The first Glidden tour was held from July 11 to July 22, 1905, and covered 870 miles from New York through New England and return. Twenty-seven of the thirty-four entries finished, and the cup was won by Percy P. Pierce, who had driven a heavy Pierce touring car the carried five passengers. One of the participants summed up the results: "The tour ads proved that the automobiles now almost foolproof. It hasproed that American cars are durable nd efficient. It has shown the few who took part how delightful their short vacation may be, and it has strengthened our belief in the permanence of the motorcar."
One result of he great increase in demand for automobiles after 1906 was that manufacturers became markedly less interested in demonstrating their products in cross-country reliability tours. The number of starting cars in the annual Glidden tours dwindled from forty-nine in 1907 to thirteen in 1909. One of the 1909 Glidden officials explained the that decline occurred because automobile manufacturers "were enjoying too much prosperity. They said, "why should we enter this contest when we rae unable to supply demand now? The advertising will do us no good."
Although the Glidden tours were held until 1914, the 1910 tour from Cincinnati to Chicago via Dallas, Texas should be considered the culminating event. It involved a strenuous daily schedule over abominable southern roads and was conducted under stringent technical rules that were designed to ensure the stock-model status of the entries. This Glidden event and a major tour sponsored by Frank A. Munsey in September 1910 (actually August 1910 -- see previous post!!!) from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. via New England and the White Mountains, were the last tours of national importance that could conceivably have had any effect upon stimulating the adoption of the automobile through demonstration of its reliability.
Front view of motorists in Reo cars lined up in street during the 1905 Glidden Tour. Commercial buildings in background.
View of men and women on roadside, surveying an automobile accident, during the 1905 Glidden Tour
From: https://vmcca.org/resources/1905-13Glidden.pdf
The Glidden Tours provided numerous people with their first glimpse of a horseless carriage; and in many towns and villages along the tour route, citizens came out in force to wave at and welcome the drivers and their automobiles. The Glidden tourists were not received as warmly everywhere and were often greeted by local constables lying in wait in speed traps. Drivers often lost their way when the confetti trails marking routes were changed or eradicated by locals, and they also had to be on the lookout for more serious practical jokes such as poles being placed across the road.
The first AAA Reliability Tour to bear Charles Jasper Glidden's name began in New York City on July 11, 1905. Thirty-three contestants started on this first Glidden Tour which concluded on July 22. Glidden and the Touring Committee of the AAA drafted a set of rules for the tour that assumed sportsmanship and proper conduct on the part of the participants. The comfort of the Glidden tourists was a prime concern; and the excellent preliminary work done by the AAA included a thirty-two page tour packet with detailed maps, road directions, and pertinent information.
The 1905 Glidden Tour was a social event as well as a motoring contest; but although Glidden's intent was to attract owner-drivers to a sporting test of their machines, the tour attracted a large number of factory entrants eager for the publicity the tour generated. The scoring system allowed many contestants to achieve a perfect score at the end of the tour and participants were asked to vote for the three Glidden tourists they felt had accomplished the best all-around touring. Percy P. Pierce, who drove a Pierce Great Arrow, received more than twice the votes of any other contestant and was presented with the Glidden Trophy.
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