Wisconsin Stories is a partnership
of the Wisconsin Historical Society
and Wisconsin Public Television.
Unless you're over 100 years old
automobiles have always been part of your life.
Cars get us where we're going. Most of the time!
They're one of our most expensive purchases.
Second only to our homes.
The type of car you drive says a lot about who you are.
Whether you like it or not.
Hi, I'm Debbie Kmetz-- four-door, American-made station wagon.
I'm Tracy Will.
I've got a black two-door with fins
"mechanic special" in the parking lot.
It's the "Car Show," tonight... on Wisconsin Stories.
Funding for Wisconsin Stories is provided in part
by an advised fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin;
the Estate and family of Lois Backus;
the Halbert and Alice Kadish Foundation;
and Philip J. and Elizabeth B. Hendrickson
encouraging you to support history
on Wisconsin Public Television
and to visit Wisconsin's treasured historic sites.
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1917.
The mammoth Mitchell Motors plant in Racine, Wisconsin
vering more than 45 acres
upon which are located more than 50 factory buildings
equipped with the latest modern machinery
for manufacturing automobiles.
When working at normal capacity, the Mitchell factory
employs 6,000 workers.
Kmetz: Mitchell Motors Company was an industrial giant in 1917.
Today, it is gone and forgotten.
But just down the road in Kenosha
there was another company building cars.
When the Thomas Jefferey Company introduced its Rambler in 1902
it was only the second mass-produced auto
in the country.
The beginning of a long heritage
now being celebrated at the Kenosha History Center.
Bob Fuhrman: This piece in the lobby is really a pride piece
for our Rambler centennial display.
This is an original 1902 Rambler
that would have produced by Thomas B. Jefferey
here in Kenosha.
It is on loan to us, a five-year loan
from the Museum of Science and Industry down in Chicago.
We're really tickled to have this piece here.
This is what starts it all.
Kmetz: This the first piece?
This represents one of 1,500
in that initial year's production line.
Jefferey, basically
had a background in bicycle manufacturing.
You see some bicycle hints in some things.
You also see the wagon maker's art
with the springs, and what have you.
The body work, here
this looks like it came right off of a buck board
the seating.
Kmetz: How fast could this go?
Not really fast.
It's got a 12-horse power engine.
You might see 25 miles an hour.
How did you steer this car?
It's steered with a tiller.
Now, from what I understand
originally, Jefferey's design had a steering wheel
but people didn't like it.
When it came to production, he went with the tiller model.
It wasn't until a few years later
that he went back to the steering wheel.
Cait Dallas: We've got Rambler Magazines
a publication done by the Thomas Jefferey Company.
There are issues that are devoted
to people who already have Ramblers.
And they're filled with articles about the joys of people
driving their Ramblers across the country.
But he also aimed material at dealers.
He had established a network of dealers
for his bicycle Rambler line
in the 1880s and '90s.
And what he did when he went into the automobile business
was to latch onto this established dealer network
That's what this number is devoted to.
He's telling them how best to advertise to his customers.
He's telling dealers
about what other dealerships are doing across the country.
Will: The Mitchell three-passenger Deluxe Roadster.
Note the smart lines.
The Mitchell four-passenger Deluxe Sport
equipped for long tour.
Mitchell.
Now generally known as the "car complete."
This is the Rambler Legacy Gallery.
This is our largest display space
here at the Kenosha History Center
and our first display in here
which you're seeing the initial grouping of.
What we've done here is started out
with the oldest ones in the display
and kind of worked them chronologically around.
So, over here, you'll see a '47
That's quite a car. It's just gorgeous.
To think that we're going to have people come in
who actually worked on these cars
is just kind of a neat thing for us as local historians.
The thing with the car is this is the final product.
It's been lovingly restored
by a collector.
But the actual experience of making the car
standing on that line day after day
putting the same part on, hundreds of times a day
that's lost to us in a lot of ways
except through the people who are still surviving.
We hope to eventually tap onto some of those people
and find out what the experience was like in the plant.
What else do you have?
I see lots of things.
We have some Ke-Nash-A Club News
When does the word "Nash" get involved?
Charles Nash had worked in the automobile industry
for a number of years with General Motors.
He comes to Kenosha
and purchases the Jefferey Company
from Thomas Jefferey's son, Charles, in 1916.
It became Nash-Kelvinator a little bit later on, in 1937.
