Elias Showgoer woke excitedly on Saturday morning. He had a great day planned for his wife, Elsie, and the two little Showgoers. All four would be heading down to the Chicago Coliseum for a close look at automobiles.
Elsie was not nearly as enthused about the plan. She had balked a few months earlier, when Elias proposed a visit to Washington Park on the South Side to attend the First International Automobile Exhibition and Tournament. Elsie could not understand why Elias wanted to look at things they could not afford. Motorcars, she knew, were for rich people, not the head clerk at a downtown bank.
That was in September. Elias was more insistent this time. So, on March 23, 1901, the Showgoer family dressed in their Sunday best and headed for the streetcar stop.
It would be a long ride to the Coliseum, at 15th Street and Wabash Avenue, but well worth the effort. The Showgoers did not realize it on that Saturday morning, but vehicles from the Mobile car company offered to carry patrons free from Wabash Avenue and Van Buren Street to the Coliseum.
Elsie grumbled about the 50-cent admission, but Elias promised to economize on lunches for the next week to ease her mind about the expense. Sure, the average worker earned less than $9 a week in 1901, but Elias was doing a little better than that. Then again, a nickel or dime bought admission to one of Chicago’s vaudeville shows, featuring more than a dozen acts.
Though far from affluent, Elias’ family was reasonably comfortable. His children were in school, not part of the labor force like so many other youngsters.
On the whole, the American economy was strong. Seeking his second term as president, William McKinley had campaigned with the slogan, a “full dinner pail.” Even Americans of modest means were taking vacations and contemplating unheard-of pleasures.
Dozens of startling inventions had come to light, and others were being developed: electric lights, moving pictures, sound recording, wireless telegraphy. People were even talking about the possibility of flying machines. And the automobile appeared right in the midst of this boom.
Elias was fascinated by the idea of automobiles, even if he could not own one.
He vaguely recalled having seen a motorcar at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park in 1893. He had read about the Times-Herald Race of 1895, but not soon enough to attend. Now and then, Elias had seen an automobile on Chicago streets, typically piloted by a chauffeur with a “bigshot” in back. In the country, there were only 8,000 cars in 1900; the figure would approach 15,000 in ’01.
Of course, Elias had not informed Elsie of the real attraction of the show. According to the Chicago Tribune, visitors would have an opportunity to ride in some of the automobiles–maybe even drive one. Elias had never sat in an automobile. His fingers were tingling at the prospect of a chance to whiz around the indoor track in one.
Publicity helped push attendance figures up.
“Paul Revere never roused Middlesex village and farm more thoroughly than these show promoters have roused Chicago and the remainder of Cook County,” gushed a reporter for The Motor World magazine. In addition to attracting possible buyers of automobiles, manufacturers hoped to appeal to potential dealers.
Samuel Miles, a promoter of bicycle shows, had organized the 1901 Chicago Automobile Show. He would remain the manager for three decades. An invitation-only preview took place on Friday, March 22, 1901. Saturday was the first public day of the show.
At the preview and the show, most visitors were people of means. The auto show “promises to rival the horse show as a society event,” the Tribune reported on Sunday. One observer estimated that attendance was triple that of the first New York Auto Show in late 1900.
Elias’ wish to see a cornucopia of automobiles was fulfilled. Arriving at the 2 p.m. opening time, his family could stay as late as 11.
The variety of vehicles nearly took Elias’ breath away. Some were steam-powered; others ran on electricity. Still others had gasoline engines. No one seemed to know which motive power was best, but promoters hawked their respective merits to the throng. National, Mobile, Woods, Knox, E.R. Thomas, Hewitt-Lindstrom, Triumph–these companies and more made the list of vehicle exhibitors compiled by The Motor World magazine. A number of cars were exhibited under the banner of Ralph Temple Bicycle & Automobile Parts.
Many cars were displayed within the circular track set up in the Coliseum. Others sat elsewhere in the building.
As many as 65 companies exhibited vehicles or accessories, according to the Tribune. One observer counted 32 vehicle and 20 parts/accessory exhibits. Another listed 56 exhibitors. One trade magazine estimated that by the second day, 102 exhibit spaces were filled by 70 companies. Automobiles ranged in price from $500 to many thousands. Cheapest of the lot was a $200 motorcycle.
Elias was delighted to find automobiles driving on the track all day. After surveying the situation, Elsie put her foot down and warned her overly zealous husband of the obvious danger.
Later, the Tribune reported many “close calls” and several “narrow escapes,” as visitors crossed the track while a car was approaching. In 1901, people weren’t so familiar with the need to watch for moving vehicles.
As the Showgoers headed home on the streetcar, Elsie wasn’t convinced that motoring had a future. Years would pass before Elias would be able to purchase an auto. His grandchildren, on the other hand, would grow up long after Henry Ford would unleash his Model T, in 1908, paving the way for the day when owning a car no longer would be limited to the wealthy.
Fast forward to 2000. Eddie and Edie, great-great-grandchildren of the 1901 Showgoers, live in one of the up-and-coming Chicago suburbs with their two teenagers. Because one of their vehicles–a mid-size sport-utility vehicle–is showing signs of age, they want to look over the current crop at this year’s Chicago Auto Show.
