Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of "Fawkes' Folly", an experimental monorail car built by J.W. Fawkes in burbank and adorned with flags and decorations, 1907-1910(?). The cigar-shaped trolley is attached to an overhead track, which is supported by wooden beams. There are about a dozen passengers onboard, including a several musicians playing the double bass, guitar, and banjo. A sign which reads "Aerial Swallow" can be seen on the side of the car, just to the right of the musician with the guitar. In the front of the trolley, a driver sits behind the controls that operate the vehicle. The controls are attached to a large engine mounted at the nose of the trolley, which in turn is connected to the propeller. To the rear of the trolley is a man standing on top of a set of stairs that is used to allow people to enter the trolley. Also in the rear of the trolley is an American flag. The passengers are well dressed and a majority of them are wearing hats. Caption reads: "Aerial Trolley Car Co. Inc., J.W. & E.C. Fawkes, Patentees., Burbank, Cal." "The population of the town [Burbank] was 500 when the voters approved incorporation in 1911. That same year, civic boosters began a campaign to have the Pacific Electric Streetcar line extended from Glendale into Burbank. The citizens of Burbank had to put up a $48,000 subsidy to get the reluctant P.E. officials to agree. The first Red Car rolled into Burbank on September 6, 1911. Leading the opposition to the public fundraising was J.W. Fawkes, who had patented the first monorail car in the United States. He built a prototype on his Burbank ranch, running a line between Lake and Flower Streets. Fawkes called his invention the "Aerial Swallow." City officials, however, called it "Fawkes' Folly" and the proposed monorail system never materialized." -- unknown author.
Type
image
Format
4 photographs : glass photonegative, photonegatives, photoprint, b&w 21 x 26 cm., 13 x 17 cm., 10 x 13 cm. glass plate negatives negatives (photographic) photographic prints photographs
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