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Butt, Joshua Richard (2018) Aspects of the automobile’s diffusion in the North-West of England 1896-1939. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University. Downloaded from: https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/622985/ Usage rights: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Deriva- tive Works 4.0 Please cite the published version https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk Aspects of the automobile’s diffusion in the North-West of England 1896-1939 Joshua Richard Butt A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences, the Manchester Metropolitan University, in collaboration with the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester 2018 1 Abstract This thesis explores aspects of the development of automobilism in the North-West from its beginnings around 1896 to 1939. An investigation of regional source material is used to engage with national and international research on the automobile, and more broadly, science and technology studies and the interaction between technology and society. In doing so, this investigation shows the complexities surrounding the diffusion and technological development of the automobile, focusing on the interactions between users, non-users, designers and dealers. Split into three main chapters, this thesis starts by exploring motoring culture in the North-West, arguing the importance of cultural and social factors in the automobile’s diffusion. It then exposes the important role played by commercial prospects and the “imaginaries” surrounding the commercial vehicle in the development of automobilism. Finally, it argues the importance of considering the role of both the small firm and the agent and dealer in the development of automobile technology and automobilism in general. Overall this thesis can be used as a case study for the way in which sociotechnological systems develop, in this case described as “automobilism”. It also shows how regional experiences both in design, use, promotion and resistance shape these systems. 2 Contents Introduction - p.5 Literature review – p.14 Chapter 1 - The development of motoring culture in the North-West - p.34 1.1 - Introduction 1.2 - The origins of motoring culture 1.3 - The development of the Edwardian “modest motorist” 1.4 - The car, popular culture and middle-class consumption 1.5 - Conclusion Chapter 2 - Commercial motoring - p.108 2.1 - Introduction 2.2 - The Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association and the inception of commercial motoring: the power of potential and sociotechnical change 2.3 - Imaginaries versus realities: experience, resistance and commercial manufacturing in the Edwardian period 2.4 - Replacing technologies: the horse and the commercial motor boom 2.5 - Traffic and the city of Manchester: utopian visions and contested streets 2.6 - Conclusion Chapter 3 - The North-West’s motor industry – p.179 3.1 - Introduction 3.2 - Statistical overview and regional context 3.3 - The origins of the motor industry 3.4 - Coachbuilders, dealers and the importance of the automobile manufacturer, sales, customer relationship 3.5 - Regional factors in the development and decline of the industry 3.6 - Labour and the Manchester motor industry from 1914 3.7 - Conclusion Conclusion - p.271 Bibliography - p.275 3 Appendix 1– List of Automobile Manufacturers in the North-West – p.294 Appendix 2 – The Graphic advert data – p.312 Appendix 3a – Relevant material published prior to submission of thesis – p.313 Butt, J., “Cycling and the Origins of the Manchester Motor Industry” in Hive: the postgraduate journal of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Manchester Metropolitan University, Vol.1 (2017) Appendix 3b – Relevant material published prior to submission of thesis – p.323 Butt, J., “Adapting to the emergence of the automobile: a case study of Manchester coachbuilder Joseph Cockshoot and Co. 1896-1939” in Science Museum Group Journal, Vol.8 (2017) 4 Introduction This thesis is an exploration of aspects of automobilism in the North-West of England from its beginnings around 1896 to 1939. It aims to go beyond filling the “regional gap” in the UK’s automobile historiography by exploring new regional evidence either to contribute to identified important debates, or by exposing and responding to gaps in our historical understanding of automobilism. It will attempt to reconcile the growth of the manufacturing industry with the emergence of a technology from obscurity to a ubiquitous consumer product, popular cultural motif, and powerful class and gender symbol. This is important because of the historiographical distance between economic and business studies of the automobile; and social, and cultural studies identified here. This is not a study of an industry within a region, but of the relationship between a region, its businesses and its people and the influence of these factors on the evolution of a consumer product and its use. It engages with theories in the field of science and technology studies which seek to explain the use and development of technologies through understanding the user, the co-construction of technology and the “sociotechnical imaginaries”1 that have guided use, design and political planning. Theories developed in the field of science and technology studies combined with detailed regional research has been used to challenge some long held assumptions about the diffusion of motoring, the development of the industry and the technological determinist view of the automobile’s adoption. This thesis explores a wide variety of aspects of the automobile during this period. It takes this wide ranging approach for two reasons. Firstly, based on the literature review, there are a number of areas of automobile studies that can benefit from a user-centred theoretical approach to the automobile. Secondly the fruitful amount of primary source material for the automobile in the North-West covers both a large range of areas of automobilism. I wanted to showcase both this source material and the way in which it can be used to challenge, or enhance existing research. Due to this 1 A term first coined by Jasonoff, S. and Kim, S., Containing the Atom: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Nuclear Power in the United States and South Korea, in Minerva, Vol.47 (2009). This term and its definition is examined in the literature review. 5 approach it is beyond the scope of this thesis to explore the wide range of topics in an exhaustive manner. These aspects, although diverse, are drawn together by the theoretical approach which looks at the automobile as a case study for the ways in which society and technology interact. This thesis is the product of a collaborative doctoral award (CDA) from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) with the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). The project started with several research questions at the outset which were as follows: What was the extent of Manchester’s motor industry? What was the extent of the rise and decline of the Manchester motor industry to 1939? What were its “features” compared with the national context? How were products marketed and delivered? What was the extent of the market? Was “northernness”, or Manchester’s renown as an industrial centre used as a selling tactic? What part was played by northern elites (wealthy early adopters, agents, financiers, the corporation) in the industry? How did the enthusiast clubs fit in, especially in fostering and promoting the local motoring market? What part was played by the northern motor shows, especially in the light of the (London-based) Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ attempts to shut the motor shows down? Why did some Manchester companies, notably the coachbuilder Joseph Cockshoot & Co., recognise early on the potential of embracing the motor business; and what were their methods for transitioning their business Were Manchester companies responding to particular local demand for particular products? Was there a different market in “the north” (for example, for small delivery vehicles or for commercial vehicles) compared with markets elsewhere in the UK? How did motor manufacturers foster relationships with agents and dealers, and how innovative were manufacturers in doing so? 6 By exploring the development of motoring and the motor industry in Manchester, the project’s aim was to better understand Manchester’s role, and aid the interpretation of the road transport collection at the museum. This included the exploration of specific and unique archive sources, particularly the Cockshoot collection, the archive of a Manchester-based coachbuilder that diversified into the motor industry by building motorcar bodies and becoming a motorcar dealer.2 Examination of this archive material along with secondary literature led to a change in emphasis for the project from an industry focus to an approach that first considers why and how people used the automobile. The Cockshoot archive material held at the Museum highlighted the important role played by motorcar agents in linking the manufacturers with customers by paying particular attention to customers’ needs. This chimed with newer automobile research, which emphasises the importance of the developing automobile culture in the diffusion of the automobile, and more generally with science and technology studies that highlighted the social construction of technology, the important role of the user and the way in which visions