Starring Everett Sloan in I Guess It's Here to Stay on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. You remember the Winton Six and the Stanley Steamer, the Knox? Did you yearn for a Stutz Bearcat or were you a timid soul who preferred a Baker Electric? You ever hear of a Grabowski, a gas mobile or a Zip? Well those were the names of automobiles many years ago. Bring back memories? Well, this week in the city of Detroit with bands and parades and pageants, they're celebrating memories like that. For 50 years ago last March, the first automobile was seen on the streets of Detroit. The DuPont Company presents I Guess It's Here to Stay, starring Everett Sloan as Sam Bissell on the Cavalcade of America. Come on in, Doc, and sit down. You've got a little time yet before the parade starts. Thanks, Sam. Don't mind if I do. Well, it's a big day for old has-beens like you and me, Sam. 50 years since the first automobile appeared on the streets of Detroit. Yep. I understand old Charlie King is going to lead the parade up Woodward Avenue. The kids are like that. Those early models ought to give them a big kick. By the way, where are they? My grandchildren? Getting ready, I suppose. They've been making plenty of rumpus all morning. Kids never change. I remember I never could fall asleep the night before a parade. Oh, Doc, there's something I've got to tell you. My rheumatism has got me bad this morning. My legs all stiffened up. Would you mind very much if you took the kids over to the grand stand without me? Well, we sort of planned it that the four of us would go together, us two old coots and the two kids. They'll be disappointed. You're their grandfather, not me. Oh, Doc, they won't even know I'm not there. The minute that first band comes down the street, they'll start jumping up and down and their eyes will bug out. Oh, here they are now. Hello, youngsters. Hello, Gramps. Hi, Uncle Doc. Morning, Uncle Doc. Morning, Howie. Morning, Suzy. Your grandpa's been telling me how excited you both are about the parade. So you didn't sleep a wink last night, huh? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Come on, speak up. No, Gramp, we're all right. It's only that... It's only that we thought... Grandpa, we don't want to go to the parade. What's that? You don't want to go to the... We've got other things to do, Gramp, and Suzy and I thought if you didn't mind... We figured it was really you and Uncle Doc who wanted to see it anyhow. Now, if it was a rocket ship or an atom bomb... Yeah. Besides, I want to get to the ballgame and Suzy's going to the movies. Well, I'll be. What do you say to that, Doc? We'll bless my soul. After all, Gramp, we ain't interested in any old automobiles. We see a million of them every day. Old automobiles, huh? Would it interest you to know, young man, that if it weren't for the old automobile, you wouldn't be here today? That you'd never even have seen the light of day? Me? Certainly you. And you too, Suzy. Old Doc Barry here knows that story. Don't you, Doc? I certainly do. And it's all tied up with the automobile. You know, your Gramp's been interested in cars since way back when they were known as gasoline buggies. Matter of fact, it was your grandpa sitting right there in that chair who rode along in the first horseless carriage ever seen in the city of Detroit. Tell him about that, Sam. Go on, Gramp. I got a little time before the ballgame. Well, if you're quite sure, it wouldn't be boring to you two sophisticated young people. Oh, no, Gramp. Tell us. Well, it was about 11 o'clock at night on the 6th of March in the year 1896 that Mr. Charles B. King came riding down Woodward Avenue in his horseless carriage. People kept crowding around it so the thing could hardly move. I pushed my way through the crowd and tried to speak to the... Stand back! Stand back, please! Kindly keep your feet from under the wheel. This outfit is dangerous! Oh, Mr. King! Mr. King! What is it, young fella? I'm Sam Bissell from the Evening Bulletin. I'd like to interview you. Well, go ahead. Do I have to run along beside you? Can I jump in? At this great speed, you'll be killed. How fast can you run? Six miles an hour, at least. Oh, well, can't you stop it? I can stop it, but I'm not sure I can start it again. Well, okay, here goes. Well, I'm in. You took your life in your hands, then, young fella. Hey! Look out there! You boy! Get out of the way! Can't I blow the horn? Get away, I said! Now, this machine is a gasoline four-cylinder, three-horsepower outfit, ignited with a storage battery. Why, I predict that in time we'll see outfits like this on every road in this country. What? You mean you think this contraption is here to stay? Young fella, there's no doubt in my mind that in time the horse was carried will chase the horse right off the street. And you can quote me on that. Hey, I