Interesting History on Roading

[Wagonmaster]

The subject of pointers as sled dogs came up on another site, I found and posted a couple of pictures, and thought they might be of interest to a few here.

From Wing & Shot, by Robert Wehle, here are two pictures, one of Wehle training dogs from a cart made of an old Crosley frame (who here knows what a Crosley was?). The other was of the Wehle sled dog team. In his book, he recounts having won the "Harrisville dog sled race", a two-day race, 22 miles each day, in an elapsed time of 2:49:37 . He talked about training up to sixteen dogs at a time from the cart.





All but one or two of the harnesses are leather harnesses for horseback style roading, such as the old Hulan harness.

[birdogg42]

Idont know what a crosley is, but i like the looks of those dogs!

[original mngsp]

Not sure if I'm 100% correct but a Crosley was a subcompact car made in the late 30 and early 40's by Powel Crosley, very interesting story.

Here is what I found....

Powel Crosley got into the radio business in 1920 when he sought to purchase a radio set for his son. Shocked to learn that these sets were selling for $130 or more, he built one himself for $35. He went on to build one of the most successful electronics companies of the early 20th century.

Crosley's first radio was a crystal set named "Harko," introduced at $20 retail. It later sold for $9. A great success, the Harco earned Powel Crosley the reputation as "the Henry Ford of radio."

By 1922, Crosley was the largest radio manufacturer in the world. It received a license for WLW Radio Station. It branched out into refrigerators, called "Shelvador," with storage shelves in the door. He designed an airplane and acquired the Cincinnati Redlegs baseball team, which played in Crosley Field.

Crosley produced a car radio called the "Roamio" and, in 1939, he introduced the Crosley car. That first 1939 Crosley had disk brakes and the same year, Crosley began television broadcasting in Cincinnati.

The Crosley was a mini compact on an 80-inch wheelbase. The first year 2,017 were sold, marketed through local hardware and appliance shops and department stores like Macy's that carried other Crosley products. In 1941, Crosleys began being sold by automobile dealers.

[EWSIV]

It'd really hurt if a covey ran out in the road while you are up on that thing!

Good pics wagonmaster!

[Wagonmaster]

Yes, it was an old and small car that they quit making in the early 50's. We had an inboard engine boat that was driven by an engine from a Crosley, all of 25 hp. The most memorable Crosley was a subcompact station wagon with wood paneling on the exterior.

The significance of the Crosley to these pictures is that it would help date Wehle's dog cart to the 50's, or the early 60's at the latest.

Not much new under the sun. Mushers are still using improvised carts built from old vehicle frames today, complete with steering gear and brakes. With an 18 dogpower drive unit, you gotta have good brakes.

No coveys, bunnies, or cats across the road, please.

[original mngsp]

It's not a woody but here is a 1941 Crosley Parkway Delivery with two-cylinder opposed Waukeshaw engine.



Bob appears to be at the forefront of the conditioning practices we use today.