Untitled

Stephen L. Harp
Along with corrections, the company asked for drivers to supply information about
themselves, their car, and their tire brand, allowing for early market research as
well as improvements to the guide. The company then promised that people
writing in with corrections would have the guidebook mailed directly to their
homes in 1901, signaling the importance of driver participation in the improvement
of the Michelin guides.
Drivers’ assistance remained a constant theme. In 1901, Michelin told clients
what would happen if they avoided sending in corrections for the guide. If no one
reports back, “Monsieur” will find himself entrusting his car to a mechanic who
damages it instead of fixing it. “Madame” will exit the hotel covered with “little
brown marks as disagreeable in odor as cannibalistic [referring to bedbugs].” 17
Similarly, the 1902 guide reminded the reader that Michelin would remove
mention in the guide of any poorly kept hotel, having bedbugs or making people
with the Michelin guide pay to park their car, an equally serious sin for a company
preoccupied with encouraging automobile tourism. 18 Michelin quite articulately
appealed to drivers’ sense of belonging to a larger, though exclusive, group that
needed to stick together against predatory hotel owners. Urban tourists with cars
could rely on each other, via Michelin, to protect themselves against provincials
who might otherwise take advantage of them.
Michelin appealed entirely to men, whom it assumed planned the trip, drove
the car, and used the guidebook, thus asserting turn-of-the-century gender roles
while reinforcing them. Michelin exploited the image of the family and men’s
sense of patriarchy in this patriarchal society. “Yes, you like [the guide] very much
. . . like those weak parents who do not correct their children because the sight of
tears gives them an attack of nerves . . . Drivers, the Michelin Guide must be your
work. Please don’t be easy on it [ne ménagez pas votre peine] for the sake of the
Guide [emphasis in the original].” Little distinguished the indulgence of parents
from that of readers. More to the point, Michelin’s prescribed parenting was gender
specific.
You are all part of the same big family. More than any other, [the family] needs its
members to practice the motto All for one and one for all. In particular, you fathers [pères
de famille] give [the guide] to your sons during your vacation. Have them go through
the details. Let those young brains so taken with novelties come up with an original idea
[for improvement of the guides]. Thus you will have well served the cause of motoring. 19
[emphases in the original]
The Michelin guide of 1905 included a postcard to make the process easier, so
that the driver might “serve all of his brothers in motoring [frères en automobile]
[italics in the original].” 20 The language was unmistakable; not only were men in
control of their families as well as their cars, but also motoring itself was construed
196