Yellow cab

This article is about yellow taxicabs. For other uses, see Yellow cab (disambiguation).
Yellow cabs in Manhattan, New York City

There are many yellow cab taxicab operators around the world (some with common heritage, some without). The original Yellow Cab Company, based in Chicago, Illinois is one of the largest taxicab companies in the United States.

History

Yellow cabs date back to at least 1798, when the musical comedy, "Cabriolet Jaune" (Yellow Cab), debuted at Paris' Theatre de l’Opera Comique National. Yellow cabs were known in Paris and London throughout most of the 1800s. A yellow cab company shook up the New York Cab system in the mid-1880s, offering a cheaper, more predictable fares. Some of the first automobile cabs in London, in the 1890s, were yellow electric cabs.[1]

In 1908, Albert Rockwell, (founder and General Manager of the New Departure Manufacturing Co. of Bristol, Connecticut) traveled to Europe to evaluate their taxi systems, hoping to develop a similar one in Washington, D.C.[2] 'Wyckoff, Church and Partridge' had a number of orange-yellow colored Rockwell taxicabs operating on Manhattan streets in 1909.[3] By March 1910, the Connecticut Cab Co. (essentially the directors of New Departure Manufacturing Co.) assumed operating control of Wyckoff, Church and Partridge's taxis.[4]

The 'Yellow Taxicab Co.' was incorporated in New York on April 4, 1912. Its fares that year started at 50¢/mile (equivalent to $11.44 in 2011 adjusted for inflation).[5] Among its directors and major stockholders were Albert F. Rockwell and the Connecticut Cab Co. Shortly after incorporation the Yellow Taxicab Co. merged with the Cab and Taxi Co., and with the strength of Connecticut Cab with whom its name was interchangeably used, the young business assumed a large share of the New York market. Its independent corporate life was fairly short, however, as fare wars and restrictions forced a merger with the Mason-Seaman Transportation Co. on March 3, 1914.

The Yellow Cab Company of Chicago (not to be confused the Yellow Taxicab Co.) was founded by John D. Hertz in 1914. Their specially designed taxicabs were powered by a 4-cylinder Continental engine equipped with a purpose-built taxicab body supplied by the Racine Body Co., of Racine, Wisconsin.[3] According to Yellow Cab Co. tradition, the color (and name) yellow was selected by John Hertz as the result of a survey by the University of Chicago which indicated it was the easiest color to spot.[6] However, "he was certainly not the first taxicab operator to use that color and the university study that Forbes refers to has yet to be discovered." [7]

The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was formed in 1920.[3]

Yellow cab companies

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Also

Movie

A movie, The Yellow Cab Man, was made in 1950, starring Red Skelton.[22]

See also

References

  1. Brown, Peter Jensen. "New York, Paris, London (but not Munich); a Checkered History of Yellow Cabs". Early Sports 'n' Pop-Culture History Blog. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  2. The New York Times June 14, 1908
  3. 1 2 3 "Yellow taxicab...". Coachbuilt.
  4. The New York Law Journal, March 10, 1910
  5. As calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Statistics' CPI Inflation Calculator; year selected is 1913, the closest year available.
  6. Forbes, Bertie C. (1927). Automotive Giants of America: Men Who Are Making Our Motor Industry. New York: B. C. Forbes. p. 147.
  7. Theobald, Mark. "Yellow Cab Mfg. Co.". Coachbuilt.com. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  8. "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2004-07-06. Archived from the original on December 10, 2004. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  9. Transdev - Taxi
  10. Archived December 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. "Peoria Transportation Systems". Peoria-taxi.com. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  12. "Welcome to YRC!". Myyellow.com. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  13. Archived March 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  14. "Our History". Yellowcabsf.com. 1977-11-08. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  15. "San Diego Yellow Cab". sandiego.driveu.com. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  16. Yellow Cab of Greater Orange County
  17. Keolis - Taxi
  18. "Home - Yellow Cab Co". Order1taxi.com. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  19. http://www.loutrans.com/
  20. http://www.loutrans.com/history.htm
  21. http://www.NYCCab.net
  22. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043150/plotsummary

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.