What happens is that Nash-Kelvinator merges, then
with Hudson Motor Company
and becomes American Motors Corporation.
Kmetz: So, have you had continuous
automobile production in Kenosha
right back from Jefferey's?
Since 1902, I think we could say.
That was fun!
Kmetz: How important do you think cars have been to Kenosha?
I don't think you could
overstate their importance.
And in a lot of different ways.
Obviously, there's this economic impact
that when "The Motors"
as they would call American Motors
was doing well, the town's doing well.
It really was so vitally important
to what was happening in Kenosha
in the 20th century.
Today, of course, we don't build cars here.
But the automobile legacy continues on
because there is a Chrysler--
Daimler-Chrysler, excuse me--
engine plant still very much active here.
I think of other facets, as well.
I understand that there was a time
when American Motors was looking for workers
where they actually did some recruiting
in the American south.
Black workers migrated to the north
to take those jobs.
So, for a time, there was a little Mississippi newspaper
that had a large subscribership in Kenosha.
And it's just little things like that
that I don't think you can over-stress the importance
of the industry to the community.
Dallas: What's really special about these
is that many of them take place in the foundry.
This is really exciting for us
because one of the biggest challenges here
has been collecting everybody's story
not just the story of certain groups in the community.
And this collection does it.
Kmetz: They're really wonderful documentations of work.
The U.A.W. was quite a force in desegregation.
Dallas: Right.
Ooh!
Kmetz: I've always been struck, that, you know
people say, "unskilled labor."
But it's hardly unskilled.
I mean, moving that much hot metal
I'd call it skilled.
Kmetz: You're all finished. How does it feel?
Fuhrman: It feels great.
It's hard to believe that we got things done.
And what's the last car that came in?
The last one that came in is right behind me, here.
This is a 1962 Rambler American Convertible.
It's the actual car that was featured
on the TV show, Third Rock from the Sun.
One of the creators of Third Rock
actually bought the car for the series.
He wanted something "quirky"
for this family of aliens visiting Earth.
They picked a Kenosha car as a quirky car?
Well, they picked a Rambler as a quirky car.
What's the most important thing
you've learned from putting this together?
You start to appreciate it more
when you actually work with it
what cars meant to people.
So, taking it out
of its ordinary time and place
and putting it in a museum
maybe sparks memories
or sparks reflections.
I think it does.
I guess that's one of the wonderful things
that you're looking at cars that are made in the thousands.
There are hundreds of thousands of the same model car made.
But from that commonality
when Joe Public comes in off the street
that Pacer means as much to him
as far as sparking his memories
as the original one he drove when he was in high school.
They're just kind of neat that way.
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Kmetz: Early manufacturers wanted customers to know
that their cars were tough.
Because once you got outside of town
the roads were tough, if there were any roads at all.
That's why groups like the Yellowstone Trail Association
were formed to help travelers get from town to town
clear across the country.
The Yellowstone Trail has been gone for 70 years now.
But rediscovering its path through Wisconsin
has become the passion of John and Alice Ridge.
Alice Ridge: John's father used to tell the tale
of going to the Yellowstone Park, following the trail--
no numbers, no maps--
And when you came to a fork in the road
you had to look for the yellow marker
in order to move in that direction.
This is fascinating.
We all have interstates today.
Can you imagine traveling that way in those days?
So, I guess we got hooked.
How far did the Yellowstone Trail actually extend?
Well, eventually
it went from Seattle to Plymouth, Massachusetts
because their motto is:
"A Good Road From Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound."
This was a big idea. Oh, it was a big idea.
Alice Ridge: You couldn't get across a county.
Imagine driving along the road and all of a sudden
there's a barbed-wire fence because the farmer has decided
that no, that's his field, that's not a road.
So, the idea of using a county
to build a road across the county
and then the next county to join up with that road
and create a connectedness
was the contribution of the Yellowstone Trail people.
Connectedness was a new idea.
Everybody wanted roads.
There was mud everywhere.
They said, "You know, if we got tourists to come..."
Towns would be interested in housing and feeding them.
So, let us make this a tourist route
as well as for the residents.
So, they sold memberships, if you will
in the Yellowstone Trail Association
to each little community
along their proposed route.
The communities were just dying to get on this road.
John Ridge: And the poor person
or at least the non-rich person, could afford to travel.
It surprised me to learn
that it was no more expensive to own
and operate an automobile
than to own and operate a team of horses.
