme temperatures and yet his winton never balked or failed him. now that appealed to a buyer. did you think about horse drawn carriages and wagons? of course that would been studebaker. they were the most successful right here in south bend, indiana, but it didn't take them long to see the writing on the wall and they moved towards horseless carriages. and it's interesting to note that their very first foray into the horseless carriage was an electric car before they went into the market for gas powered cars. now, here's their 1904 studebaker model. see, that's one of their first gas powered vehicles. would you be surprised to learn that a sewing machine company such as the national sewing machine company located in

belvidere, illinois, started to manufacture over automobiles. well, they thought, let's expand our product line. and in 1904, they introduced the eldridge, which one sold for a very high price at auction. now, here's the biggest surprise. the hines pearson, one shower company. they manufactured very high end housewares, including, like this gold gilded birdcage. but they didn't want any and decided we're going in the automobile business. and of course, they manufactured very high end cars such as this 1929. pierce arrow, which belonged to charlie chaplin. he gave it to himself and his 40th birthday in 1929. but what was life like back in 1905? what did the average citizen experience? well, the average worker made

between 200 and $400 a year a new house was about 4690. now, i'm not talking about those mansions in the prairie district, which went for about 2 million each. gasoline was $0.20 a gallon. interesting. as compared to today. a new car? well, the average price was 1000 for 50. what? you could get a model t for around 800. a loaf of bread was $0.04. but you could still buy a good horse for $40. so you had to really do a cost benefit analysis in your mind to think, should i go with a horseless carriage or should i stick with the old reliable horse? and there were only 8000 autos in the u.s. in 1905 and only 144 miles of paved road. so what was the blueprint or the mplate for the showrooms for the motorcar showrooms and motor

road? well, the architects decided they want them to look much like theaters are palaces of entertaining, like in downtown chicago, like this one here. the state and lake theater at the corner of state street and lake street. it was a very imposing building, very ornate. and the corner, that was the preferred location. it had one, two, three stories and a tower on the corner. interesting architectural elements along the roofline and a very handsome entrance. but that was for the exterior. what they really wanted to reproduce was the interior. and this is how the interior looked. of those major theaters, this is the interior of the state lake. we have a marble lobby floor. have a vaulted ceiling with painted wood. wood trim. we have mirrored walls just like the palace of versailles in

france. and of course, we had very elegant lighting. and what was the main focal point? the grand staircase. but how was it that we had many architects in chicago to help build these and design the motor showrooms? architects such as alfred. alfred altshuler, christian x storm holabird and roche, jenny mundy and jensen, albert kahn. we'll talk a little bit more about him. well, they were here in chicago for two main reasons. number one, many came after the great chicago fire of 1871. and here's a photograph. the day after the fire at the intersection of state and madison in chicago, total devastation and not a horseless vehicle to be horseless carriage to be found. all horse drawn vehicles. but that's going to change very

quickly. in addition, in 1893, chicago hosted the world's columbia exposition. and many architects came to chicago in advance to design the exhibit halls and the pavilions for this particular event. so chicago was rich with architects. so let's take a look specifically at some of those motorcars showrooms, beginning with ford. no surprise there. henry ford wanted to have his first store outside of detroit, located in chicago. and it's the oldest remaining showroom. it was opened in 1905 by henry himself. it was a company owned store. it was not a dealership. it was designed by architect christian storm. and as many of the motor showrooms, it had first floor plate glass windows, which was something different back in 1905. it had a second story with a

bank of windows. it was framed in highly glazed terracotta white terracotta with diamond elements here along the top of the second floor. now, here's how this building looks today. and if you visited south michigan avenue, this is what you would see. it was beautifully restored. red brick and the framing of the highly glazed terracotta tile looks magnificent. if you visited that showroom back in 1905, this is what you might find. now, mr. ford, for any of you who know anything about him w rather frugal. so he, of course, wanted to showroom on motor road. but it didn't need to be ostentatious. here he has been selling. he has very modest lighting. his actual columns were not plaster or very ornate. he did have a grand staircase kind of hidden away on the back

