The invader?

by
R. G. Vosburgh

In this cartoon, a farm couple looks with interest and concern, though not fear, at the “invader” on their country road: a two-seat automobile. At the turn of the twentieth century, there was much discussion whether the motorcar would, and whether it should, replace the horse as the predominate mode of transportation. Several cartoons in Harper’s Weekly consider the humorous side of the competition between horse and horseless carriage, but the featured image hints at the potential disquiet and disruption that automobiles might bring to the countryside.

Robert C. Kennedy