told you not to touch that horn! Well, it was about three months later that a man named Henry Ford drove his horseless buggy through the streets of Detroit, and another fella named Olds drove one in Lansing. And those were big events, boy. But, Grant, you said the automobile saved my life. Tell me about that. Oh, right. I'm coming to it, boy. Not right away, maybe, but we'll get there. Now, in the next few years there were a lot of cars built in this country, but they were all pretty expensive, until something happened on the night of March 9, 1901. It was a fire that swept the Oldsmobile plant down near the Detroit stove works. As a reporter, I had to cover them up. Hey, what's going on there? I'm from the bulletin farm, and I said, all right, if I go in there? I'm sorry, you can't go beyond this point. It's too dangerous. Hey, hey, wait a minute. That means you too, you can't go in there. My name is Olds. I own this factory. I've got to get in there. I'm sorry, Mr. Olds, you can't go in. But my blueprint's specifications, my model... I can't be helped. The roof's going to cave in any minute. Well, there's somebody coming out. He's pushing something. It's young Jim Brady, my timekeeper. Jim, Jim, over here. Stand back, everybody. Stand back. I got a message, sir. All right, come here. I got it. Hello. The only one I could say is to run about with the curved dashboard. Jim, are you all right? Yeah, sure. Well, come on, let's push this over here away from the crowd. Hey, reporter, give us a hand with this automobile, will you? Your thing, Mr. Olds. Come on now. Come on, boy. Ain't that just my luck, Mr. Olds, to pick out the run of the cheapest automobile we make? That's all right. Don't worry about that. But we'll be out of business. We haven't any models. We've got one, Jim. You saved it. From now on, we'll concentrate on just that one, the runabout. But you can't say in business making just that little run. Maybe we can, Jim. Maybe if we go into a kind of mass production of this little one and sell three times as many as we did of the big ones, maybe we'll come out all right. Anyhow, I like the idea. Mass production. It sounds American. Well, maybe, but who's going to buy them? Americans. Lots of Americans. That's what I like about the idea. The automobile was invented for everybody. Yes, sure, but... Now, look, Jim, in Europe, when they manufacture certain things, it's always with the idea that only dukes and earls will be able to afford them. That keeps production down and prices up. Well, over here, we don't work that way. In this country, any man can get what he wants if he works on it hard enough. And as I look into the future, I see that what the average American is going to want is an automobile. And I'm going to give it to him. The Oldsmobile runabout with a curved dashboard at a price he can meet. Six hundred and fifty dollars. Come away with me to steal In my merry Oldsmobile Down the road of life we'll fly Production figures. Oldsmobile runabout, price six hundred and fifty dollars. Nineteen hundred and one. Four hundred and twenty-five units. Nineteen hundred and two. Twenty-five hundred units. Nineteen hundred and three. Four thousand units. Nineteen hundred and four. Five thousand units. ...my merry Oldsmobile Well, children, I bought me my first car then. An Oldsmobile. Later on I had a Haynes and then an Apperson. And one year when things went real well, I bought a Packard. Yes. That was the one your grandma always favored. What are you laughing at, Grandpa? Oh, I was just thinking of your grandma's outfit when I took her out for a first drive. I remember we were getting ready to pay a social call on old Doc Barry here. She was standing in front of the big cheval glass adjusting herself. How do I look, Sam? Is my hat on right? It's fine, dear. Are you ready? Well, just a minute, dear, while I tie my veil. Oh, dear. How many times have they winded around the hat, Sam? Once or twice? Oh, how do I know? Come on, will you, Rhoda? Oh, but I can't. I'm not ready yet. Why, I'm positively indecent. Rhoda, you've got more clothes on right now on the Fourth of July than you wear in the middle of the winter. Sam Bissell, how can you say such a thing when I haven't even... Oh, dear, where's my dust coat? Here, give me a hand with this, Sam. And don't go tickling me. That's a nice coat. Aren't you afraid you'll get it dirty? Silly, that goes over the dress. The dust coat goes over that. Oh, for the love of Mike. Oh, now, let's see. Have I... Have I got everything? Veil, dust coat, long gloves, lap robes, goggles. Well, I guess that's all. Thank goodness. Let's go. It'll be dark before... Oh, my goodness gracious. Now what's the matter? I almost forgot my lotion. Lotion? Rhoda, what kind of crazy thing is it? Oh, no, Sam Bissell. You're not going to make an old hag out of me before my