The schedule for WQW this week is Taste or Writer’s Choice, but for some reason I have it written down in my paper calendar as Transportation. So I’m going with Writer’s Choice this week. For a great example of Taste check out Loving Life this week.
Last week you all shared your travel plans, and what fun and exciting places you want to visit and have visited. Let’s piggyback on travel this week and discuss transportation – how you’ll get there and how you’ll get around while you’re there.
IT’S EASY TO PLAY ALONG WITH #WQW
This weekly writing challenge runs from Wednesday through Tuesday. The only rule is to use a quote. If you want to participate, create a pingback to link your post. Not sure how to do that? See how to create pingbacks here. Be sure to link to this post, not my page.
Featured Bloggers for WQW #7 Dream Travel Plans
Your friendships mean so much. Thank you all for joining in.
- CATH’S CAMERA
- COOL ESSE
- HEAVEN’S SUNSHINE
- KANALON
- LADY LEE MANILA
- LADY SIGHS
- LOVING LIFE
- LIFE AFTER 50 FOR WOMEN
- NEW2WRITING (WRITE PHOTO)
- SECOND WIND LEISURE (SUNDAY STILLS)
- TRAVEL WITH ME (FRIENDLY FRIDAY)
#WQW #8 – Topic: Transportation – Anything that Moves You
Definition: the movement of goods and persons from place to place and the various means by which such movement is accomplished.
Today I am concentrating on one tiny aspect of transportation – the switch from buggies to cars 1857-1912. Don’t let my choices limit your thinking, though! Transportation is a huge topic: anything that moves on land, sea, air, or time (if you want to get magical) and for whatever purpose.
Other Challenges that Inspired WQW #
- CARROT RANCH 99 WORD CHALLENGE
- SQUARE ODDS
- WRITEPHOTO BOATS – PERFECT TOPIC FOR TODAY’ WQW
Transportation: Out With the Old, In With the New
This is the beginning, and the dawn of a new era of transportation.
Shervin Pishevar
Monday for SquareOdds, I posted photos from Colonial Williamsburg depicting life as it was in the 1600-1700s. Chel Owens and I had a short conversation about what happens to “old items.” That conversation inspired my WQW post today.
Sometimes we find a bit of modern garbage, and sometimes I wonder what someone from the future might guess it was for. It’s going to be like “Wall-E.” We’ve really got to stop.
Chel Owens
Tour of Studebaker Museum in South Bend, IN
My brother Randy and I had the privilege of touring the Studebaker Museum in South Bend. It is an amazing tribute to a company devoted to transportation for over 100 years. Without this beautiful museum, Studebaker’s contributions to transportation would probably have been forgotten since it the factories closed in March 1963.
1857
I couldn’t find the picture that went with this sign because many of my photos were corrupted and had to be deleted. I included the sign as part of the timeline.
1903
1904
Compare the cost of the Phaeton at $202. and the horseless carriage at $1,600. The average income in 1904 was $200-$400 per year.
1911
Again a corrupted file prevented me from sharing what it looked like. I thought it was interesting that they built the electric vehicle first, and they were only in production for 10 years. Electric trains operated at about that same time (1904-1924) in Visalia and were discontinued because they were too expensive to operate.
I wonder what might have happened if they had continued to concentrate on building and improving electric vehicles starting in 1902. Our lives and air might be so different today.
1914-1917
When World War I started Studebaker stepped in as the primary producer of military transportation.
1919
1931-1933
The change from horses and buggies to autos in the early 1900s went through a huge metamorphic period. Even though the first gas-powered vehicles were built by Studebaker in 1904, they were still producing Izzer Buggies in 1919 and were producing electric vehicles, both private and commercial from 1902-1912.
Gas and electric-powered cars solved some of the problems of the times. Since horses and buggies diminished as a primary means of transportation, we no longer worry about manure in the streets. Pollution problem solved! We have paved roads without too many ruts rather than mud or log roads. Long-distance transportation problems solved.
What Happens to the Relics of Transportation?
Getting back to my conversation with Chel, what about pollution during the buggy period? The piles and piles of manure are gone. The horses from that era are gone. Once in a while, we still see old wheels, buggy seats, and other relics but not often. Where did they all go?
The auto industry has caused a much larger pollution problem. This is where the Wall-E image emerges. We now have a lot of old cars and car parts, gas tanks, oil cans, pipelines, and anything else that has made cars work in junkyards, landfills, and large bodies of water all over the world.
Hobbyists have revived and restored some of these relics, which we see and admire at car shows. Many times they update the cars with modern amenities that we have come to love – like backup cameras. Museums pop up to revere certain models like the Studebaker.
Repurposing old vehicles – Restaurants, gas stations, auto dealers, even people using old cars and trucks as yard art helps eliminate auto pollution.
Once a product, a type of transportation, or equipment gets introduced into society it’s so hard to change, even if it is harmful to the environment and to people. To make changes, you completely change the way society lives and that takes time as we saw with the metamorphosis from buggies to cars. What will become the norm of transportation next? Driverless vehicles?
Transportation will continue to change. I invite you to share your quotes, ideas, and photos of your favorite forms and eras of transportation
Flash Fiction: I’d rather be …
Transportation is the center of the world! It is the glue of our daily lives. When it goes well, we don’t see it. When it goes wrong, it negatively colors our day, makes us feel angry and impotent, curtails our possibilities.
Robin Chase
February 21, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the phrase, “I’d rather be…” You fill in what comes next. What would a character(s) rather be doing and why? How can you use the phrase as a literary device? Go where the prompt leads!
I’d Rather Be…
“You look a million miles away, Snowden.”
Snowden shifted and poured himself another glass of water from the water cooler and stared out the 15th story window at the boats on the Chicago River.
“I’d rather be in one of those boats. Or better yet in a gondola riding up the Main Canal.”
Sheldon sat down hard in one of the plastic chairs, putting his head in his palms.
Not me, I’d rather be in a helicopter flying over the Hawaiian Island volcanoes. ”
So what are we going to do?
“I’d rather be employed,” the boss snarled. “Get busy.”
Upcoming on Always Write
- Story Chat: Next month’s story will be brought to you by Yvette Prior of Priohouse Blog.
- Tomorrow is the deadline for linking your PPAC (Photographing Public Art Challenge) posts. There is no theme to this challenge, but public art must be free and visible. This challenge could be linked to both posts this week if you’ve got some travel photos to share.
Happy Hump day. Have a great rest of the week, and enjoy these last few days of SquareOdds.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
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