Collection search - George F. Foss fonds [textual record, graphic material, technical drawing]

Record information – Brief
1
George F. Foss fonds [textual record, graphic material, technical drawing]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1896-2012.

Reference:

R16560-0-6-E

Type of material:

Photographs, Textual material, Architectural and technical drawings

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

5671273

Context of this record:

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George F. Foss fonds
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Record information – Details
Fonds includes:

8 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1896-2012.

Bilingual equivalent:

Click here

Place of creation:

Québec (Province)

Extent:

14 photographs : 11 b&w and 2 col. prints; 1 neg.
5.5 cm of textual records.
8 technical drawings.

Language of material:

English

Added language of material:

English, French

Scope and content:

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The fonds relates to George Foote Foss and his invention, the "Fossmobile".

The fonds contains photographs of George F. Foss in his workshop, as well as photographs of him and other people in the Fossmobile. It contains also portraits of him in his 20s, 30s and 80s. It contains also some textual records, including 2 certificates of honorary membership received from the Antique Automobile Club of America and the Vintage Automobile Club of Montreal and the booklet : "Recollection of Sherbrooke: the True Story of Small Town Boy". It contains finally records related to the Tribute Fossmobile made by George F. Foss grandson, Ron Foss, and inducted in December 2002 at the Canadian Automotive Museum in Oshawa (re-engineered Tribute Fossmobile bueprints, letters and a certificate.)

Provenance:

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Foss, George F., 1876-1968

Biography/Administrative history:

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Foss, George F., 1876-1968 : George Foot Foss, machinist, blacksmith and bicycle repairer, born in Sherbrooke in 1876, invented, in 1897, the first gasoline automobile built in Canada, later called the "Fossmobile". It was a 4-horsepower single-cylinder automobile. It was not, however, the first gasoline-powered car to be made in America since the first, called the 'Quadricycle', had been made by Henry Ford nine months earlier. (The very first gasoline-powered car was manufactured by Karl Benz in Germany in 1893.)

George Foot Foss used the vehicle he invented for his personal use for about 4 years before selling it for $75 in Montreal. He never marketed the product, however, despite a financing offer from William Farrel, president of the Eastern Townships Bank, and an investment opportunity from none other than Henry Ford.

In 1959 Foss was made an honorary member of the Antique Automobile Club of America and in 1962 of the Vintage Automobile Club of Montreal. He is one of only two Canadians to have received the former honor, the other one being Robert Samuel McLaughlin, founder of the McLaughlin Motor Company in 1907 (later to become General Motors of Canada).

Finding aid:

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Textual records, graphic (photo) (Electronic) Finding aid is a file list for volumes 1 and 2. MSS2709 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/p000003589.pdf
Subject heading:

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AUTOMOBILE

Fossmobile
Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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2021-00121-0
2023-00080-7
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

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Graphic (photo)

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R16560] 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R16560] 1--2

[Consultation 90 Open]

Architectural: technical drawings

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R16560] 2

[Consultation 99 Closed pending processing]

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Date modified:: 2024-04-09