We live in an age of motor vehicles.  Few of us could consider, for safety if nothing else, taking to the roads in a horse drawn vehicle.  When the automobile seemed here to stay, caravanners in Europe adapted to the new technology.

The earliest models look essentially like their horse-drawn cousins, just stuck onto a truck chassis.  In this era, I suspect they were topping out at 35 mph.

This is the earliest side-door design I have found which changes the dynamics of the interior layout.  Note that in the vehicles above, the driver is still fully exposed to the elements.  A far cry from our modern experience.  Note the “driving coat” worn by the pilot of this beauty.

This French innovation has boxed-in the driver’s compartment making it suitable for foul weather.  Still, I would be worried about those huge, non-safety glass windows.

And finally, a very practical little…

On the sixth day of Steampunk Christmas,

My true love gave to me:

Six Antique Maps.

Map of the California Gold Region. Source: Library of Congress

A good airship captain needs a good map to navigate by.  Fortunately, antique maps are easy to find and, framed and matted, make a great gift.  They can be a little pricy, however.

If you want the look of antique maps to steam up your home decor, there are many sources of high-resolution reprints on-line. Provided you want to go completely DIY, two sources pop out:

The Library of Congress

The British Library

Both of these libraries have digitized parts of their map collections and have made them available for download. There are also additional local and state libraries that have digitized their collections (the British Library has many links for the UK), not to mention the historical map collection of the US Geological…

“Bring the little ones; let them enjoy this wonderful Christmas Carnival
to their hearts’ content”