ALTON - In the summer of 1924, Altonians were excited about driving automobiles. Auto clubs sprang up all over the place, there was a car column in the Alton Telegraph, and there were picnic fundraisers to cinder dirt roads all over town. On August 11, 1924, an Alton Automobile Club presentation on automobile safety at Riverview Park drew a large crowd. It was a cold night for August, and many of the attendees wore their winter coats. At this time, there were 3,600 automobiles in the district and approximately 36,000 residents, one auto or truck for every ten people.
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Speakers at the automobile safety meeting included G. C. Varnum, secretary and manager of the St. Louis Safety Council, and Roy Rauschkolb, chairman of the development services of the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce. They recommended measures such as a safe drivers’ club and a vigilance committee and encouraged pedestrians to use street crossings and drivers to follow traffic guidelines. Varnum recited a little safety poem in which a driver, annoyed at being stopped by an approaching train, tries to beat it and doesn’t, and ends with the thought, “How much sweeter to say, ‘there he goes’, than say ‘here he lies’.” Rauschkolb highlighted the efforts of Alton Automobile Club director Preston Owsley, whom he described as “a valuable citizen whose deeds are usually in the background where the lunch is being prepared and where the lemonade made, but who is always there to do it.”
This was a time when many roads were unpaved and lanes were not identified with the lines we take for granted today, so one specific direction was to encourage drivers to call out to motorists approaching from the opposite direction, “Howdy! Half the road is yours!” This greeting was not specific to our area. It was being spread “from coast to coast and from the northern border to Florida, with the hope of shaming road hogs into being decent.”
Sources
Detroit Publishing Co. [First and ten millionth Ford]. 1924 June 4. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, repro. no. LC-D420-2659.https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016816959/
“Half the Road is Yours.” Bryan Daily Eagle, (Bryan, TX), August 19, 1924.
Harris & Ewing. Picks him up at 25 miles an hour! If the modern auto or truck hits you don't worry. Equipped with this device you are simply given a free ride. This man even came from behind another car, was struck but not even scratched. The demonstration was given recently in Washington, D.C. [1924 December 17]. Harris & Ewing Collection. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, repro. no. LC-DIG-hec-44715.https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016893961/
“More than an Emblem.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), April 24, 1924.
“Safety Theme Expounded at Auto Meeting.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), August 12, 1924.
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