And that's one of the reasons that it caught on so quickly.
Kmetz: Do you see the Yellowstone Trail
as having a democratic component to it?
Oh, absolutely. Heavens, yes.
Camping was one of them, the great democratizer
and of course, the auto was, too.
Yes, the rich person could afford a bigger auto.
But the bigger or the smaller auto
in the same mud at the same time.
They were in the same campground.
The "Tin can tourists."
They were opening the same cans of beans.
And they found themselves communicating
with each other.
Because you were not a good camper
unless you had a better story than the next guy
about how long you were stuck, or where you got lost
or the bear that attacked you, or something like that.
And they would have the campground site spelled out.
So, if you were a tourist
you would want one of these folders
from the Yellowstone Trail Association
And it would tell you
everything you needed to know about your route.
Kmetz: And so, you could find this route
all the way from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound?
And where's Wisconsin?
Here's Wisconsin, right next to Lake Michigan.
There's Wisconsin.
Kmetz: There's so many towns listed on here now.
All of them were part of the Association?
Yes, they were. And that's why they were listed?
They had representatives in the Association.
We could name you names.
Yes, "Trailmen," whose job it was
to watch out for the trail in their little village.
Hi! Hi! I'm Debbie.
Hi, Deb, I'm Bob.
Nice to meet you.
You ready Oh, I am! for a ride?
So, we're stepping back in time.
Yeah, I guess we're on the Yellowstone Trail. Okay!
We'll turn on the gas, turn on the switch...
( engine starts )
There we go. Okay, we're on our way.
Alice Ridge: Now, how did people get along and get around without numbers?
No maps, no numbers!
Kmetz: How did they do that?
Well, they did that
by following what was called the Automobile Blue Book.
Look how thick this thing is!
And in order to travel at all
someone had to ride shotgun next to the driver
and read how to get from one place to another.
Kmetz: This is interesting.
In Amherst: "Four corners; bank on left; turn left;
cross the railroad."
And that's your directions. That's it!
Can you imagine trying to drive
and hear, "There's a bank on the right.
"There's a church on the left.
Turn left in one-tenth of a mile."
Oh, my!
John Ridge: This makes finding the exact route of the trail today
very, very difficult.
Because old barns and trolleys are all gone.
So, you're missing some of these important landmarks
that you're tracing.
One of the interesting spots in Wisconsin is in Owen.
Alice Ridge: There's a bar in Owen.
And it used to be called Twink's Bar.
Kmetz: Twink's Bar?
Alice Ridge: And it has a bright yellow "R"
on the side of it.
That meant that if you're on the Yellowstone Trail
and you're driving through Owen
and you've got to the end of the street...
Which way would you turn if you saw a yellow "R"?
It's a test. To the right?
Right! And that does remain today.
Kmetz: You've been able to trace
The original route through Wisconsin.
Yes, we had to do a lot of sleuthing
some guessing and a lot of computer work
in order to re-create these old roads.
We found that they were wrong sometimes.
Did you? Mm-hmm.
Sometimes, they would direct you
to go right into a bluff.
They were wrong!
But here, we have a jeep.
We have four-wheel drive.
We have air conditioning.
Eighty years ago
people venturing out onto that very same road
they had no services.
And they had tires that had the life span of a fruit fly.
And they had, you know, not enough gasoline.
The tanks were smaller, and so on.
The shear guts that people must have had
traveling 80 years ago.
John Ridge: The difference is, of course, that they helped each other.
If there was a car that broke down
everybody stopped and you got it going again.
You simply expected to have trouble.
And people went with it.
They rode with the tide
because they were adventuresome.
They accepted this.
If they weren't, they would be on the train.
So, it was the pioneers
in the pioneer spirit, the "can-do" spirit
that really built this road.
John Ridge: Now, what's interesting
is the Yellowstone Trail got enough use
to justify it being the first highway in Wisconsin
to be completely paved with concrete.
Hi! Hello, there!
How was your trip?
Oh, it was great! It was good.
And you were on the Yellowstone Trail.
Did you notice the concrete?
I did.
This is part of old original Yellowstone Trail.
We are in Chippewa Falls.
We think this is the original concrete.
We don't know any different.
So, one time, though, this was very modern.
Oh, absolutely.
Can you imagine driving on this compared to a dirt road?
So, following this road
you could get all the way to Yellowstone Park?