Should they stick with a sport-utility? Go back to a mini-van? Consider only vehicles from the same manufacturer as before? Or should Eddie indulge himself with a convertible?
Answers to each of those questions might be found at McCormick Place South.
At 23rd Street and King Drive, McCormick Place South is only about a mile farther southeast of the site of old Coliseum, which once stood on the square block between 15th and 16th Streets and Michigan and Wabash Avenues.
The Coliseum held Chicago’s auto show from 1901 to 1935, when the show moved to the International Amphitheatre at 42nd and Halsted Streets. McCormick Place became the site in 1961, but the auto show moved back to the Amphitheatre in 1967 after a fire destroyed the lakefront convention center. A rebuilt McCormick Place held the auto show from 1971 until 1997, when the McCormick Place South was completed, a block to the west. The show moved across the street into a hall big enough to hold all vehicles on one floor.
In addition to 1,000 vehicles on display, the 2000 show promises some 15 debuts. Some are concept vehicles, such as the Pontiac Piranha and Chevrolet Traverse. Production vehicles making their first appearance include the Buick Rendezvous, redesigned Dodge Stratus, the restyled Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma Quad Cab pickup.
Major automakers–Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler–are grouping their exhibits this year, rather than having each division and related brand spread around the room.
“This may be the wave of the future,” said auto show general manager Jerry Cizek, who also is president of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association.
Total space allotments are “not really” affected, Cizek added, but “because of better space management among the exhibitors, they’ll be able to make the displays look a little bit (individualized).”
Eddie and Edie won’t notice a great difference. “The customer is still going to see individual displays,” Cizek said. “It’s just that they’ll be closer together.”
Not as close as the 1901 show, however. Through the early years of the auto show, automobiles were typically lined up in rows. Today, exhibit designers strive to provide plenty of “elbow room” around each vehicle and to position each at its most appealing angle. The show space in the Coliseum was 58,000 square feet. (The space grew to 255,000 in the Amphitheatre and 840,000 today in McCormick Place South.)
In 1901, at the first “official” Chicago Auto Show, all of the exhibitors could be considered new. New participants for 2000 include Saleen and DeTomaso.
Visitors also “should get a glimpse of the new Avanti,” Cizek said, referring to another planned revival for the sport coupe first issued by Studebaker in 1962.
The 2000 show runs two days longer than the Coliseum show of 1901. Admission is $8 for adults.
No one will be driving any cars in McCormick Place, but hundreds of area dealers will be on hand to invite interested parties to their showrooms for test drives.
Special activities in 1901 included a flower parade on Thursday. This year, Women’s Day and a food drive for charity again will be part of the show with a $3 discount for women on Tuesday and $3 discounts Wednesday to Friday if you bring two cans of food for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Organizers would like to “ease the traffic on weekends,” Cizek said.
Youngsters should enjoy Speed Racer Mach V, presented by the Children’s Safety Network.
Promoters of the 1901 show were limited to newspaper and magazine advertisements, and reports appeared only in print.
For 2000, the major TV stations again will broadcast from McCormick Place South, as will a group of radio stations. Auto-show information also is available on the Internet at: www.chicago-autoshow.com.
The public Charity Night is a relatively new addition to the show. This year, the door prize is a 2000 Chevrolet Suburban, with admission donations earmarked for a dozen charities.
Accessory exhibitors were a big part of the Coliseum show. Visitors could look over displays of lamps, horns, wheels–whatever might make motoring more enjoyable.
At McCormick Place South in 2000, aftermarket booths occupy the Vista Ballroom on the second floor and foyer, though only a few sell actual accessories. A new 45- by 90-foot sign will help promote the aftermarket area, where showgoers will find 27 vendors selling everything from household and auto products to posters and books. Other booths will feature the Cook County Sheriff’s department and the AAA.
In 2000, just as in 1901, the American economy is strong.
“Car dealers’ business is good,” Cizek said. “We still think there’s enough excitement with concept vehicles, with new production vehicles,” to attract even those folks who might have bought a car recently.
Excitement–that’s what it takes to draw a motoring crowd, from one century to the next.
1901 VERSUS 2000
Here’s how the 1901 and 2000 Chicago Auto Shows match up:
1901 2000
Location Chicago Coliseum, 15th Street McCormick Place South
and Wabash Avenue 23rd Street and King Drive
Duration 8 days (plus preview) 10 days (plus preview)
Admission 50 cents $8
Number of vehicles As many as 65 About 1,000
Displays Vehicles lined up inside Huge, show floor with
outside of track area imaginative display setups
Motive power Gasoline, steam, electric Nearly all gasoline, plus a
handful of gasoline-electric
hybrids
Things to do Showgoers could ride (or drive) Patrons can get in to
vehicles around a track familiarize themselves with
the cars and visit
dealership for test drive
Accessories About 20 exhibitors 27 exhibitors upstairs
Getting there Streetcar, train Automobile, public transit
Attire ”Sunday best” Basically anything goes
Attendance Unknown (2,000-6,000 Likely to top 1 million
on first night)
U.S. economy Strong Strong
Source: James M. Flammang
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