Autos

So what the heck are charcoal roads? Basically asphalt made with coal tar, a cancer-causing by-product of coal processing. It is still widely used in India. Besides killing people, It cracks a lot. This is the Cliffs Notes on Mississippi roads: Road Tax The same year Mississippi became a state (1817, if you care), a…

In 1926, Rolls Royce was as good at branding as Mr. Beast*. Knowing what we always knew, RR marketed itself to women. You have probably read this a thousand times, but maybe read it a thousand and one? Certain fortunate women take the world’s best automobile for granted, as they do gowns and jewels…

The darling/courageous/who-knows-what Mrs. Lottie B. Ellison of Rawls Falls (say that ten time fast), Mississippi, was awarded a patent (#1,323,177, to be exact) in 1919 for  her design of a passenger-side door that would accommodate a third front-seat rider without causing discomfort to other occupants. The door consisted of a retractable bottom section which, when…