Carrie Rodgers standing near electric car, 1918

Quieter and easier to drive than gas powered vehicles, electric cars became popular from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. Several developments led to the decline in popularity of the electric car: as roads improved in the 1920s, people preferred vehicles capable of longer trips; the invention of the electric starter in 1912 eliminated the difficult hand-crank starter; gasoline prices dropped, and mass production made internal combustion vehicles more economical. Carrie Rodgers was the wife of David Rodgers, a master shipfitter who managed the Skinner & Eddy Corp. shipyard in Seattle from around 1916 until 1919. The car was apparently a gift from Lee Skinner, probably the wife of David Skinner, co-founder of Skinner & Eddy. The monogram “CR” is visible on the car door. Writing on verso: 1918, electric car, presented Mrs. Rodgers, Mrs. Lee Skinner of Skinner illeg—Shipyard? Building Writing on photo: Cress-Cale Photo Co., Crary Bldg, Seattle *Subjects (LCTGM): Electric automobiles—Washington (State)—Seattle *People: Rodgers, Carrie, d. 1947

Date

1918

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

photograph

Original size

700 × 558 pixels

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