“Never before has there been such an interest here in the motor car.” — The Kansas City Star, February 4, 1906.

In 1907, less than 400 cars were owned in all of Kansas City. However, the fact that 20,000 people attended Kansas City’s first-ever auto show proved there were many more who liked the idea of automobile ownership.

The Kansas City Motor Show, as it was initially called, opened at 7 p.m. on March 4, 1907. Fifty vehicles from 29 different manufacturers, as well as accessories, supplies, and clothing, were displayed in the 11,500 square feet of the Convention Hall at 13th and Central. The cars at the 1907 show ranged in price from $495 for a Ford Model N runabout to $9,600 for a Pope-Toledo limousine.

That first show was put on by 18 local dealers and suppliers (and several other manufacturers hoping to find local agents) including:

• F. B. Doddridge of Missouri Valley Motor Co. (who supplied a White steam car)
• C. F. Ettwein of Ettwein Motor Car Co. (who supplied a Stoddard-Dayton Model H roadster and Model K five-passenger touring car, and a Welch seven-passenger touring car)
• E. P. Moriarty of E. P. Moriarty & Co. (who supplied three Stevens-Duryeas and a chassis, a Packard Model 30 runabout and Model 45, and a Peerless 30-hp limousine and chassis)
• W. R. Dempster of Dempster Machinery Co. (who supplied a Maxwell)
• C.C. Meade of Ford Motor Co., (who supplied a Ford Model N, Model R, and a six-cylinder Model K)
• C. E. Cook of Palace Auto Co. (who supplied a Pierce, an Olds, and a Columbia electric car)
• J. J. Wittman of Pope-Toledo Motor Car Co. (who supplied a Pope-Toledo limousine and XV touring car, a Pope-Hartford touring car and raceabout, a Pope-Tribune runabout, and a Pope-Waverly electric runabout and Lady’s DeLuxe Stanhope)
• W. S. Hathaway of Buick Automobile Co. (who supplied two and four-cylinder Buicks).

Supplies and accessories manufacturers with displays at the 1907 show included: Holcher & Elberg, a Kansas City maker of tops, windshields, and limousine bodies, Kansas Rubber Co., a tire-supplier from Olathe, Kansas, and Jones Speedometer Co., a New York City manufacturer of speedometers which were not yet standard equipment on automobiles.

Swiss Alps-themed decorations, including a gigantic Matterhorn mountain scene painted on a canvas curtain 100 feet long, had been purchased from the January New York Auto Show. Unplanned excitement occurred during the show when the Matterhorn scene ripped apart and went crashing thirty feet to the floor.

The 30th Kansas City Automobile Show was moved up a couple of months to December, 1935 in order to make it be the first major event held in the brand new Municipal Auditorium. After World War II, the show returned to March. The Bartle Hall Convention Center, after opening in 1994, became the new home of the auto show.

[ Our grateful appreciation to the Missouri Valley Special Collections for photographs, Kansas City Public Library ]

Image Top Left:
The first KC Auto Show (March 4-11, 1907), displayed 50 vehicles from 29 different manufacturers, along with auto supplies and accessories from ten other companies. The huge Matterhorn backdrop at the back of the hall caused excitement when it crashed to the floor during the show!

Image Top Right:
The Pope-Toledo Motor Car Company, a Kansas City dealership, played a huge role in the 1907 Auto Show. J.J. Wittman was a director, and his dealership supplied seven cars. However, the Pope Motor Car Company, headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, went bankrupt later in the year.

Image Middle Left:
The 1907 Show was held at the Convention Hall at 13th and Central, site of the 1900 Democratic and 1928 Republican Conventions.

Image Middle Right:
The 1938 models on display at the 1937 Kansas City Automobile Show.

Image Bottom Left:
1914 Kansas City Automobile Show Pin.

Image Bottom Middle-Left:
The program for the 1957 Kansas City Automobile Show.

Image Bottom Middle-Right:
In addition to cars, The 1935 Kansas City Auto Show featured the latest in trucks, buses, refrigeration, electronic radio, and even a demonstration of a new advanced device called a television.

Image Bottom Right:
The second Kansas City Auto Show, in 1908, was even larger than the first year, and now included motorcycles.