time. Just read what it says on this bottle. Vapor of Shalimar for the removal of automobile wrinkles caused by the searching concentration on the road ahead to be followed on arrival home by a fearless application of soap and warm water guaranteed to preserve the skin from sunburn and that ungentle womanly outdoor look. Well, I'll be. Sam, how fast are we going? Twelve miles an hour. Oh, I knew it. You promised me you wouldn't go over ten. Goodness, I can feel my heart palpitating. What from? Well, didn't you read that article by Dr. Blackthorne? In your old paper, too. I don't own the paper, Rhoda. I just work for it. What's he say? He said the human body was not so conceived as to withstand the pressure of air currents at a speed of more than ten miles per hour. He said anything over that is murder, willful and premeditated. Murder? Sam, are you trying to do away with me? Do you want to throw me aside because I'm an old woman of twenty-six? Do you? Rhoda, for the love of Mike, let go of my arm. How can I drive this thing? Sam, I'm going faster. I can feel it. Fifteen miles an hour. Fifteen? Oh, Sam, please. Rhoda, take your hands away from my neck. You're choking me. Rhoda! Sam, I know I'm going to... Sam, look out! What is it? Take your hands away. I can't see. It's a ball in the middle of the road. Rhoda! Stop it! Let me out! Oh, Sam, we're getting near to town. Please ask the farmer to tow us down the back street. Now, Rhoda, just keep your chin up and look straight ahead. No matter what they yell at you, just look straight ahead. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Look, Sam, there's a bunch of loopers standing on the corner. Well, Sam, while we're in for it, just grit your teeth and keep looking straight ahead. Hey, here comes another one being towed in. Well, if it isn't Sam Bissell. Hey, Joe, come here. Get a look at Sam Bissell and his horseless carriage. Hey, Sam, is that the contraption you said was here to stay? Get a horse! Yo-hoo, Sam. Get a horse! Get out and get under, get out and get under. Oh, how embarrassed you feel. Get out and get under, get out and get under. Then fix up your autumn holdings. You are listening to I Guess It's Here to Stay, starring Everett Sloan as Sam Bissell on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Gee, Gramps, wasn't it awful when they laughed at you being towed in that way? Gramps, did your automobile break down every time? Did it, Gramps? Well, no, no. Along about that time, a lot of things happened in the automobile industry. A man named Dunlap brought out a pneumatic tire, and Mr. Ford formed a new company and went in for mass production, too. And then a man named Kettering came along and invented the electric starter. I suppose everybody rushed out and bought a car then, huh, Gramps? Well, no, there were still quite a few holdouts for one reason or another. Old Doc Barry was one of them, I remember. I think he does, too. No need to go hinting about it, Sam. You can come right out and say it. I was against the automobile. I was the last man in town, I guess, to see the light. Are you going to tell it now, Gramps, how the automobile saved my life? Yes, yes, Howie, I'm telling you right now. Well, the whole chain of events started in Doc's office one afternoon. It was about 1914. I remember sitting there listening to him rave against the automobile. No, Sam, if human beings were intended to go 30 miles an hour, they'd have wheels attached to them instead of legs. Now wait a minute, Doc. Besides the dad-pangle, things ain't reliable. They're always breaking down and making you the laughing stock of the neighborhood. Get a horse, get a horse! Ever own one, Doc? Nope. Ever ride in one? No. Well, that's fine. That's what I call an open mind. It's old moss backs like you that held back Pasteur and Edison and, and yes, by golly, even Christopher Columbus. Why, you ornery coot, get out of here. You and your automobile, get out of here before I... Oh, all right, all right, I'm coming. Hello? Yes, this is Dr. Barry. Who? Sam Bissell? What do you mean, waking me up in the middle? What's that? Oh, a bad cut in L.A., huh? Lose much blood? Well, why didn't you call me sooner, you lunatic? What? Certainly I'll come out. Abner, wake up! Hitch up old Nancy, emergency case! Come on, Nancy, hurry it up, old girl. Hap there! Why in heck do people have to come all the way out here in the woods to live? Why can't they stay in Detroit for the summer? I do. Get along, Hap, get on! I know, Nancy, old girl, you're tired. But there's a little girl maybe bleeding to death where we're going. She needs us. Now get along, Hap, Hap! Oh, oh, oh, look. Well, here's the house. Looks like you finally made it, Nancy. Is that you, Doc? Who'd you think it was, Annette Kellerman? How is she? Well, she's still bleeding. I tried to apply a tourniquet, but it didn't