The Steam Carriage

Front:
AZ JAN 25 1991 RUCSON Steam Carriage Steam Carriag Steam Carriage 04USA, 1866 04USA, 1866 04USA. 85726 UCSON, JAN 25 Steam Carriage 1991 04USA, 866 85726 AZ

Back:
THE STEAM CARRIAGE First Day of Issue: January 25, 1991 First Issue Location: Tucson, Arizona Two thousand years ago, Hero of Alexander described an "aeoliphile” in his essay Pneumatica: it was a steam turbine, complete with crank, camshaft, cogs, pistons and cylinders. A few would-be inventors of later centuries constructed crude replicas, but the engines were too primitive for practical application. Only with James Watt's perfection of the steam engine in 1765 did man realize his dream of a self-propelled vehicle, and the first true road machines appeared on the transportation scene. The British pioneered the initial development of road steamers but their massive machines failed to catch the interest of Britain's horse-drawn public. It fell to Ameri- cans to make the machine sleeker and more practical. The development of the combustion engine increased pressure to produce salable horseless carriages, and the Stanley twins put the steamer in the lead with their Locomobile. Steamers remained popular until the turn of the 20th century, when Ransom E. Olds shook the trans- portation industry with his gas-driven “Oldsmobile." No. 91-8 ©1991 The Maximum Card Collection A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting for the Maximum Card by Basil Smith