This old newspaper advertisement from 1915 shows how some people felt about cars replacing horses
Published on Jan 02, 2026 at 9:43 AM (UTC+4)
by Molly Davidson
Last updated on Jan 02, 2026 at 9:43 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Molly Davidson
Cars didn’t roll into everyday life to universal applause.
When automobiles first started showing up on streets meant for hooves and wagons, plenty of people weren’t convinced this was progress.
Reactions ranged from run-of-the-mill skepticism to some who were actively rooting for the whole thing to fail.
And in 1915, one newspaper ad captured that mood perfectly.
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The 1915 argument against cars replacing horses
The ad, titled Horse vs. Automobile, came from Ed Klein, a harness salesman with a clear message: don’t dump your horse just yet.
Before buying an automobile, Klein urged readers to ‘think of the cost.’
Feed versus gasoline.
Harness versus tires.
A stable versus repairs and storage.
On paper, the horse still looked like the sensible option.
Then came the real jab – value.
Ed Klein argued that a horse was still worth what you paid for him two years earlier, while an automobile was already sliding toward obsolescence.
The idea that cars aged badly wasn’t a fringe take at the time – early models changed fast, broke often, and dated themselves almost immediately.
Reliability sealed the pitch.
Horses could handle snow, mud, and bad roads.
Cars? Not so much.
And unlike an automobile, a horse’s ‘carburetor’ never broke down.
It’s funny now, but the anxiety underneath it was real.
By 1915, cars – especially the Ford Model T – were already overtaking horse-drawn transport.
This ad wasn’t optimism, it was defense.
When old tech fights back
Ed Klein wasn’t alone.
Industries tied to horses leaned hard on cost fears and practicality to slow the shift.
At the same time, car companies were running their own ads mocking horses as inefficient and outdated.
Oldsmobile even claimed nature made a mistake giving horses a brain – subtlety was not the goal.
The whole exchange reads uncannily familiar.
New tech arrives.
People poke holes in it.
Old systems argue they’re cheaper, safer, more reliable.
The future keeps moving anyway.
That 1915 ad didn’t stop cars replacing horses, but it did freeze a moment when the outcome still felt debatable – and when nobody was particularly happy about change, even as it was already happening.
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Molly Davidson is a Junior Content Writer at Supercar Blondie. Based in Melbourne, she holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Arts/Law from Swinburne University and a Master’s of Writing and Publishing from RMIT. Molly has contributed to a range of magazines and journals, developing a strong interest in lifestyle and car news content. When she’s not writing, she’s spending quality time with her rescue English staffy, Boof.
