Universal Motors

As soon as there were automobiles, Eatonville welcomed them. Here’s a shot of the Universal Motor Company that sold Fords. You can barely see the cars inside, but you can easily see the top-of-the-line tires of the day.

I believe this store was run by Harold Pravitz.

Here are a few interesting Ford facts:
1908 – The first 1909 Model T was built at Ford’s Piquette Ave. Plant
1909 – The Model T came in first place in the New York to Seattle race, 4100 miles in 22 days and 55 minutes averaging 7.75 mph.
1910 – Model T production moved to Ford’s Highland Park Assembly Plant, also known as the ‘Crystal Palace’ because of the vast expanse of windows.
1913 – Ford implements the moving assembly line at its Highland Park Assembly Plant, reducing chassis build time from 14 hours per car to just 1.5 hours
1914 – Henry Ford is alleged to have proclaimed, “You can have and color you want, as long as it’s black.” From 1914 to 1925 the Model T was only available in black.
1917 – The 2 millionth Model T Ford rolled off the line on June 14th.
1919 – Ford introduced an electric starter for the Model T which meant owners no longer had to crank the engine to start it.
1921 – The 5 millionth Model T Ford rolled off the line on May 28th.
1924 – The 10 millionth Model T Ford rolled off the line on June 4th. Famed ford racing driver Frank Kulick drove it from New York to San Francisco on the Lincoln Highway, the only coast-to-coast highway at the time.  (Per www.modelt.ca)

Photo courtesy of then Christensen family.

Click on image to enlarge.