Detroit Auto Show - January 17-24, 1914

Ford branch office circa 1914.
Photo from "The First Century of the
Detroit Auto Show"

Truth be told, the Detroit Auto Show isn't something I generally get excited about. (Yes, I'm from here. Bite me.) But I do like a good party, especially if it involves musical numbers. And because the 2012 show also marks a turn around for Detroit (*fingers crossed*) and the auto industry, let's get down to it ....

By 1914, Detroit is already on its 13th annual auto show. The first three floors of the Ford branch building on Woodward and Boulevard (aka Grand Boulevard) host 41 brands of "gasoline pleasure cars", 6 makes of commercial vehicles, an array of accessories (e.g., electric cranks, radiators), and a smattering of motorcycles. All told, $1 million worth of autos ($22 million in 2012 dollars) are on display, and these are just a sampling of the 395,000 autos that Detroit expects to crank out this year.

December 31, 1913

It's December 31, 1913. Revolution is in the air and the map is rapidly changing. Outside of the Americas, the world is still largely divided into weakening empires run by autocrats and colonists. The Republic of China is about to celebrate its 2nd birthday. (Its people, sick of having been left in the dark ages like feudal serfs while Westerners defined and dominated the modern world, had just ended 2000 years of monarchical rule in a series of revolts and uprisings.)

 
Vladimir Lenin has been living in exile in Austria and other places in Western Europe since the first, failed Russian Revolution (1905), which is where he will remain for 3 more years until a series of uprisings (over food shortages, inflation, long work hours, dangerous work conditions, and urban overcrowding as a result of rapid industrialization) will depose Nicholas II and bring an end to tsarist Russia.