Colonel Albert Pope and His American Dream Machines: The Life and Times of a Bicycle Tycoon Turned Automotive PioneerIn the 1890s Colonel Albert A. Pope was hailed as a leading American automaker. That his name is not a household word today is the very essence of his story. Pope's production methods as the world's largest manufacturer of bicycles led to the building of automobiles with lightweight metals, rubber tires, precision machining, interchangeable parts, and vertical integration. The founder of the Good Roads Movement, Pope entered automobile manufacturing while steam, electricity, and gasoline power were still vying for supremacy. The story of his failed dream of dominating U.S. automobile production is an engrossing view into America's industrial history. |
Contents
Preface | 1 |
1 The Watershed | 3 |
2 Lumbering Is What Popes Do | 19 |
3 A Bloody Crucible | 33 |
4 He Casts His Lot | 58 |
5 Wheels for All | 66 |
6 Milking the Market | 91 |
7 Indispensable Roads | 115 |
10 Like a Dog with a Bone | 166 |
11 Triumphant Return | 181 |
12 Parting | 201 |
13 Leaving His Mark | 207 |
Epilogue | 220 |
The Ford Enigma | 233 |
Pope Manufacturing Company Corporate Genealogy | 237 |
Bibliography | 241 |
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