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LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - OCTOBER 23, 2016
by Lynne Bellusico
“The Woman and the Car – A
Chatty Little Handbook for the
Edwardian Motoriste”
On our recent trip to Pitts-
burgh, I found an interesting
book at the museum shop at the
Frick Museum. They have a nice
collection of carriages and early
automobiles, and this reprint of a
1909 book, gives advice to the “Ed-
wardian Motoriste.” It was written
by Dorothy Levitt and she shared
many ideas for the female driver.
Since our 1908 Cadillac was pur-
chased and driven by a woman, I
thought we needed to have a copy
in our library.
Dorothy Levitt was the “pre-
mier woman motorist and botorist
of the world.” (I checked “botorist”
and discovered that it was a word
to describe people who drive mo-
torized boats.) She raced cars in
England, France and Germany.
The chapters in her book include
the upkeep and cost of accesso-
ries; what to wear; understanding
the mechanics of the car; how
to drive them; motor manners; a
woman’s guide to technical terms;
and comments of various makes
of automobiles. Here are some
excerpts from “The Woman and
the Car – A chatty Little Handbook
for the Edwardian Motoriste”:
“We now come to the various
levers and their different functions.
The Woman And The Car
A Chatty Little Handbook for Edwardian Motoriste
There are six levers, the change-
speed, or gear lever, on the left-
hand side of the steering-column,
under the steering wheel; the
ignition-lever and the air-lever,
both to be found under the steering
wheel on the right-hand side of the
steering column; the hand throttle,
underneath the steering wheel;
in centre of column, on a small
ratchet, the hand-brake lever and
the first-speed lever.”
“If you are driving in a very
hilly or mountainous country, you
must give the engine a charge of oil
more frequently than every twenty
miles on account of its having to
be on low gear, when the engine
runs much faster and is liable to get
over-heated and it is does become
over heated you will soon notice a
nasty “knock” regarding which I
will explain in a later chapter on
“Troubles.”
“You will find room for gloves
in the little drawer under the seat
of the car. This little drawer is
the secret of the dainty motorist.
What you put into it depends on
your tastes, but the following arti-
cles are what I advise you to have
in its recesses. A pair of clean
gloves, an extra handkerchief,
clean veil, powder puff (unless
you despise them,) hair-pins, and
ordinary pins, a hand mirror, and
some chocolates are very soothing
sometimes!”
“The mirror should be fairly
large to be really useful, and it
is better to have one with a long
handle to it. Just before starting,
take the glass out of the little
drawer and put it into the little
flap pocket of the car. You will
find it useful to have it handy –
not for strictly personal use, but
to occasionally to hold up to see
what is behind you. Sometimes
you will wonder if you heard a
car behind you, and while the
necessity or inclination is to
look round is rare, you can, with
the mirror, see in a flash what is
in the rear without losing your
forward way - - - “
“Another outlay is to be found
in tips. The men at a garage are
always hungry for tips and your car
will be polished with greater zest
if the tips are frequent or generous.
The advertisement of a “no tip”
garage is a fallacy. The proprietor
may consider this principle the
right one, but if you act according
to his idea, your car will probably
suffer.”
“Some hotels and wayside inns
now days clean cars which stop
with them overnight without extra
charge, yet the fee they charge for
the garage really covers this. “
“Twenty or thirty years ago,
two of the essentials to a motorist
– some acquaintance withmechan-
ics and the ability to understand
local topography - were supposed
to be beyond the capacity of a
woman’s brain. The supposition
was simply due to the fact that
woman’s brain had never had oc-
casion to approach these subjects.
Fifty years ago a satirical writer
– a man, of course – averred that
although instructions in the use
of the globes was part of the cur-
riculum of every girls school, no
woman could understand, or would
try to understand a road map. . .
. indeed, the average woman is
probably quicker than the average
man in gathering from a map the
information it has to offer,”
“If you are going to drive
alone in the highways and byways
it might be advisable to carry a
small revolver. I have an automat-
ic “Colt” and find it very easy to
handle as there is practically no
recoil – a great consideration to
a woman. I may add, I practice
continually at a range to keep my
hand and eye in, it is none the less
a comfort to know that should the
occasion arise I have the means
to defend myself.”