side. but of course, he had these various products for sale and palms and ferns displayed throughout the showroom. and if you visited in 1906, you might find this model and runabout and you might think this looks a little different than some of the early fords because it has right hand drive. and why was that? well, if you think about the fact that horseless carriages were really an evolution of horse drawn carriages, it makes perfect sense to have the steering wheel on the right side. horse drawn carriages, the reins in the driver's seat on the right side. and there was a practical reason for that. they could just pull over to the side of the road and disembark. and if you didn't exit from that side and you decided to get off into the middle of the road, well, what would you find?

unimproved roads, muddy roads which were strewn well with biological material from horses. so if you visit in 1908, you see this particular ford model t that would be available in the showroom. and what was different than the previous slide? now, what the steering wheel has been moved to the left side. mr. ford started at ford motor company, was the first to set the standard. but mind you, not all manufacturer has followed suit. and there was a practical reason. by 1908, mr. ford was quite correct in knowing and understanding that vehicular traffic on the roads was increasing. you would have two way traffic on most roads. so for the driver to really keep an eye on the direction in which they were moving as well as oncoming traffic, it made perfect sense to have a left hand side steering wheel. now, even though mr. ford manufactured model ts r

several decades, they came in different models such as five passenger touring c or a three paenger roadster. and of course, you could get a very stately six passenger town r equipped with three oil lamps, a tubular horn and a kit of tools, which was very practical. and actually up until the 1960s, most automobiles sold the united states and probably throughout the world came with a kit of tools. now, who drove and owned fords? lots of folks such as joan crawford. here she is in her 1933 fords speedster. but who else might have driven a ford? well, who is this happy couple? none other than bonnie and clyde. they loved driving ford vans, but in reality, they never owned one. they always borrowed one. being in the business that they

were. but, you know, clyde barrow was so impressed, he took it upon himself to write a letter to mr. ford himself, in which he complimented mr. ford on his automobile and he did indicate that even though the line of work that he was in, mr. barrow, was not necessarily legitimate, that shouldn't stop him from sending a complimentary letter to mr. ford in this particular piece of correspondence is displayed in greenfield village in michigan. next, we move to the buick store, which is just a few storefronts down from the ford store. this was also designed by christian eckstrom. here we have a two story building and we have a little different window treatment than we did with the ford store. second floor has palladian style windows and if you also noticed at the top of the building was displayed and in the actual

stone, the buick name. if you visited in 19 a way you might find the buick model g runabout a pretty snappy vehicle for its time. but you can see here, they started out with right hand drive. they didn't move over in 1908 like mr. ford did. it wasn't until 1914 that buick changed their steering wheel to the left hand side. so if you visited back then in that year, you might find this beautiful buick touring car moving a little further south on michigan avenue. we come upon the maxwell briscoe showroom now as we move further south. the buildings become more grand and larger. here it's located right here on a corner lot. it was one, two, three, four stories high. it was built with brown, wired brick, framed in buff color,

terracotta tile. they had pierce here. architectural elements that really framed banks of windows that were double and triple hung windows. here we have a course on the very first floor product displayed in the showroom. but what else might you notice in this photograph? so all these piles of rubble here on the street, it's not that the street sweeper missed them. their intention only put there. and ladies and gentlemen, they're the first test tracks. the expo briscoe. if you're visiting their showroom, you come right out, take a test drive. and what was important to you as an early car buyer? reliability. jump in the maxwell start up and you could take it over these piles of rubble and be convinced that it could handle any type of terrain. here's the interior of that showroom, a little different from the ford showroom. higher ceilings, a little bit

