By Motor to the Golden Gate

Book excerpt: In 1915, journalist Emily Post set out from New York to investigate whether it was possible to drive comfortably across the country to San Francisco in an automobile. This is a reprint of Post's only travel book, originally published by Collier's Weekly seven years before she became famous for her book on etiquette. It describes her travels with her cousin Alice and her Harvard undergraduate son as they played the American tourists from Niagara Falls to cave dwellings near Santa Fe. A first-hand account of elite automotive travel before the process was democratized after World War I, it also shows the history of the southwest, particularly in the myths that made towns such as Santa Fe "authentic" tourist destinations, and provides contemporary comments on class and ethnicity. A new introduction includes a biographical sketch of Post and explains the context of her journey in the heroic age of motoring. Accompanying the text are many original photographs, sketch maps showing the route, and Post's meticulous daily lists of expenditure, a valuable historical document showing the price of everything from car repairs to tips. New to this addition are explanatory footnotes and an appendix giving the miles Post traveled each day, noting the cities of departure and destination and the hotel for each night.