by Laurel | August 5th, 2009
August 5, 1904
Lights House from Automobile
B. F. Perkins & Son Ad, 1910
J. Louis Perkins of R. F. Perkins & Co. is making good use of his electric automobile, which he has discarded in the main for automobiling purposes in favor of a gasoline machine. He has a shed by his house on Lincoln street, into which he runs the machine and connects from it with electric fans in the dining-room and other places, and also to electric lights in the house so that he both lights and cools his house from the machine. When the electricity gets low, he runs it down to his shop and fills up the storage batteries again with the “juice.” This rather odd use of the automobile has occasioned much interest among his friends. With the power needed to run the machine 30 or 0 miles the house can be lighted for a considerable amount of time.
[Note: the 1900 U.S. Federal Census has Perkins living at 150 Lincoln Ave., along with his wife and two sons. Born in November 1864, Perkins was about 40 at the time of the article above and was probably well-suited to handle an adaptation since he was a machinist and owned a business.]
From The Springfield Republican.