more ornate beams ceilings. and if you visit in 1909, maybe you would like to pick up this touring car, which was the same model that was used by alice ramsey in 1909 to drive from new york to san francisco. the first woman to do so t cross the couny and she took only 59 days. she stopped at various dealerships and stores. maxwell briscoe stores, of course, during her journey. here she is on south michigan avenue. and this is how the maxwell briscoe building looks today. i'd say it looks darn good for being over 100 years old. and it's home to the mchugh construction company. a little bit further south, become to the b.f. goodrich building. now, this also was designed by mr. x storm in 1911, but he wanted to capture and still maintain the integrity of the residence area, which again, as

you saw with marshall field's mansion, second empire style mansion, roof with dormers and many of the buildings that were built and the showrooms not only were for the sale of automobiles, but for service as well as for parts and things like tires little further south become to the local mobil building. now, this one, of course, is also on a corner. it has a red brick. three stories high. the name local mobil proudly displayed at the top. and i wondered about that name. local mobil. how come someone how did they come up with that name? well, early on, when local mobil first went into the business and in bridgeport, connecticut, they started out with a steam car and they wanted it very clear to their customers that their car was a combination of a

locomotive, a steam locomotive, the power of a steam locomotive and an automobile. thus the name locomotive. well, their steam cars were not all that successful in the market and they quickly switched over to gas powered cars. but they wanted to keep the name because it had name recognition. and across the street we have the second presbyterian church, which is of historic status in and of itself. and early on, its congregation consisted of people like george pullman inside that local mobil building. this is what you would find. and the first floor, they had very ornate ceiling beamed ceilings. you could see they're quite tall. the columns and the second floor. we had storage of product and what we see here, old number 16 from the vanderbilt cup race top floor we have c-suite and back to the first floor, the grand staircase. and if you visited that

owroom, you might find a local mobil like this. now, local mobil cars re long, low and cost lots of money, only the very well heeled could drive and buy a locomotive bill. and if you visited that showroom in 1919, you might find this beautiful local mobil. their tagline was the best build car in america. if you visited 1926, you find this beautiful local mobil. i took this photograph at a car show at the now defunct arlington racetrack outside of chicago. but the owner shared with me this little piece. who owned a local mobil who could afford one? well, people like william wrigley, william carnegie, reggie vanderbilt, general john jay, blackjack, pershing. well, in 1926, how did local

mobil stand up to its competition? well, a packard. cost $3,750 now. mind you, this is when people were making 200 to $400 a year, a roche and laying electric was $5,000 back then, just like now, the electric vehicles were expensive. a cunningham with a dozen brigades was $6,650. and at the top of the heap was local mobil with a stevens jury, a six coming in at $7,500. and what is that equate to today? $116,816. so you can see the average individual could not afford a local mobil. now, today, the local mobil building has been converted to a residential property. it was one of the first in 2004. here's the lobby of that

particular building. what other car manufacturers were on? motor road? studebaker, of course, but actually studebaker was on motor road or on south michigan avenue. i should say. even before motor oil came to be. they were there in 1895. they had their chicago opposite ery and factory located 2003 or four or five and six. michigan avenue. this artist's rendering of their building. it was quite impressive here. they sold horse drawn carriages and they also had on display with permission from the lincoln family. the actual carriage that president lincoln in on his final journey to the theater, to ford's theater. but studebaker once they got into the horseless carriage business wanted to have a showroom down further south on

michigan avenue, along with all of the other manufacturers. and here is, their building at 21st street and michigan avenue under construction at the time. and here's how it looks today. very impressive. it's residential property. now, if you visited that showroom early on, you might find a scene such as this. this is actually have a photograph of a showroom from springfield, missouri. but at the same time frame and of course, initially, here's their electric vehicles for sale, such as the 1902 studebaker electric, once again controlled by a tiller. now, if you visit in 1906, you would see something like this, a beautiful touring car, which is a beautiful example of the brass era, right hand drive. but as you went back to the showroom, by 1922, you maybe find a studebaker special six touring car, or in 1927, a

studebaker sedan. now moving further south on michigan avenue, we get to what we call the real automobile palaces, such as the marmon motor car company showroom. marmon motor cars were manufactured right in indianapolis, indiana, and for sale in this beautiful building on south michigan avenue. now, it was designed by architect alfred altshuler, and he became known as the builder of auto palaces. and this particular building is two stories, but there isn't just terracotta tile framing of the building. the entire facade is covered with highly glazed terracotta. much of us had to be imported from italy. and it was built in the spanish revival style. we have the spanish tile roof ornamentation along the roofline. and of course, the mormon name proudly displayed at the top and over the entranceway.

