Skioptikonbild med motiv av lastning av automobil på färja vid Rhen. Möjligen i St. Goar.Bilden har förvarats i kartong märkt: Resan 1904. St. Goar. Koblez. Text på bild: "Automobilfärd öfer Rhen".

The automobile was first invented and perfected in Germany and France in the late 1890s. Americans quickly came to dominate the automotive industry after WWI. Throughout this initial era, the development of automotive technology was rapid. Hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included the electric ignition system, independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes. Transmissions and throttle controls were widely adopted and safety glass also made its debut. Henry Ford perfected mass-production techniques, and Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler emerged as the “Big Three” auto companies by the 1920s. Car manufacturers received enormous orders from the military during World War II, and afterward automobile production in the United States, Europe, and Japan soared.

The Grand Tour of Europe was the 17th- and 18th-century custom of a traditional trip of Europe undertaken by upper-class young European men when they had come of age (about 21 years old). A Grand Tour could last anywhere from several months to several years. The tradition declined as enthusiasm for neo-classical culture waned, and with the advent of accessible rail and steamship travel, however, lengthy travel tours of Europe had become a regular feature of the upper-class lifestyle in Northern and Central Europe and no more restricted to the higher nobility.