hold. Of course it wouldn't. If you spent more time learning how to take care of your family and left with your nose inside an automobile engine, how'd it happen? Well, she fell out of the apple tree while I was washing the dishes after supper. So Rhoda's got you washing dishes now, huh? Leave it to her wife to know her husband's limitations. Oh, Jeannie's in here. Hello, Jeannie. My, you've grown. How old are you now? Five years old, and my neck is bleeding. Daddy scolded me. Sure, all he can do is pick on defenseless children. Now turn over on your side so I can... Mm-hmm. This tourniquet's all right. Needs to be tightened a little. There we are. That'll hold until we get her to the hospital. Hospital? Will they have to cut my leg off, Doctor? Oh, it's certainly not, baby. All you need is a few stitches and... It shows how much you know about it. Deep laceration, probably ruptured blood vessel. Lost too much blood. I'm afraid she's got to have a transfusion. Transfusion? What's that? A blood transfusion from one person to another. Something new in medicine. Not every hospital carries the equipment, though. But by golly, I've got you a chance. How far is the nearest hospital in this godforsaken neck of the woods? Oh, it's about seven miles. Seven miles. I don't think old Nancy will stand for another seven. You got a horse and buggy? Oh, no, I don't have one. You don't? Well, how am I going to get this child to the hospital? Well, I have an automobile in the barn. No. No and no. I wouldn't ride in one of those things if you... Papa. Yes, dear? My leg hurts. And look. It's so bleeding. Will they have to cut it off? Will they? Oh, Papa, I don't want to go around and crush you. All right, Sam. Take us to that automobile. No, Sam, I know we're in a hurry. But I want you to drive very carefully. Yes, Doc. Twenty miles an hour is about all my blood pressure, Sam. Don't for an instant take your eyes off the road. You'll straight jump and be hot of it. What's the matter? Is it Jeannie? No, no, no. She's crying back here with me. But I just remembered. I forgot to pay my life insurance this month. Nurse, I've got a patient outside. She requires a blood transfusion. I'm sorry, Doctor. We have no syrup, a typing and no donor. This is a small hospital and we're not equipped. Where's your another hospital? Oh, there's a sanitarium twelve miles down the road. But you can't make it tonight. Not with horse and buggy. That's what you think. Start her up again, Sam. Doctor, I have a child outside. She needs a transfusion. I'm sorry, Doctor, but this is a private sanitarium. We don't have that equipment. Well, Quayre incarnation is the nearest hospital that has hospital equipment. Sixteen miles on the other side of the lake. Seems to me I heard they had transfusion equipment there. But you'll never get there tonight with a horse and buggy. Well, who in sunderation said anything about a horse and buggy? I'm a modern doctor, I am. I've got an automobile. My leg. Oh, Poppy, please. Can't you go faster, Sam? She's up to forty-five. Forty-five? D'Russell, forty-five miles an hour. When's she going to fall apart? She's not. We're here. This is the hospital. Good. Lift her up to me, Sam. Now, I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to get you out of here. Lift her up to me, Sam. Easy does it. I want my mommy. All right, Jeannie, don't cry, dear. Nurse! Nurse! Yes, what is it? I'm a doctor. This little girl needs a transfusion. Have you the equipment? Yes, doctor, step right this way. Thank the Lord. I was almost beginning to lose faith in medicine. She'll be all right now, Doc, won't she? Oh, sure, sure, Sam. Of course she will. Nurse? She'll be just fine. Now, Jeannie, you just take a little nap and you'll feel better. Well, wait a minute, Doc, and I'll buy you the biggest breakfast you ever had. Not me, you won't. I'm going back to Detroit. I want to get there and buy me an automobile before they're all sold out. Did the little girl get better, Grandpa? Yes, she did. If she hadn't, she wouldn't be here because that little girl who fell out of a tree and might have bled to death turned out to be nobody but your own ma, yours and Howie's. When she grew up, of course. Hey, it's the parade. Come on, Gramps, come on. Why, Howie, I thought you were engaged to see a baseball game this afternoon. I changed my mind, Gramps. Me too, Gramps. I want to see the parade too. Come on. All right, children, I'm coming. Why, Sam, I thought that... If these grandchildren of mine are going to be here, I'm going to have to go. If these grandchildren of mine can change their minds at the last minute, so can I. Howie, run upstairs and get my hat. Suzy, fetch McCain. Here they come, Gramps. Come on, come on over here to the window. I'm coming. Oh, stop, Gramps, at the head of the parade, the one in that old automobile. Who's