7 minute read
Vol. 35, No
• All bills paid • Inside hallways • Emergency call system • Subsidy available • Quiet location • Small pets welcome
(918) 455-8400
5001 S. Hickory • Broken Arrow, OK (SE of 111th St. & 161st E. Ave.)
Treetops Apartments
Independent Senior Living
Treetops does not discriminate against individuals with handicaps.
Searching for a new apartment?
Small Pets Welcome
Sheridan Terrace
Independent Senior Living
• All bills paid • Emergency call system • Inside hallways • Small pets welcome • Quiet location
• Subsidy available
Sheridan Terrace does not discriminate against individuals with handicaps.
(918) 835-7072
1937 S. 68th E. Ave. | Tulsa, OK
(NE of 21st and Sheridan)
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Greenlease-Ledterman, Inc.
Distributors of Cadillac and Oldsmobile were located at South Boston Avenue at 11th Street.
Photos courtesy of Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
From Horses to Horsepower
The Automotive Industry in Tulsa
BY STEVE CLEM
A rare, completely restored 1918 Tulsa Four Runabout is parked in the permanent collection at Tulsa Historical Society & Museum. The automobile altered American life like no other invention. Oklahoma's love affair with the internal combustion engine began early in the 20th century. “A dramatic societal shift occurred between 1910 and 1925,” said historian Jim Hinckley, author of “Jim Hinckley’s America.” “In 1909, the U.S. produced several million horse-drawn vehicles and only about 825,000 automobiles. In 1929, we produced less than 20,000 horse-drawn vehicles and around 5 million automobiles.”
FROM HORSES TO HORSEPOWER
Indeed, a 1910 photograph of downtown Tulsa shows dirt streets with horse-drawn buggies and wagons, while a 1920s image has mostly cars. Hinckley said the importance of vehicles can be summed up by one statistic: “In the 1920s, more people had automobiles than had indoor plumbing.” The Ford Model T dominated early car sales, benefiting from Henry Ford’s revolutionary assembly-line techniques. “The fact is, there was a lot of diversity in the marketplace at that time,” Hinckley said. “There were lots of companies making cars. Every town in America wanted to get in on the action, including Tulsa.”
EARLY DAYS OF THE AUTO INDUSTRY
In 1917, a group of Tulsa businessmen set out to make a rugged vehicle for work in the oil fields that would also appeal to the average man. Marketed as the Tulsa Four, models were produced between 1918 and 1923. They came in three body styles: the five-passenger touring, two-passenger roadster and the oil field roadster – a small truck with a special rack to carry drill bits. Three hundred cars were produced in 1919, priced at $995. The 1920 and 1921 models were $1,334. Of the few hundred that were made, only a couple are known to have survived. One, a completely restored 1918 Tulsa Four Runabout, is parked in the permanent collection at Tulsa Historical Society & Museum.
FROM HORSES TO HORSEPOWER
continued on page 16
Join LIFE’s Senior Centers for the Writers’ Symposium. Four celebrated writers will share their experiences in a series of events. Don’t miss these chances to connect with the creative community and fuel your writing ambitions!
LEGACY PLAZA EAST | 31st between Yale and Sheridan Limited Seating
Find out more about LIFE’s writing contest on our website.
BARRY FRIEDMAN JUNE 10 | 10:00 A.M. RABBI MARC FITZERMAN JULY 29 | 10:00 A.M. JUDY ALLEN AUGUST 12 | 10:00 A.M.
EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
WRITERS’ SYMPOSIUM PANEL DISCUSSION | SEPTEMBER 26 | 4:00 - 6:00 P.M.
Attend in person at Legacy Plaza East, 5330 E. 31st St. in Tulsa, or view on LIFE’s Facebook page. All in-person events will have limited attendance and follow safety recommendations. RSVP to reserve your spot! Call LIFE’s Senior Center at (918) 744-6760 or online www.LIFEseniorservices.org.
LIFE PACE
Coordinated Care for Senior Adults
LIFE PACE is a holistic approach to healthcare offering primary and specialty medical care, rehabilitative therapies, mental health services, medications and a full range of home and community-based assistance to help seniors stay safely in their homes.
Call (918) 938-7653 or (918) 938-7660 (en Español) to speak to a LIFE PACE specialist. Recognized as a Medicare & Medicaid Program
Oklahomans making their first car purchase 100 years ago could choose from brands that are still cruising today – including Buick, Chevrolet, Dodge and Cadillac – and others that, figuratively speaking, ran out of gas! The Lexington Minute Man Six advertised more usable power on hills. The new Overland, Franklin and Packard motor cars were also offered in Tulsa.
The early dealerships were clustered on the south end of downtown Tulsa, roughly between 6th and 15th streets, from Detroit Avenue to Denver Avenue. Eventually, car lots spread out on 11th Street along Route 66. Fred Jones, then 24, began working at the Ford assembly plant in Oklahoma City in 1916. He opened his first Ford dealership in 1922, on his way to becoming the largest Ford dealer in America. Jones had a big presence in Tulsa on Boston Avenue, between 12th and 14th Streets.
MODERN INNOVATIONS
One can’t help but wonder what innovators such as Henry Ford and early sellers, like Fred Jones, would think of today’s cars, with their computerized systems, advanced safety features and hybrid technology. And what would they make of the changes that loom around the next curve?
Jared Glover is someone who knows the world of car dealerships well. Glover grew up in his dad’s dealership business, paying his dues in various roles, before becoming dealer and general manager at Jim Glover Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram FIAT in Owasso. Glover sums up Tulsa-area buying preferences in a word: “Trucks! Chevrolet has the new Suburban and Tahoe out that are incredibly popular. In Owasso, the Jeep brand is on fire,” Glover said.
Glover described some of the latest safety options that have taken some of the guesswork – and risk – out of the driving experience. Many new cars now have four cameras that make backing up a breeze. For people pulling a trailer, an extended blind zone warning considers the length of the trailer when alerting the driver about the blind zone, he said. A potentially life-saving option is available for highway driving. “If you’re approaching something that’s stopped or driving slower than you, it’ll audibly warn you and even apply the brakes if you’re at imminent risk of being in an accident,” Glover said. Glover claims the reaction time of the computer, nine times out of 10, will be faster than the driver would be able to hit the brakes.
WHAT’S NEXT?
This begs a question about driverless cars. Glover believes driverless cars may work in certain scenarios, such as highway driving. “But as far as stopand-go driving, there are millions of vehicles being driven by humans that are going to be on the road at the same time. And the blend of those two things, I don’t know how well it can ever go over," he said. So, what about the future of the internal combustion engine? “That’s the million-dollar question,” Glover said, laughing. “I think electrification is an inevitability. It allows silence and reduced emissions.”
Glover touts the hybrid technology behind the new Jeep Wrangler 4xe, where the driver has the option of electric or gasoline. “You can drive to your destination on gasoline and do all your off-roading electrically – which from a torque standpoint, is fantastic. It’s instant. It’s silent,” he said.
“It’s interesting to contemplate what the automobile landscape will look like 25 or 30 years from now. It’s pretty exciting!” – Jared Glover
Owner D.B. Winchell (far left) and other employees are pictured at Mid-West Chevrolet, located on the northwest corner of South Cincinnati Avenue and 8th Street in Tulsa, c. 1940.
Potential customers check out a new Chevy Bel Air during a car show at Mid-West Chevrolet in Tulsa on January 19, 1952.
A view of Greenlease-Ledterman, Inc., distributors of Cadillac and Oldsmobile vehicles, c. 1950. The dealership was located on South Boston Avenue at 11th Street in Tulsa.
