California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

"Fawkes' Folly", an experimental monorail car built by J.W. Fawkes in Burbank, ca.1910

(USC DC Image)

"Fawkes' Folly", an experimental monorail car built by J.W. Fawkes in Burbank, ca.1910

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Photograph of "Fawkes' Folly", an experimental monorail car built by J.W. Fawkes, adorned with flags and decorations, in Burbank, ca.1910. The cigar-shaped trolley is attached to an overhead track, which is supported by wooden beams. It appears to be in motion with its propeller spinning. Several spectators stand at right stand at a safe distance to watch the trolley as it passes them. A man runs ahead of the trolley towards the trees in the distance. To the left of the trolley and its supporting rails is a fence. Beyond the fence are more trees, shrubbery and bushes. Caption reads: "Aerial Trolley Car Co. Inc., J.W. & E.C. Fawkes, Patentees., Burbank, Cal.", "Burbank, Ca, Aerial Trolley (Built by Joseph Fawkes), ca.1910".; "The population of the town [Burbank] was 500 when the voters approved incorporation in 1911. That same year, civic boosters began a campaign to have the Pacific Electric Streetcar line extended from Glendale into Burbank. The citizens of Burbank had to put up a $48,000 subsidy to get the reluctant P.E. officials to agree. The first Red Car rolled into Burbank on September 6, 1911. Leading the opposition to the public fundraising was J.W. Fawkes, who had patented the first monorail car in the United States. He built a prototype on his Burbank ranch, running a line between Lake and Flower Streets. Fawkes called his invention the "Aerial Swallow." City officials, however, called it "Fawkes' Folly" and the proposed monorail system never materialized." -- unknown author.

Asset Metadata

Title "Fawkes' Folly", an experimental monorail car built by J.W. Fawkes in Burbank, ca.1910

Subject Fawkes, J.W. (subject), Flags (lcsh), Street-railroads (lcsh), Transportation -- Street Railroads -- General (file heading), transportation features (adlf)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Place Burbank (city or populated place), California (states), Los Angeles (counties), USA (countries)

Temporal Subject 1910

Type images

Format 3 photographs : glass photonegative, photonegative, photoprint, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm., 17 x 26 cm. (aacr2), glass plate negatives (format), negatives (photographic) (aat), photographic prints (aat), photographs (aat)

Source California Historical Society (contributing entity), California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 (collection), Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960 (subcollection)

Date Created 1910

Creator Pierce, C.C. (Charles C.), 1861-1946 (photographer)

Publisher University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Repository Email specol@lib.usc.edu

Repository Name USC Libraries Special Collections

Repository Location Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Rights Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Copyright Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Access Conditions Send requests to address or e-mail given

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/chs-m12600

Identifier 5028 (accession number), CHS-5028 (call number), CHS-5028 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-12062 (legacy record id), chs-m12600 (legacy record id), USC-1-1-1-12755 (legacy record id), 1-120-18 (microfiche number), USC (project)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 12062

Unique identifier UC131971

Legacy Identifier CHS-5028.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 18.5 in × 14.8 in at 300dpi
47.1 cm × 37.6 cm at 300dpi

Inherited Values

Title Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Description The nearly 15,000 unique photographs of this collection contain the work of C.C. Pierce which cover the Los Angeles region city, street and architectural views, California Missions, Southwestern Native Americans, and turn-of-century Nevada, Arizona, and California. Pierce, active from 1886 to 1940, was one of the leading photographers of his day and amassed a collection of 15,000 images, including his own and those bought and copied from his contemporaries, George Wharton James and Charles Puck. The James collection contains over 2,000 images of portraits, customs, ceremonies, arts, and games of various groups of Southwestern Native Americans.

Date Created 1860/1960

Linked assets

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

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