The Automobile By: Sarah and Eli

Major Events in the 1920’s 1921-Gray-Dort motors starts out as a carriage works company 1923-The Doctor's Coupe, an enclosed style of Ford 1926-Made in Canada, the Brooks Steam Automobile is introduced in 1923 at the Toronto Exhibition. 1927-Henry Ford released the model A, replacing the model T after 18 years of production 1927-McLaughlin-Buick manufactures custom cars for royalty 1928-In 1925, Chrysler of Canada is founded in Windsor, Ontario and the Plymouth Q-Four is the first Plymouth automobile manufactured in Canada 1929-Durant Motors of Canada introduces the Model 40 as its four-cylinder market entry for 1929

The History Cars started appearing in Canada by the early 1900’s. By 1920 cars had become frequent in the daily lives of Canadian citizens. Companies that had formerly produced horse drawn vehicles became vehicle manufacturers or built bodies on chassis produced by others. Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, Lincoln, and Oldsmobile were some of the bigger companies at the time. Most of the early cars were open tourers (convertibles) but it didn't take long before they were enclosed and built with car heaters to improve passenger comfort.

Economic Impact By 1929, more than 16,000 workers had jobs assembling cars. There was a high demand for materials such as rubber, iron, asphalt, gasoline, paint, glass, etc. The rising demand boosted these industries. Nearly every town had a gas station and car dealerships. The rising number of car accidents led to expanded police forces.

Foreign Investment To finance their growth, companies raised money by offering bonds or shares. Before the first world war, British financiers had invested in Canada by buying bonds. Buying bonds guaranteed interest payments but didn’t involve ownership unlike shares. Some American companies established branch plants in canada to avoid paying tariffs on goods they exported to Canada. By the end of the 1920’s Americans owned 82% of Canada’s auto production.

Culture Cars were starting to be very popular and some middle class canadians even had car. Rich canadians had fancy custom cars. By the 1920’s cars had revolutionized society. They made visiting friends and family easier and more frequently. They made it possible for farmers to travel to town to sell crops and buy consumer goods. in 1920, 1 in every 22 Canadian citizens had a car, by the end of the decade it was 1 in every 8.5. More American tourists started coming to Canada by car, and brought in over $300 million to the economy in 1929.