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On the Road: The Woman and the Car (1909)
- Chris2048 5y agoDoes this make sense: One of the most articles of wear is a scarf or muffler for the neck The most what?
- kokanator 5y agoI would say "important". Vehicles were not enclosed. A scarf or muffler would keep the wind, rocks ( and bugs ) from hitting or traveling down your neck
- sharikone 5y agoExcept that long scarves that became entangled in the wheel were the cause of horrible accidents that happened to women
- throwaway0a5e 5y agoThis is early 1900s literature. It's assuming that the reader isn't so dumb as to over-do it with a 20ft scarf. Modern (say 1990+ or so) instructional literature makes great pains to tell you everything you shouldn't do or make clear that you can't deviate from whatever you're supposed to do. Additionally, this particular risk would have likely gone without saying since the risk is no different in a horse drawn carriage.
- cafard 5y agoYou might want to check the Wikipedia entry on Isadora Duncan.
- gbronner 5y agoShe wore ridiculous scarves and draped them over the car body where they could get tangled in the wheel spokes. John dos passos made fun of her for it
- throwaway0a5e 5y agoI.e. a poster child for "over doing it"
- PebblesRox 5y agoNot sure which version you're reading but I'm on the PDF and it says most important (on page 27 and also in the caption on the picture after page 24).
- Chris2048 5y agoHmm, the image caption that comes up. Maybe some kind of software bug or translation error?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Mister_X 5y agoIt make perfect sense, motorcars of the time were mostly open to the environment, and early internal combustion engines had total loss oiling systems. So there was always an oil mist dispersing into the air around the running engine and onto the occupants, and eventually on to the ground. Also, there were few paved roads, so dust was a real problem. A scarf or muffler worn loosely around the neck would be raised over the nose to make breathing easier under dusty conditions and to keep oil off the face. My great aunt (RIP) was driving in 1912, I still have her Kansas drivers license, looks like new. After she and my uncle moved to LA in 1913, they both rode their new 1914 Excelsior 1000cc motorcycle all over town.
- PebblesRox 5y ago"Every motoriste should become a member of the Automobile Association. It is an association formed for the purpose of placing scouts on the different main roads to warn motorists of police traps—and the expenditure of £2 2s. a year in this direction will perhaps be the means of saving you four or five times that amount within a few months." (page 65)