here's the building today. it has been totally restored. now, in 2015, a mr. richard dreyfuss purchase this building. you might be familiar with mr. driehaus the name. he was a business man, a fund manager. and of course, a philanthropist. and in addition, he also had a private automobile collection, which was very proud of. and it was his intention when he bought this building and refurbished it to move his private collection into the building and open up a museum. but unfortunately, we lost driehaus last year and his heirs and still have not determined the fate of this building, as well as a number of properties that he owned. and as you can see the name marmon and, the second floor at the top of the building and also above the entrance way, along with very ornate light fixture.

and inside you would see. the beautiful cars on display in a showroom that really looked much different than the ford showroom. you can see we have that the columns open up into vaulted ceilings. you see the grand staircase and you can see the automobiles. nicely displayed. take a look at that flooring. this was from 1922. and here's how the building looks today. that same flooring has survived very nicely. and if you visited in 1922, you might pick up a marmon speedster. such as you see in this photograph, or in 1929, a marmon roosevelt, which was built in honor of teddy roosevelt, who was drove a marmon. well, if scott fitzgerald, the author, did and enjoyed it immensely. next to the merman building, you

would find the hudson building. now the hudson motor company came out. detroit built their showroom at 2222 south michigan avenue. and it was once again designed by alfred altshuler in the spanish baroque style. here we have three stories. first floor, of course, floor to ceiling plate glass windows, banks of windows. on the second and third floor. here we have them in a kind of a palladium style treatment. and over the entrance way, we have quite a bit of ornamental portion. and at the top, we have the medallions displaying the h for hudson. here's the interior of the showroom today. oh, wow. and if you visited in 1927, you mighfind this dson roadster with this type of seating

outse the passenger compartment. now, you might think, hmm, that's a rumble seat, but in some circles, it's known as the mother in law seat. if you visit in 1928, you might find a hudson touring car such as this, who owned hudson's? well, amelia earhart, for example. here she is in front of her hudson six chair, a plane special. here's the hudson building today. now, in 2018, it was purchased by two retired chicago bears players. is real identity and julius peppers. for the low low price. of $10 million. what is their intention to convert it to a coworking space a rooftop pool and a social club? now this is, of course, an artist's rendering, but it does give you this perspective. how deep this particular building was. the building, as well as the moment it went for an entire

city block all the way to the next next street. so it was massive. and here's the michigan avenue entrance. but on the back side was the service entrance where chauffeur was brought to hudson's be serviced and there was a waiting room for the chauffeurs. while the service was taking place place, also on michigan avenue in motor roy, you would find the cadillac rolls and section buildings at 2301 to 13 south michigan avenue. the cadillac building. the architect was jenny moon, the union son, and the kohl's and sex and buildings was holabird and roche. quite different in design. what else did holabird in washington sign? well, the original soldiers field, not the revised one. they also did fort sheridan or chicago. and interestingly enough, the manual scoreboard at wrigley

field, if you visited the cadillac showroom in 1913, you could pick up a cadillac model 30 coupe, rather snappy in 1925, you might select two town sedan. and if you had any money left over after the stock market crash of 1929, you could get a v 16 convertible sedan who drove cadillacs. lots of people like jean harlow, she loved hers. now they're cadillac calls and sex and building have been joined into one residential property known as the motor roll lofts. but what do we see across the street? well, that's the thomas flier and service center. this particular building was unique for several reasons. first of all, the first three floors were designed by holabird and roche and built in 1910. and the fourth and flip fifth

