The War of 1812 further helped the industry in that it threw us upon our own resources and started the emigrant and pioneer toward the great unknown West. This necessitated the emigrant wagon or prairie-schooner as it was called, and after that the lighter farm wagon. Stylish carriages and fine coaches began to come into demand in all the large cities. Boston, New Haven, Bridgeport, Newark, all had flourishing shops, and New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wilmington were rapidly coming to the front. A considerable trade with the planters in the West Indies grew up, the vehicles being exchanged for the products of the planta tions. These vehicles, which were two-wheeled and had very long shafts, were known as volantes. The wheels were placed in the rear, thus throwing a large portion of the weight on the horse's back, and besides this, the postilion rode the horse, giving him a double load.
As the emigration toward the West became greater and greater, the establishment of per manent factories and repair shops became neo essary and the volume of business began to assume considerable proportions. One of the first to enter this new field was John Stude baker, who in 1835 settled at Ashland, Ohio, and there opened a small shop, though it re mained, however, for his five sons to lay the foundation of the business at South Bend, Ind., operating under the name of Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, and who are now among the largest of the 4,870 car riage and wagon manufacturers in the Uni ted States. It is a far cry from a village blacksmith shop with its solitary forge and one anvil to the marvelously equipped factories now operating, and when one considers the vast out put (1,600,000 carriages, wagons and sleighs annually) he wonders where the markets are and where the purchasers are to be found. In the early part of the 19th century, the business was carried on by what was known as the system. Money was seldom used in the transactions; the woodworkers, black smiths, etc., taking parts in exchange or as they .said, swapping," and the final settlement was made in the finished carriage. This involved less chance of being in debt, and, according to the old operators, was much safer than the cash payments. But the country rapidly outgrew this system and well-organized and well equipped shops took their places, and it seems as though we have almost reached the limit in quick and cheap methods of production, but undoubtedly the inventive genius of the Ameri can will continue to assert itself along this line and, instead of retrograding, we shall advance and always keep abreast of the times.
The modern system of factory production, making all parts in large quantities, and using special machinery, template and dies has to a great extent lessened the labor and cost of pro duction; hence the cheapness in the price of vehicles at the present time. Of course there are many different grades of vehicles made in this country and, while in some instances the price is a fair indication of the quality of stock employed in the making, yet the tendency of the times is that the best grade of workman ship and material obtainable shall be put in all styles of vehicles, regardless of price, and the manufacturer who disregards this tendency may some time regret it. There is no reason why the downward rush of the selling price, which has been made possible only by the decline in the cost of production, should lower the quality or grade of the article produced; nor is this true of the large manufacturer in this country, who, realizing that the average American has neither the time nor the ability to make a close examination of the construction, and would not if he had, is perfectly willing to pay well for a good article, and who is bound by this trust put in him to give to the public the finest grade of work which the highest skill and care of the best designers and mechanics can produce. The most noteworthy feature in
vehicle construction at the beginning of the 20th century is the rapidly increasing use of rubber tires. These tires first came into use about 1890, but were used mainly for trotting sulkies or runabouts and were not adaptable for the majority of pleasure vehicles for some time. The- tires were then made solid and universally approved and broader tires were later adopted, especially in wagons to carry heavy loads, owing to the strong movement for good roads throughout the United States.
In 1872 the Carriage Builders National As sociation was founded by the leading manu facturers of the country. Realizing the neces sity of having skilled workmen for the trade, a fund was raised to establish a school in New York city, where carriage drafting and con struction was to be taught. This was a great success and has contributed largely to the ad vanced methods now in use in all our modern factories.
From the census tables it is apparent that there was a fair growth in number of estab lishments doing business during the 10 years from 1890 to 1900 but a decline from 1900 to 1905, which decline continues. The invested capital has increased, but the number of wage earners is reduced. The total production showed a gain of 10 per cent from 1900 to 1905, but since then has been stationary. The develop ment of the automobile in place of the carriage and of the auto-truck in place of the wagon is, of course, responsible for the slowing down in the carriage and wagon industry.
This loss is in part compensated for in that carriage factories make a vast number of auto mobile tops and other parts and fittings of motor vehicles. The United States census of manufactures for 1914 classes carriages and wagons together as one industry, and the fig ures show that it is still large and prosperous. In that year there were built 558,492 family and pleasure carriages of the value of $34,193,518; and 572,613 wagons, three-fourths of which were farm wagons; and 1,287 miscellaneous buses, vans, etc.; besides 54,700 sleighs and sleds. There are 5,320 establishments, which produced $135,792,357 worth of vehicles, with an invested capital of $175,474,000, and em ploying 52,540 workers. To the above might be added the 622 establishments which make mate rials sold to carriage and wagon builders, with products of $16,500,000 above the cost of their materials and over 17,000 employees. If the children's carriage industry be added this gives a count of 84 more factories, with 5,769 em ployees, turning out over $4,000,000 worth of goods.
Ohio and Indiana are the leading States in the carriage building industry, closely followed by Pennsylvania and New York. There are also a considerable number of factories in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Ken tucky and Massachusetts.
J. M. Szurwa a.