March 26 - Apr. 1, 1928: Stunt ends with collapse of 'Miss Essex'
The young woman enlisted by the Miami News and its advertisers to attempt a 100-hour endurance drive handcuffed to the steering wheel of a 1928 Essex coach collapsed as she finished the stunt and was taken by ambulance to the hospital, the paper reported.
The newspaper hyped the stunt for more than a week and enlisted participation from local advertisers and police. Schedules of drive-by appearances at participating advertisers' locations were published each day for curious members of the public. "The public has already taken a keen interest in the drive, asking 'Do you think she'll make it?'" and calling out, "'Good luck, Miss Essex!'" and "'Stay with it!,'" the paper reported.
The newspaper hyped the stunt for more than a week and enlisted participation from local advertisers and police. Schedules of drive-by appearances at participating advertisers' locations were published each day for curious members of the public. "The public has already taken a keen interest in the drive, asking 'Do you think she'll make it?'" and calling out, "'Good luck, Miss Essex!'" and "'Stay with it!,'" the paper reported.
At the end of the first day, her hands were beginning to blister "from their unaccustomed constant contact with a steering wheel" and her ankles were beginning to swell from "the continuous use of brake and clutch pedals." In the dampness of the second night, "she caught cold and was given special massage treatment and wrapped in heavy blankets." Still, she was greeted by American Legion officials attending a state convention in Coral Gables, and escorted by motorcycle police on a tour around the city, the paper said. By day four, she reported cramped muscles and "intense pain in her neck because of the necessity of being constantly alert." Huge crowds gathered along her route "made her task more difficult."
As she neared the last of the 100 hours, "only the constant reminder of a watch held before her during the drive" kept her awake. Finally, as she started to drive the car up a ramp onto a waiting flatbed truck, the woman fainted over the steering wheel. "Instantly her manager struck the windshield, shattering it to let in as much air as possible and the doors were thrown open. Attendants had begun lifting her from the car when it suddenly lurched backward. There was a tense moment before it was halted, the rear wheels on the edge of the platform."
She was lifted unconscious from the car and into a waiting ambulance -- supplied by Abern Undertaking -- and rushed to a hospital "where extensive treatments were found necessary before she could be permitted to leave for the Hill Motor Car Co." In the dealership's salesroom, she was allowed to rest in a bedroom suite supplied by the Eli McDonald Furniture Co. Finally, before appearing in public the next day, "Miss Essex" was taken to the Dixie Beauty Shop "to restore her chic."
Did any of this actually happen as described in these stories? Our B.S. detector was ringing like crazy as we read all of these accounts in the Miami Daily News. Would a newspaper, its advertisers and local authorities really permit someone to be put in such danger? The woman's real identity or age was never revealed and the only photo of her published was the one above of her being lifted from the car. But it was reported in the daily paper, so it had to be true, right?
Read the coverage in the Miami Daily News:
• March 26, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Starts Tuesday On Long Drive From City Hall
• March 27, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Is Handcuffed and Started on Long Journey
• March 28, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Is Going Strong After Day's Driving Over City
• March 29, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Despite Fatigue Keeps After 100-Hour Miami Driving Record
• March 31, 1928: 'Miss Essex' on Home Stretch of 100-Hour Drive
• April 1, 1928: 100-Hour Drive Is Completed by 'Miss Essex'
Did any of this actually happen as described in these stories? Our B.S. detector was ringing like crazy as we read all of these accounts in the Miami Daily News. Would a newspaper, its advertisers and local authorities really permit someone to be put in such danger? The woman's real identity or age was never revealed and the only photo of her published was the one above of her being lifted from the car. But it was reported in the daily paper, so it had to be true, right?
Read the coverage in the Miami Daily News:
• March 26, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Starts Tuesday On Long Drive From City Hall
• March 27, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Is Handcuffed and Started on Long Journey
• March 28, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Is Going Strong After Day's Driving Over City
• March 29, 1928: 'Miss Essex' Despite Fatigue Keeps After 100-Hour Miami Driving Record
• March 31, 1928: 'Miss Essex' on Home Stretch of 100-Hour Drive
• April 1, 1928: 100-Hour Drive Is Completed by 'Miss Essex'