[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[no subject]



"The first workable (tanks), built by British manufacture in 1916, were
referred to as 'water tanks for Mesopotamia' - partly because of their
appearance, partly to keep their true nature secret."


So how does construction equipment titan Caterpillar speak authoritatively
on World War I tanks? Caterpillar predecessor Holt Tractor Company was
instrumental in helping the British develop the tank. Holt was consulted
because of the outstanding reputation their crawler tractors had already
earned for their ability to go anywhere and "climb like hell," as British
Lt. Colonel Ernest  Swinton, a key figure in the development of the tank,
put it. The tanks were built in Britain, but the Holt crawlers provided the
inspiration.



Best wishes,


Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
tberry@wcnet.org
http://www.hcea.net <http://www.hcea.net>






Jackson, Bill wrote:


This is trivial, but if it's true, we are rather fascinated by it.....



We have a copy of an illustration and a caption from Motorcycling and

Bicycling (periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the World War I era

British tanks were so named because they were shaped almost exactly like the

gas tanks found on many motorcycle brands of the period.



It is entirely true that the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but does

anyone know if there is truth to this?  If it were not in a 1917 magazine,

I'd be tempted to think it an urban legend......





Bill Jackson

Senior Archivist

Harley-Davidson Motor Company

Milwaukee, WI







Confidential e-mail for addressee only.  Access to this e-mail by anyone
else is unauthorized.

If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender
immediately by reply e-mail

and destroy the original communication.
  _____

This is trivial, but if it's true, we are rather fascinated by it.....We
have a copy of an illustration and a caption from Motorcycling and Bicycling
(periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the World War I era British
tanks were so named because they were shaped almost exactly like the gas
tanks found on many motorcycle brands of the period.It is entirely true that
the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but does anyone know if there is
truth to this?  If it were not in a 1917 magazine, I'd be tempted to think
it an urban legend...... Bill Jackson
Senior Archivist
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Milwaukee, WI




Confidential e-mail for addressee only.  Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorized.
If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail
and destroy the original communication.

------_=_NextPart_001_01C09794.FC803AF0
Content-Type: text/html;
        charset="iso-8859-1"

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">



<META content='"MSHTML 4.72.3616.1301"' name=GENERATOR>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><SPAN class=900461321-15022001><FONT color=#0000ff face="Times New Roman"
size=3>The motorcycle gas tank version is unsubstantiated at this
point.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=900461321-15022001><FONT color=#0000ff face="Times New Roman"
size=3></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=900461321-15022001><FONT color=#0000ff face="Times New Roman"
size=3>All we know is that it originated in an issue of the British periodical
&quot;Motorcycling.&quot;&nbsp; Now that I think of it, it could easily be an
urban legend for its own period.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
    <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader><FONT face="Times New Roman"
    size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Tom Anderson
    [mailto:tanderson@AMSE.ORG]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 15, 2001 3:14
    PM<BR><B>To:</B> ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Origin
    of the word &quot;tank&quot; (military)<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=2>So, does this mean the Motorcycle story from 1917 was
    perhaps an advertising ploy used by the industry?&nbsp; Was it completely
    fabricated or is there a competing story out there?&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=2>Just wondering,</FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Tom Anderson; Collections<BR>American Museum
    of Science and Energy<BR>300 S. Tulane<BR>Oak Ridge, TN 37830<BR>(865)
    576-3228 (Voice), (865) 576-6024 (Fax)<BR></FONT></DIV>
    <BLOCKQUOTE
    style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 solid 2px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">
        <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><B>-----Original
        Message-----</B><BR><B>From: </B>Tom Berry &lt;<A
        href="mailto:tberry@WCNET.ORG";>tberry@WCNET.ORG</A>&gt;<BR><B>To: </B><A
        href="mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU";>ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU</A>
        &lt;<A
        href="mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU";>ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU</A>&gt;<BR><B>Date:
        </B>Thursday, February 15, 2001 4:13 PM<BR><B>Subject: </B>Re:
        [ARCHIVES] Origin of the word &quot;tank&quot;
        (military)<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>From <I>The Caterpillar Story</I>, a
        company history published by Caterpillar, Inc. in 1984 and reprinted in
        1990:
        <P>&quot;The first workable (tanks), built by British manufacture in
        1916, were referred to as 'water tanks for Mesopotamia' - partly because
        of their appearance, partly to keep their true nature secret.&quot;
        <P>So how does construction equipment titan Caterpillar speak
        authoritatively on World War I tanks? Caterpillar predecessor Holt
        Tractor Company was instrumental in helping the British develop the
        tank. Holt was consulted because of the outstanding reputation their
        crawler tractors had already earned for their ability to go anywhere and
        &quot;climb like hell,&quot; as British Lt. Colonel Ernest&nbsp;
        Swinton, a key figure in the development of the tank, put it. The tanks
        were built in Britain, but the Holt crawlers provided the inspiration.
        <BR>&nbsp;
        <P>Best wishes,
        <P>Thomas Berry, Archivist <BR>Historical Construction Equipment
        Association <BR>16623 Liberty Hi Road <BR>Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
        <BR>Phone 419-352-5616 <BR>Fax 419-352-6086 <BR>tberry@wcnet.org <BR><A
        href="http://www.hcea.net";>http://www.hcea.net</A> <BR>&nbsp; <BR>&nbsp;
        <BR>&nbsp; <BR>&nbsp;
        <P>Jackson, Bill wrote:
        <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE = CITE><PRE WRAP>This is trivial, but if it's true, we are rather fascinated by it.....

We have a copy of an illustration and a caption from Motorcycling and
Bicycling (periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the World War I era
British tanks were so named because they were shaped almost exactly like the
gas tanks found on many motorcycle brands of the period.

It is entirely true that the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but does
anyone know if there is truth to this?&nbsp; If it were not in a 1917 magazine,
I'd be tempted to think it an urban legend......


Bill Jackson
Senior Archivist
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Milwaukee, WI



Confidential e-mail for addressee only.&nbsp; Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorized.
If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail
and destroy the original communication.</PRE>
            <HR SIZE=4 width=90%>
            <SPAN class=460115718-15022001><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT
            color=#000000><FONT size=+0>This is trivial, but if it's true, we
            are rather fascinated by it.....</FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
            class=460115718-15022001></SPAN><SPAN class=460115718-15022001><FONT
            face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=+0>We have a
            copy of an illustration and a caption from <I>Motorcycling and
            Bicycling </I>(periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the
            World War I era British tanks were so named because they were shaped
            almost exactly like the gas tanks found on many motorcycle brands of
            the period.</FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
            class=460115718-15022001></SPAN><SPAN class=460115718-15022001><FONT
            face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=+0>It <B>is
            </B>entirely true that the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but
            does anyone know if there is truth to this?&nbsp; If it were not in
            a 1917 magazine, I'd be tempted to think it an urban
            legend......</FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN>&nbsp;<I><FONT
            face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#000000><B>Bill
            Jackson</B></FONT></FONT></I> <BR><I><FONT color=#000000><FONT
            face="">Senior Archivist</FONT><FONT
            face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></I> <BR><I><FONT
            color=#000000><FONT face="">Harley-Davidson Motor
            Company</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></I>
            <BR><I><FONT color=#000000><FONT face="">Milwaukee, WI</FONT><FONT
            face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></I>&nbsp;</BLOCKQUOTE>&nbsp;
    </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

------_=_NextPart_001_01C09794.FC803AF0--

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>