floor was added by architect alfred altshuler. in 1915. but why is the thomas flier of any importance? well, it won the 1908 new york to paris the first round. the world race. it was won by american team, driving a 1907 model 35. thomas flier. they started out in new york and wound up in paris. it was the one and only around the world race ever held. and it took 169 days. and it was captured in a comical movie, the great race, starring jack lemmon, tony curtis and natalie wood. now, you also include this building was designed by mr. mitchell in 1920, somewhat modest. but it was the home of the elgin motorcar company. now, if you've ever heard of the

elgin watch company, several executives from that particular company got together and started their own motorcar company. and they're very first offering was the 1920 elgin six four touring car. their tagline as a nod to the lg watch company, was the car of the hour are built like a watch. and it was a rather snappy looking vehicle, which you could pick up for $985, either a roadster or a touring car. a little further south on michigan avenue, you can encounter two buildings. the cadillac one and the detroit electric showroom. yes. electric vehicles were available over 100 years ago. now, the cadillac showroom was at 2412 south michigan avenue. and the detroit electric was at 2416. now, keep your eye on that column here. it shows up in this photograph.

this is a nighttime view, looking from the street into the showroom of the anderson electric, where you would see a detroit electric available for sale. and if you visit in 1916, you could pick up the snappy red one. but who drove detroit electric's? well, you might be surprised if someone pictured here better known as mrs. henry ford or clara ford. now, can you imagine henry who built mrs. instead of model ts? what does his wife want to drive? oh, no, not one of those two. mrs.. she wants a detroit electric like her friends and henry adored his wife and indulged her because she stuck by him through thick, thin. and in 1914, who purchased h? a detroit electric model 47 from at the price of $3,730 in 1914,

which is the equivalent of 103 $993 today. so electric vehicles were expensive. 100 years ago as well. what vehicles were for sale on motor road? of course, auburn's and. they were at the showroom of 24 0109 south michigan avenue, which was originally built for local mobile. but they abandoned it early on because their sales really declined and they went out of business. but auburn moved right in and you if you visited in 1933, you might find this beautiful cabriolet or in 1935, in auburn, speedster. and of course, courts were for sale there. the first front wheel drive automobiles such as this 1936 court. and who owned and drove auburn?

well, babe ruth, for example, here he is in his 1926 auburn speedster. and who drove courts? lots of folks, including amelia again. here she is standing in front of her 1937 court, which is in front of her airplane, her lockheed electra. but unfortunately, this was shortly before her fateful journey when she disappeared. and it was never found again. but this particular court vehicle, if i could spend a few moments talking about it and really had a very interesting journey to where it has landed today after her disappearance, amelia's george putnam really spent a tremendous amount of money searching for her with various campaigns to locate her remains. her her airplane, but was

unsuccessful, of course. so he had to have her declared deceased a couple of years after her disappearance, and he had to sell off all the assets of the estate in order to cover his debts. and, of course, he sold off the court and it really was disassembled. the carriage actually going one place, the motor going to another place. but recently i recently meaning when the last 15 years or so all the parts have been put back together and it has been beautifully restored. last year it was second place at the pebble beach concours d'elegance, as well as winning first place in its class at the open court duesenberg festival. and also on michigan avenue, you could find packard's for sale at the corner of 24th street and michigan avenue, their showroom, which was designed by the famous

albert kahn. he was a well-known known architect in the industrial space. he designed the 1905 packard automotive plant in detroit, and he caught the eye of henry ford and henry ford and listed him to design and build the river rouge complex in dearborn, michigan. construction took over ten years, and it resulted in the largest integrated factory in the world. if you visited the packard showroom in 1920, you might pick up a twin six or in 1929 a roadster who drove packard's well. famous folks like clark gable. here we have cadillac number one. this was this is how the detroit electric showroom looks today. and down here is the pierce arrow showroom, which seemed to be other models for the beautiful cars that they had for sale, such as a 1919 piercing arrow runabout.

