Winton Touring Car, 1903
date: label: date made
content: 1903
name: label: contributor
content: Firestone, Jr., Harvey S.
label: user
content: Crocker, Sewall K.
label: maker
content: Winton Engine Company
notes: label: Description
content: At the dawn of the twentieth century, many people believed that the automobile offered great potential as a practical means of transportation. Once expensive toys, automobiles were becoming faster and more powerful, but several obstacles hindered their widespread use. One of the most visible barriers was the extreme difficulty of driving long distances, particularly in the West with its rugged terrain and lack of improved roads. After two attempts by other motorists, H. Nelson Jackson, a physician from Burlington, Vermont, broke the cross-country barrier through sheer determination and perseverance. In the spring and summer of 1903, Jackson and his mechanic, Sewall Crocker, drove this 1903 Winton touring car from San Francisco to New York City. The trip took 64 days, including numerous delays while the two men waited for parts or paused to hoist the Winton up and over a gully. Their achievement changed the way Americans thought about long-distance automobile travel. It now seemed possible -- even desirable -- to move about the country in cars instead of trains. The pioneering 1903 trip inspired two rival teams of motorists, turning the much-publicized journey into a race. Within ten years there were plans for a coast-to-coast highway. By the late 1910s and early 1920s, hordes of vacationing autocampers with touring cars and tents ushered in the era of transcontinental motoring.
place: label: associated place
content: United States: California
label: associated place
content: United States: Idaho
label: associated place
content: United States: New York
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
label: See more items in
content: Automobiles
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
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content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: Road Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: America On The Move
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Col. H. Nelson Jackson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.312831.01
label: catalog number
content: 312831
label: accession number
content: 167685
objectType: label: Object Name
content: automobile
label: Other Terms
content: Road