that? Why, that's old Charlie King, the man I told you about. The one that drove the first automobile in Detroit? That's the one. Come on, boy, hurry. We haven't got much time. I want to talk to that man. Gramps, you mean you're going to speak to Mr. King? Why, certainly I'm going to speak to him. I'm going right up to him and ask him the same question I asked him right here on Woodward Avenue 50 years ago. Mr. King, I'm going to say, do you think the horseless carriage is here to stay? It has to get under, get out and get under and pick up his automobile. A golden jubilee, 50 years of motor cars. The automobile in 50 years has proved to be one of the blessings of liberty forecast in the preamble to the Constitution. It liberated Americans from remote areas, isolated half the year by snow and mud, liberated America's children from one-room schoolhouses, liberated people from the need to live within walking distance of their jobs, and gave them the benefits of more recreation and travel, liberated our cities themselves, permitting them to grow. For all this, America is in debt to 14 men who were pioneers of the automotive industry and who are patriarchs of Detroit's golden jubilee. Edgar L. Apperson, pioneer builder and designer. William C. Durant, organizer of automotive manufacturing. J. Frank Turia, surviving member of the brothers who built the first successful gasoline-powered automobile in America. Henry Ford, father of the assembly line. George Holley, early auto parts manufacturer. Charles B. King, who built and drove the first car in Detroit. Frank Kibulinski, who has just completed 60 years of continuous service with the Studebaker Corporation. Charles W. Nash, head of some of the industry's largest companies. Barney Oldfield, whose name is synonymous with speed. Ransom E. Old, pioneer of mass production. Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., pioneer manufacturer of motor parts. Charles S. Snyder, veteran Hudson and white dealer who began his career in the late 90s. John Van Vinskoten, pioneer Dodge and Plymouth dealer who began selling automobiles near the turn of the century. John Zou, who has been with the white motor company continuously for 51 years. These are the men who introduced the era of the automobile and were this week elected to the Automotive Hall of Fame. Music Modern industrial chemistry has grown up hand in hand, you might say, with the automotive industry. In the old days, for instance, two or three weeks were needed to paint an automobile. Waiting a couple of days for it to dry, giving it another coat and waiting again, meant that cars couldn't be turned out in quantity by mass production. Well, then came DuPont Juco Pyroxilin lacquer, which dried in minutes, outlasted other finishes, and could be touched up quickly and easily if you scratched it. A few years later, DuPont Laboratories introduced Deluxe Alkyde Resin Enamel, also used extensively in finishing pleasure cars and commercial vehicles. And only three weeks ago in Detroit, automobile engineers and designers witnessed another first in finishes from DuPont when they attended a preview of Juco Metallichrome Pyroxilin Lacquer, which makes possible new color effects of outstanding beauty and durability. Chemical science enters into the making of a modern automobile in a good many other ways, in the layer of butasite plastic in a laminated safety glass windshield, in tail light lenses and glowing instrument dials of edge lighted lucite resin, in improved metal alloy, in chemical compounds improving your tires and gasoline, in DuPont neoprene rubber used in resilient parts that must withstand heat, sunlight, oil, and ozone. Yes, the list is long, and it'll no doubt grow longer in the future, for the chemical industry, like the automotive industry, never stands still, never stopped looking for the improvement, the development, the discoveries we speak of as the DuPont company's better things for better living through chemistry. Music Cabellcade wishes to thank Everett Sloan for a splendid job on tonight's program. Next week we have the honor to present another great star, Miss Geraldine Fitzgerald, in a topical comedy drama of a wife who sent her GI husband back to college, titled My Freshman Husband. Music The music for tonight's DuPont Cabellcade was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Voorhees. Our Cabellcade play was written by Arthur Aaron. With Mr. Sloan tonight were Cameron Prudhomme, Ted Jewett, Edwin Bruce, Lois Borkman, Horace Braham, Sydney Sloan, Frank Barron, Nancy Douglas, Jack Manning, and Gladys Thornton. This is Dwight Wiest inviting you to listen next week to My Freshman Husband, starring Geraldine Fitzgerald on The Cabellcade of America, brought to you by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Music This is NBC, the national broadcasting company. Music
