TRACK THE RICH HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS AUTOMOBILES IN “THE AUTOMOBILE IN ST. LOUIS” Image is a courtesy of Marquee Media
| Reedy Press is pleased to announce the release of our newest local interest book, The Automobile in St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline, by Molly Butterworth and Thomas Eyssell. Long before European immigrants settled its lands and along its rivers, the area that would become St. Louis was a hub of the movement of people and goods. |
By modern times, those movements happened via modes of transport ranging from horseback, horse-drawn vehicles, and river canoes to steamboats, railroad equipment, bicycles, aircraft, and even spaceships.
But no mode of transportation tied more directly to the heart of St. Louis than the automobile. From the earliest horseless carriages to innovative luxury vehicles designed and built as well or better than any in the world to America’s first sports car, the Gateway City gave birth to vehicles that made this country fall in love with traveling on the road. Though St. Louis fell just short of its goal to be the nation’s leading automotive city, St. Louisans still revered going by car to the restaurants, drive-in movie theaters, and motels that punctuated the area’s historic roads. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy life behind the wheel driving through the automotive history of St. Louis.
The Automobile in St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline is available wherever books are sold.
Please contact Marla Stoker Ballenger at marla@marqueemediastl.com to arrange an interview or appearance.
Book Details: The Automobile in St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline by Molly Butterworth and Thomas Eyssell, ISBN: 9781681064093, hardcover, 8.5 x 11, 160 pages, $42.00
About the Authors:
Molly Butterworth grew up in the small town of Versailles, Ohio, with a father who loved Chevrolet muscle and a mother who adored how German cars talk to you about the road. After volunteering at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, she obtained a master’s degree in public history and loved her first job as curator then director of the National Museum of Transportation and its myriad benefits like running locomotives and driving Corvettes. She has written extensively on transportation history and plans to always have a vehicle with a stick shift in her garage.
Thomas Eyssell started as an auto mechanic in the early 1970s but took a left turn and wound up a college professor for the next 40 years. Despite his academic duties, he never lost his passion for the GTOs, Mustangs, and Chevelles of his youth. Since retiring as associate dean and professor emeritus of finance from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, he divides his time between travel and family, volunteer work as a senior advocate, and, of course, puttering with the various vintage vehicles in his garage.
