The Motor Car In The Edwardian Era

The horse, being generally cheaper and familiar to the population, continued to dominate every day travel and transportation, at the beginning of Edward VII's reign. The motor car was expensive and a status symbol for the rich, as only they could afford to buy and maintain these cars. However, by 1910 (only nine years later), transportation by the horse had become almost obsolete.

Edward VII encouraged the motor car by taking up motoring himself. The King owned several automobiles himself, all painted in his own royal claret colour, which he took for speedy drives up and down the country roads. Being an impatient and excited driver, the King would always politely proclaim to oncoming traffic of his imminent arrival with the honk of his four-key hornet horn, which the superintendent of the royal cars, who sat in the front, had to play as the King's car zoomed along.

  Queen Alexandra's ownership of a motor car made the machine immediately respectable, and this encouraged many ladies to take up the "sport."
Miss Mae of Chichester Cathedral (in 1905) became the first lady to pass "the examination in driving and general proficiency set by the Royal Automobile Club for the owners of cars."

Unlike the car of today, these motor cars had no hoods or windscreens. Thus, special clothes for motoring were made and "goggles" were a must for those who drove.

Socially, the motor car increased the amount of time spent on leisure activities. Touring in the motor car became popular with many books being published on the subject between 1896 and 1914. The 1900's became the era of speed with many motor car races beginning to take place.

The motor car was kept in a motor stable with the chauffeur being called the "mechanic", as "he" drove and worked on the car. Stablehands and coach men were pensioned off or taught to drive. The mews were converted into "motor-stable" or small, attractive residences. The horse and carriage was now a thing of the past.

The motor car revolution was seen as similar to the railway revolution. The car represented the private ostentation at its most arrogant, the final triumph of the haves over the have-nots. The ultimate in Edwardian status symbol was the 1911 Rolls Royce "Silver Ghost", which cost more than what most people earned in ten years !