or if you visited that showroom in 1931, you might pick up a sport. phaeton. now, the last building to be built on motor road was the illinois automobile club construction started in 1936, and that was rather fateful because it was several years now into the great depression. well, we had people who had these fabulous automobiles. and motoring became a sport. so like minded people wanted to get together. and in a club atmosphere, a private club, naturally so they could share their enthusiasm. so a number of individuals got together to build the illinois automobile club. they enlisted phil architect phillip meyer. but unfortunately, the building was never and it was never occupied as an automobile club. you can see it's a massive building. it was originally this clock tower was to be 13 stories high.

and of course, it didn't make it. it was to include several olympic sized swimming pools, bowling alleys, banquet spaces. and even though the clock tower did make it 13 stories today, we have a cupola on top of it and a weathervane in the shape of an automobile. now, in several years ending in 2005, the building was occupied by the chicago defender newspaper and here's an aerial view of that particular property. and you can appreciate here from this view the massive size of the building corner. lot included interior courtyard and a winter garden. also. here's the stevenson expressway. and on this parking lot was where the packard showroom was built. and in 2017, the building was

purchased by the rival motorola vince. they now hold various events there. weddings, for example, in this beautiful interior courtyard. and here is the main entrance above which you see a beautiful stained glass window. and above there you see, of course, the metalwork and the acronym iac for illinois automobile club. it's a beautiful building. many stained glass windows throughout. you could see the marble interior of the foyer looking out onto the interior courtyard. but what's a fashionable person to wear while going motoring? well, here we have a lovely young lady sporting a head to toe duster, a beautiful chapel, gloves and goggles in the center. here we have a handsome chauffeur sporting a mohair coat. and this lady here on the right side has a very modern leather

coat. but why would you have to dress like this to go for a car ride? well, this is the reason why early on, many cars were open cars. and this was the condition of the roads. and when it rained well, it was this a muddy mess? but not to worry if you were a driver, all you had to do was take it to the auto wash pole, which ostensibly was a cement pond, if you will. it had greater depth in the center. if you were a high wheeler car, you could go right around in the center, or if you were a lower car to stick the perimeter, you could clean off your undercarriage as well as your wheels. and out you went. well, i think about motor road and i think about the more than 116 automobile manufactured that had their wares for sale there. here's just a few of the marks and emblems. many of them did not survive the

test of time, but some we still have today, such as cadillac chevrolet, ford. buick. it must have been a fabulous place to go shopping. but all good things must have to come to an end. and what were the reasons for the decline of motor roll? well, for major events in 1920, the michigan bridge across the chicago river was opened and all those fancy folks who lived in the prairie district decided, well, we're moving on up. we're going to head for astor street and the gold coast on the north side and october 29th, 1929. the stock market crashed and that began what is known as the great depression, which lasted for almost ten years. now, not only car manufacturers, but many businesses really could not survive the great depression. very few were highly capitalized enough to make it through those

difficult financial times. and then when they're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel in 1941, the united states entered world war two, civilian automobile production ceased everything was concentrated, and the war effort, even after world war two, there was a different mood in the country. automobile dealers wanted to move to larger indoor showroom arms with big outdoor lots. they moved to different locations chicago and eventually in the suburbs to be closer to their customers than here's that michigan avenue bridge that i talked about. here's the view from north looking south once. this was built, the prairie district residents decided they want to live on the north side. and i use this photograph because it also includes this building here, the london guaranty building, which was designed by alfred altshuler. and here we have a gentleman with a very fine.

store, studebaker, automobile. he probably paid a handsome price for it. but once the depression began, he couldn't even unloaded for $100. well, this concludes the direct portion of my presentation. i hope you enjoyed it. but before i conclude, i'd like to have a special thanks to my husband, chuck parent who has been indispensable in his support of my endeavor to produce this program. and again, a special thank you to my host, the studebaker national museum. thank you for watching and listening.

well, today we're going to be talking.

maki