Jim Hinckley’s Blog
The Man Who Launched Empires
On June 28, 1945, the Detroit Free Press, New York Times and other leading newspapers throughout the world noted the death of Benjamin Briscoe. “BENJAMIN BRISCOE, President of First Maxwell Company, Financier That Launched David Buick’s Automotive Endeavors and...
Here Is To Dreamers & Eccentrics
The infancy of the auto industry was an era of swashbuckling entrepreneurs, dreamers and swindlers. It was a period of unprecedented societal evolution and technological advancement. And it was an almost magical opportunity for eccentrics and visionaries to craft...
A Man Who Wrote the History of The Future
Exactly why the Aluminum Company of America decided to diversify and initiate plans for the development of an automobile is a mystery. The timing is equally curious as in late 1919 the world was gripped by an intense post war economic recession. Another fascinating...
Now What?
I am confident that most of us are in the same boat. Every morning we put on a brave face and step out to meet a new day that is unlike any day ever experienced before. We hide our frustrations, fears and concerns behind false bravado. We desperately cling to the...
The COVID 19 Conundrum
How do you responsibly promote tourism during a pandemic? If you have a travel network how do you write about tourism and not note event cancellations or rescheduling, travel restrictions, surges in COVID 19 numbers in locations or business closures? If speaking...
A Dark Legacy
It was an incident of such vicious barbarism the nation was shocked into action. On July 6, 1917, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and business owners in East St. Louis met with the mayor to demand the resignation of the police chief and for extensive reform...
The Beginning of The End or A New Beginning
It is is a time of tremendous worry and anxiety, of opportunity and of loss. How unnerving. How exciting. Still, there are those instances when I give thought that it would be best to read about all of this in a history book than live through it.
Houston, We Have A Problem
There is little doubt that some communities, some sections of the highway corridor will survive and even thrive during the crisis as well as into the centennial and beyond. However, without the unified sense of purpose and of community made manifest in the U.S. Highway 66 Association, Route 66 itself can not survive. Simply put, we can no longer afford the luxury of myopia or a self serving focus.
Lessons To Learn
Charles Nash, born in 1864, was an abandoned child that became a ward of the court. He ran away from an abusive situation at age 12, got a job on a farm, and in the years that followed learned carpentry skills, clerked in a grocery store and worked stuffing cushions...
On The Road With Jim
For the Cerbat clan of the Hualapai people the desert oasis was the source of life giving waters. For travelers following the trade route to the Colorado River, and on to the coast of California the springs provided a welcome respite from the harsh desert. Purportedly...
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