And beyond. And beyond.
Should we go? I think we should!
( all laugh )
Alice Ridge: When the state of Wisconsin numbered its roads--
the first state in the nation to number its roads, in 1918--
The only thing that would be allowed
on Wisconsin roads
was the triangular Highway Department numbers.
And the Yellowstone Trail yellow signs were still allowed
because it was such a tourist draw.
It was so clearly marked, that it was allowed to survive.
Kmetz: It sounds like it was a very vibrant time.
Alice Ridge: Yes, it was.
And it was a shame that the Depression came along
and did away with all that vibrancy and creativity.
( high-pitched roar of race cars speeding past )
I know this was an early horse track.
Then a dirt track.
Then they paved it, what year? 1954.
Will: The legendary Milwaukee Mile is one of the most famous
and beloved race tracks in America.
And track historian, Al Krause
knows everything there is to know about it.
Krause: To me, the Fair Park
is the greatest race track I've ever been to.
And I've been to more than a few of them.
Will: How long have you been coming here?
I've been coming here since--
My first race was March 5, 1936.
You've been here every year ever since?
Every year, and I've got every program
from the time I started coming here.
You tell me a date that you want
and I'll bring you the program.
How long have they been racing? 1903.
So, this is nearly 100 years old?
Is this the oldest?
This is the oldest race track in the country
from the standpoint of continuous annual service
or from any service.
In the world? In the country.
Well, I don't know in the world--
There may not have been that many
closed courses that were running
that ran then, too.
So, this is a pretty special place.
Oh, this is a gem.
They've built on tradition here. Exactly.
And this is what you've got to have.
If you want tradition, come right here.
Bring a knife along and I'll even cut it.
It's so thick, you can cut it and move it out. ( laughs )
This is a piece of history that most people don't realize.
Henry Ford brought two of his very famous cars here
and they raced them.
One was driven by a man by the name of S. Frank Day.
His time to qualify came
and coming out of the north turn
a tire peeled off and the car skidded.
The wheel caught on the fence
threw it up in the air and...
( whistles softly )
Day went right off, over the top.
And of course, he was killed.
Really, he was probably only doing
45 or 50 miles an hour.
But back then, an open car? Oh, my gosh!
And so, that ended.
So, that was our first fatality we had.
And this track has been relatively free of that
so let's not talk about that.
Because so many innovations were coming about
in the cars and the track, here
and racing, in general, the metamorphosis was--
It was getting bigger.
Will: Was Harry Miller designing cars?
Barney Olfield drove one of Miller's cars.
And Miller said, "These guys are getting bounced out."
So, he built a race car, the "Golden Submarine."
This is one of the Harry Miller cars?
The first one.
Now, Olfield was in there.
What Miller didn't count on
the engine generated a lot of heat.
And Olfield just... He's cooking in there!
He was sweating like a hog!
A 16-valve Miller.
Will: Harry Miller got better after that beginning effort.
Oh, man, does that sound great!
In fact, this Wisconsin native
became one of the greatest automotive designers in history.
And his race cars continue to hold center stage
at the annual Vintage Indy Cars event.
Now, how did this event start?
Dave Uihlein: Well, the event started
because I have several friends around the country
who are Miller collectors
or if you really want to call,"Miller Freaks"
that appreciate and love the great talent
that this man had.
So, I thought, why don't we get a Miller Club started
then we can attract a few more
which we have.
Then, we decided that we should not be
quite so stringent on our requirements
which was pre-World War II.
So, now we've opened it up to post-War Indy cars.
Now we're going to go and dust off that Mercedes.
How many of these cars do you own?
Sometimes that's a secret, but I can answer it this way.
Bill Harrah, out in Reno--
He has 1,400! 1,400?!
And we only have 30!
( both laugh )
What's the thrill of collecting these cars?
Oh, the thrill is in
the great accomplishments of many of them
and particularly Harry Miller
who came from Menomonie, Wisconsin
a little town above Eau Claire.
And he was, you know, a genius.
At least we think so.
He couldn't draw two lines on a piece of paper
but he had wonderful ideas.
He was inspired! You bet!
He was great at surrounding himself with talented people.
And Leo Goossen, he could take Miller's ideas
and put them on paper
and do it well and improve it a little bit.
And then, the had, over in the corner
Fred Offenhauser
who was a great German machinist.
And he manufactured the bits and pieces.
