“GET A HORSE!” was a shout commonly heard back at the turn of the 20th century, when the first automobiles went sputtering and rattling along the streets of Canadian towns.
Exactly when Guelph was introduced to the first vehicle that didn’t need animal power to make it go isn’t certain. There are several claimants to the honour. Compulsory registration for automobiles began in 1903, and cost $2.
Records show three Guelph residents owning cars: John McHardy of Glasgow Street, who had an Autocar, Louis C. Wideman of Arthur Street, who owned a steam-powered Conrad Touring Car, and George Williams of Wyndham Street, who owned a Cadillac. Was a Caddy a status symbol even then?
They had evidently all purchased their cars a year or two before the registration law, and there were disputes among them as to who was the first to own a car in Guelph.
Many people marvelled at the new “horseless carriages,” and excited children and barking dogs would run after them as they rumbled down the street at a breakneck speed of about 10 miles an hour. (The speed limit in town was 7 MPH.)
But not everybody was impressed with automobiles. Those jalopies made a lot of noise, frightening horses, babies and old folks. Some people said they should be banned from the roads on Sundays because their noise disturbed church services. Automobiles spewed out smelly exhaust and churned up clouds of dust. They were expensive. A high-end car cost almost as much as a modest house.
Many people saw them as toys for the wealthy few. Most automobiles were, in fact, owned by well-to-do city people, and farmers didn’t like the way they roared around the countryside, spooking the livestock, running wagons and carriages into the ditch, and damaging county roads. It didn’t seem right that regular working folks should have to put up with the racket and other intrusions the infernal machines made on peaceful society, and people hoped the novelty of automobiles would wear off and everyone would soon get back to horses and buggies and common sense.
As the MPP for one rural riding put it, “Automobile owners have more money than brains.”
Some of the arguments against early 20th century automobiles were remarkably similar to criticisms we hear today about electric vehicles. For example:
You can only go so far in an automobile, and then you run out of gasoline (which was only available in hardware stores). Do you really think someone is going to put gasoline stores all over the place? Get a horse.
Those automobiles keep getting stuck in the mud. Do you really think there’s going to be paved roads all over the country just so autoists can drive on them? Think of what that would cost. Who’s going to pay for that? Get a horse.
Automobiles are no good in the winter. People have to put them up on blocks in the barn. Even if you could get a car to start on a freezing cold day, do you think someone is going to clear all the snow off the roads just so a few automobiles can run around making noise? Why should my tax dollars pay for
that? Get a horse.
But whether people liked them or not, the cars were here to stay. In fact, the automobile was about to revolutionize 20th century life. At the dawn of the new century, cars had to give right-of- way to horses and pedestrians. Within a few years, horse-drawn vehicles would account for less than 10 percent of traffic.
Rural residents, whom city people called “jays,” had to learn the rules both written and unwritten for crossing busy streets in town. Their tendency to disrupt traffic by crossing the street at the wrong place gave us the term “jaywalking.”
Henry Ford’s development of efficient assembly line production lowered the cost of his Model T Ford (manufactured from 1908 to 1927), making it affordable for many working-class families – while also putting a lot of smaller manufacturers, including some in Ontario, out of business.
In 1912 there were 151 registered automobiles in Wellington County. By 1919 there were over 3,000.
Guelph didn’t have a big car plant like the ones that took root in Oshawa and Windsor, but the Royal City’s economy nonetheless benefitted from the auto industry. According to local historian Bonnie Durtnall’s Labouring All Our Lives website, the Guelph Spring and Axle Company, which had once made parts for wagons and carriages, upgraded to making them for automobiles.
It was clear that roads suited to horse-drawn vehicles would not do for increasing motorized traffic. Guelph purchased its first steam-powered road roller in 1902. The first asphalt surfaces on downtown streets were laid in 1907. Meanwhile, the provincial government placed a tax on gasoline to help pay for highway improvements.
New legislation such as speed limits dealt with driving safety. Cars had to be equipped with horns, gongs or bells; lights, mirrors and mufflers. Drivers had to be licenced; early cars were cantankerous to operate. They required skill and hand-eye-foot coordination for steering, controlling speed and changing gears, and drivers had to demonstrate an ability to handle the task.
Road-racing was forbidden, as was driving while intoxicated. There were fines and even jail sentences for drivers who did not follow the rules.
Samuel Laughlin opened Guelph’s first automobile garage on Norfolk Street in 1908, but the business failed. Charles Moxley had better success with a repair shop he opened behind his house on Perth Street in 1909.
About 1912, W. H. Doughty used his Ford Model T Town Car to start up a taxi service in Guelph.
In 1913 the proprietor of a stage service between Guelph and Erin began using an autotruck for passengers and freight. The new vehicle reduced travel time between the two communities from four hours to an hour and a half.
In 1914 a Guelph and Wellington Automobile Club was formed.
In 1920 the Willoughby Livery, the last traditional livery stable in Guelph, went out of business.
Horse-drawn vehicles would still be seen on Guelph streets for some years to come, but the day had passed when somebody driving a new-fangled automobile would be told to “Get a horse.”
