Coffee With Jim

Bicycles. Bicycle touring. Bicycle racing. An international obsession with bicycling. An argument could easily be made that the cornerstone of the auto industry, the modern highway system in America, and even iconic Route 66 is the bicycle. The first successful modern chain-drive bicycle, known at the time as the safety bicycle, was produced under the "Rover" name with pneumatic tires in 1885 by John Kemp Starley. In the blink of an eye hundreds of thousands of ordinary people were enjoying a new kind of fun and experiencing unprecedented mobility. By 1895 more than 300 manufacturers were producing bicycles in the United States, and almost that many were in operation in Europe. There were also countless assembly and repair shops, including one in Dayton, Ohio, operated by Wilbur and Orville Wright. Albert Pope, owner of Pope manufacturing Company had five factories running day and night turning out bicycles at the rate of about one every minute to meet the ever-growing demand. At the dawning of the new century, Pope diversified by adding engines to bicycles and manufacturing motorcycles, and then automobiles.

This program is sponsored in part by the Roadrunner Lodge in Tucumcari, New Mexico, a near perfect blending of the past and present, a living time capsule where the traveler is assured a restful night’s sleep after an adventuresome day on Route 66. 

The period between 1890 and 1930 has long been of interest to me. It was an era of amazing transition fueled by visionaries, intellectual giants, and eccentrics. Many are forgotten today but we still benefit from their contributions. 

Charles F. Kettering forever changed the world when he devised the first practical key ignition and electric starter system. It debuted on the 1912 Cadillac. For better or for worse he was also the pioneer behind the creation of leaded gasoline and Freon gas, automotive safety glass and an incubator for premature babies. He also established a cancer research facility, an engineering school, introduced the electric cash register and developed an electric diesel/dynamo that would replace steam as the power for locomotives.

Harold Wills was possessed with an insatiable curiosity and a sharp mind. He had developed an abiding passion for automobiles in the mid-1890s. He apprenticed as a machinist at the Boyer Machine Company in Detroit. In 1899 he began moonlighting, for free, for another visionary genius with a natural mechanical inclination - Henry Ford.

This program is sponsored in part by the amazing Roadrunner Lodge in Tucumcari, New Mexico and through the magic of crowdfunding on the Patreon platform - www.patreon.com/jimhinckleysamerica