And then they put these cars together.
Incidentally, they won the Indianapolis race 11 times.
Eleven times?! Eleven times.
Now, this car, here, was the first front-drive Miller.
Leon Duray took the same type of car
went to Monthlery, outside of Paris
and turned 147 miles an hour with it
15 miles an hour faster than Bugatti, Mercedes or Alfa.
That must have blown their minds!
And Bugatti's mind was hard to blow
so he bought the two cars, took them to Molsheim
and copied them. Really?
Copied Harry Miller's design.
So, Miller's so influential
not only here in America, but around the world.
But it took the Europeans to wise us up.
Harold Peters: This is a Miller Ford.
The interesting story behind this was Tucker--
of the Tucker car fame--
Will: They're just beautiful!
Tucker was able to pitch to Henry Ford the idea
of running some Ford-powered cars at Indy in the mid-'30s
and convinced Miller to design the cars.
Will: 160 miles an hour.
Name of owner: Harry A. Miller, Number 10.
I'll never sit in anything this cool, ever again!
So, do you dream about it?
Oh, I would say, "Who doesn't?"
Anybody who's got some oil in their veins
dreams about cars like this.
An interesting thing is, though
that they seem to be a bit of a forgotten legacy.
Miller was one of the greatest auto designers in the world
not only in America.
That's not that well-known
because he never produced road cars.
He never had any major auto manufacturer backing him
or any big money backing him.
Money, for him, came and went easily.
He poured it all into the cars.
It didn't matter what it cost.
Art and power?
Is that what you say with his cars?
Art and speed, beauty and technology.
You can mix it all together.
He was so way ahead of his time from an engineering perspective.
It's sometimes hard to believe what you see here today.
We're seeing "Perfect Circle Miller."
Tell me about that.
Frank Lockhart drove that car
up to a world record: 172 miles an hour.
Pretty incredible.
Aerodynamic styling? Yes.
Only 18 inches wide.
Get a shoehorn to fit in? Exactly!
You really had to be like a modern-day jockey
to get in to those.
Very aerodynamic, well-handling for the era and well-built.
They just lasted and lasted.
And when you see some people sitting in these cars
you recognize that, really, your head becomes the roll bar.
It would really hurt.
I'm always amazed that people survived the crashes
that not everyone was killed.
Have you ever driven one of these guys?
No, I've never driven one.
I've been a passenger, and it's a thrill.
It really is.
It's a rolling piece of history.
It's a great part of American history.
It's been forgotten
but we're remembering it. Exactly.
When you look at these beautiful cars
you understand why they ought to be remembered.
They're just luscious! They really are.
( high-pitched roar of car speeding past )
Will: What's going on behind us?
Krause: They're now getting ready for the big
225-mile CART Championship race.
I think it's the 52nd Rex Mays Classic.
Why is it called that?
Well, Rex Mays was killed in 1949
at Del Mar, California.
But in 1948, Rex had stopped.
He had spun his car out in the south turn
and went up against the wall
because Duke Dinsmore was laying on the track.
He spun his car out deliberately
ran up the track and flagged the field.
They would've made hash out of Dinsmore.
He was laying at a right angle.
It would've just bounced him around.
He was a great driver, a tremendous man.
Did you ever meet him?
Oh, yes, I've talked to him.
He lent a dignity to this sport
that some of these other guys could take lessons from.
Right now, I'm talking about.
But all the racing at Milwaukee
has always been a big part of the racing schedule.
The Fair Board, they were racing people
because they were the ones that made the money!
They told the horsemen
when they were going to pave this track--
Oh, the motorcycle races--
They were tearing their hair out.
Don McDowell, to his everlasting credit, stood up to them
and said, "Gentlemen, auto racing is big business.
"And you had better get used to the idea
that auto racing gets the call."
What a place, though. What a history!
Who knew that Wisconsin
had such an illustrious automotive history?
Drive carefully, now.
And don't forget to buckle up!
Thanks for joining us... on Wisconsin Stories.
[Captioning services provided by Wisconsin Public Television.] www.wpt.org
Funding for Wisconsin Stories is provided in part
by an advised fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin;
the Estate and family of Lois Backus;
the Halbert and Alice Kadish Foundation;
and Philip J. and Elizabeth B. Hendrickson
encouraging you to support history
on Wisconsin Public Television
and to visit Wisconsin's treasured historic sites.