#32117 visible on the front of the electric car. There are long slits between each digit to allow air flow into the radiator, a feature of Illinois license plates from 1912 thru 1918. Apparently not needed on this particular model!

Horseless carriages, trolleys, multi-globe streetlights, grumpy old folks, horse manure -- it doesn't get much better than this!

The start of the 'Back Seat Driver' and the rest is history.

It looks like tall building with the Life Insurance Sign got expanded and a new facade, but you can still barely make out the Life Insurance sign, including the hand by the window:

I can't tell which, Ma or Pa, is enjoying it more.

Just these two conveyances, the horseless carriage and trolley car, represent an advancement unknown to any other generation in human history. And I expect its two occupants accepted it as just another ordinary day.

From the Rockford Register Star (2008): “Before big stores, there was only one place for wives and mothers seeking to outfit their husbands and sons — Ennenga & Wagner [E & W] Clothing House.”

Ptolema grumbled -- he doesn't have permission to take my photograph! "Run him down!", she ordered Horace. Horace complied.

From: Mike Schafer and Brian Landis, Rockford & Interurban Railway, Arcadia Publishing, 2015:

"The view in this photograph looks north on Main Street, two blocks south of State Street, around the time of World War I. Rockford & Interurban car No. 709 travels away from the photographer, who, it is presumed, will get out of the way of the approaching, newfangled automobile."

are familiar with Rockford, Illinois.

Rockford had a system of city streetcars, but also ran heavier interurban streetcars to adjacent cities. Car 709 is an interurban; more photos and stories can be found here. The vehicle with the nattily dressed couple on board is an earlier version of the Tesla, a battery powered car.

Although it was a message once seen at rail crossings, it might also be a fitting title for this photo.

I've long surmised that the warning sign "Look out for the cars" originated on interurban lines, but I've seen so much photographic evidence of its use at crossings for "heavy" rail that a resolute conclusion eludes me. However, I have seen a photo of a sign, "Look out for the Engine", which one would not expect to see on an interurban line, so I'll not yet abandon my original theory.

[In all these instances, "Cars" refers to railcars, trolleycars and streetcars, not automobiles. "Cars Stop Here," seen along streetcar lines, is an especial favorite here on Shorpy. - Dave]

"7th Floor ... Take Elevator"