TOWNSHEND — I remember when gasoline was selling for 8 gallons for $1, and a gas station attendant would pump the gas into your car with a pump handle. He also would also wash your windshield and check the pressure in your tires.
In those days, cars used high-air-pressure tires, which had removable tubes. If a tube developed a leak, there was a tedious routine of jacking the car and removing the wheel, then separating the tire from the rim and the tube from the tire. You'd repair the tube and reverse the procedure.
In addition to these cars, an electric car was in use. It seated four people, including a chauffeur, and it was steered with a lever. This car was limited to city use, as it had little hill-climbing ability and limited range. Wealthy people usually owned these vehicles.
Most of the cars were what we call “sedans,” seating six passengers. But they were open cars without windows except the glass windshield. In bad weather, it was necessary to use curtains that had isinglass (thin, transparent sheets of mica) for windows. We'd take them from under the seat and snap them on all around. With no heater in the car, passengers would use heavy lap robes.
With no windshield wiper, the operator had to sweep the windshield with a hand wiper. And, if the weather formed a frost on the windshield, the driver would attach a heating unit to the inside of the windshield with vacuum cups and plug a wire into a dash socket.
Some of the higher priced cars offered an engine starter activated by a foot button on the floor. Other cars had to be hand-cranked, with the crank located up front under the radiator.
When these features were common, horses and buggies outnumbered the automobiles.