Letter 55 - Who Was The Cross-Country Daredevil?

Hello Bregdan Woman!

You’ve got Ginny today…

I’ve got someone very fun to share with you today. I wish I could have accompanied her on her grand adventure!

Alice Ramsey was a Cross Country Daredevil, but she also earned the recognition of "Motorist of the Century." I love women who thumb their noses at societal traditions – which means I adore Alice! You’ll understand why as you keep reading…

I also love women who have laid the foundation for the life we live now. I’ve had a few readers write me to tell me my book characters aren’t true to character, because women in the 1800’s and early 1900’s were more submissive than I represent. They didn’t like to rock the boat.

I laugh every time I read a letter like this. Why do you think life is so different for women now? It’s because there were MANY women who loved to rock the boat back then.

Alice Ramsey was one of them.

This daredevil was born in 1886. When fewer than 7% of women went to college in the USA, SHE graduated from Vassar! She got her first automobile when she was 21 - when women simply did not own cars AND become an inspiration for future women race car drivers.

Alice loved to drive! When her husband bought her a car, she couldn’t get enough. I imagine most men couldn’t figure her out. The women envied her or thought she was nuts. She clocked over six thousand miles her first year behind the wheel – becoming a regular sight on the rough dirt roads around her New Jersey home.

Not content to just drive, she entered a 200-mile endurance drive – the only woman in the race.

That’s where she was spotted…

An agent from Maxwell Auto Company (the precursor to Chrysler Corporation), intrigued by Alice, proposed a daring publicity stunt. He would provide an all-expense paid trip across the country if she proved that a Maxwell car could take anyone – even a five-foot tall, 22-year-old woman driver – across America!

Maxwell hoped women across the country would notice Alice’s adventure and then talk their husbands into buying cars.

Alice leapt at the chance. She talked her two conservative sisters-in-law, and a 16-year-old friend, into joining her on the adventure. Of course, none of her companions could drive. She would be the only one behind the wheel from New York City to San Francisco. That was just fine with her!

I can see them now… Decked out in bonnets and goggles… Dusters covering their long dresses. On June 9, 1909, Alice kissed her husband goodbye, loaded up into the Maxwell convertible, and started on their adventure.

In case you’re thinking Alice buzzed her way across the country on interstates – she didn’t! The automobile had only been popular for a year or two. There were very few paved roads in cities – forget cross-country travel! The four women crossed the country on rugged dirt roads – some of them little more than glorified trails!

Little did the four women know what was waiting for them in the days ahead.

The car jerked awkwardly from side to side as Alice struggled to control it with no power steering. Fatigue settled in on her shoulders as the miles accumulated but she loved the challenge!

Alice was driver and mechanic. During their travels she changed more than a dozen blown tires, repaired a brake, cleaned spark plugs, ran out of gas, cooled an overheated transmission with water carried from countless trips to a roadside ditch in a toothbrush holder, and slid along muddy roads on treadless tires.

Things got really tough when they reached Iowa. It took them thirteen days to drive the 360 miles through Iowa. In case you don’t want to pull out your calculator, they averaged only 27 miles a day!

Impassable muddy roads that were nothing more than goo slowed them down. They had to be pulled out of mud holes by horses (the locals loved that!) and they had to sleep in their car while they waited for swollen rivers to recede far enough for them to drive across.

Remember, America’s roads weren’t designed for long-distance driving. For navigation, Alice relied on the Blue Book series of automotive guides, which gave directions using landmarks, but sometimes the route changed faster than the books.

One day the women struggled to find a “yellow house and barn” at which they were supposed to turn left. It turned out a horse-loyal farmer repainted them green to foil any automobile drivers!

Can’t you just see him laughing as drivers circled around with confused faces?

Worse, there were no books for regions west of the Mississippi River. Alice took worn routes – using her compass to head west. She chose the direction at crossroads by following the telegraph poles “with the greatest number of wires”.

Where there is a will, there is a way!

On certain days, the Maxwell-Briscoe Company hired pilot cars familiar with the area to lead them. Even so, the party sometimes hit a dead end at a mine or sandpit and had to backtrack for miles.

But, hey, what’s an adventure without some challenges along the way?

The challenges were immense…

But the joy was so much larger!

These four women were the first to enjoy the vastness of America in a car. They rolled along rivers… past lakes… through the prairies… winding through mountain passes… climbing peaks with a straining engine…

They were making history every single day!

They relished the open air, the passing towns, the people they met, the animals they saw, and the celebrity they enjoyed.

Alice was a moving commercial. A company salesman traveled by train ahead of the quartet of women. Whenever possible, he secured media attention, as well as indoor sleeping accommodations along the route.

People would ride horses from miles around and wait along the side of the road to catch a glimpse of the women – exchanging waves and smiles.

On August 7, 1909, the four women arrived in San Francisco to great acclaim.

“PRETTY WOMEN MOTORISTS ARRIVE AFTER TRIP ACROSS THE CONTINENT”, the San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed.

Did the publicity stunt work?

The result (thanks to Alice's ability) was an impressive increase in car sales from 9,460 in 1909 to over 20,000 autos sold in 1910.

More than double the sales? Yep – I’d say Alice had a huge impact!

Why did she do it?

After reading about her, I think she did it because she could. There was no reason not to try! This trip, along with being a personal challenge to herself, set the tone for the rest of her life.

At the end of her life, at age 96, Alice had crossed the USA more than 30 times; been named "Motorist of the Century"; "First Lady of Automobile Travel"; driven for over 80 years; and become the first female inductee into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Her husband, John, a U.S. Senator, never learned to drive. With Alice, he didn’t need to! J

I love the tenacity of this lady. Although married with children, she didn't let society define her.

Instead, she showed her children and women of the time exactly what a woman could do.

What an inspiration.

If she can break free of traditionalism to pursue and achieve her dreams, so can you!

What is it that you want to do?

I challenge you to stop reading and think about what YOU want to do.

Each of you is some place different on your journey through life. Like Alice’s was, your journey is full of stops and starts, detours and obstacles.

The key is to never stop. Never cease to press forward toward your goal.

Let your dreams carry you through the obstacles life throws your way.

Alice never quit. She never stopped trying. She forged ahead, with the help of her friends, and made history!

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What will you do to be a Bregdan Woman?

What will you do today to impact history??

We’re on this journey with you… (and have 2 FREE Gifts for you below…)

Ginny & Suess

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