looks like it's from the early days....teens or so. Before cars had built in speedometers, they might have an accessory speedometer like this. Note they didn't drive cars real far, 9999.9 miles was a lifetime.
From Russ Furstnow's The Antique Automobile Speedometer; In 1908, Stewart and Clark Mfg. became embroiled in legal battles with Warner Instrument Company of Beloit, WI, over alleged patent infringements relating to the "magnetic principle" and other areas specific to the operation of each company's speedometer. The Warner Instrument Company, formed in 1903, had been producing the Warner Auto-Meter for expensive, high-quality automobiles prior to the litigation. Warner stated that they originated the magnetic principle, and Warner Instrument Co. was the first company to produce a speed and distance indicator in one instrument...In a 1910 booklet describing the Warner Auto-Meter, the writer explained, "The Auto-Meter originated the Magnetic Principle now so widely exploited in cheap form under another name (e.g. Stewart and Clark) and it was copied by its younger rivals." In 1912, John K. Stewart and Edgar B***ick ad the two entrepreneurs purchased the Warner Instrument Company, ending the legal bickering between the two companies. The former Warner plant in Beloit was converted to a foundry and production of the Warner speedometer was moved to Chicago. One interesting fact is that when Stewart-Warner acquired another speedometer company, the original company name was usually maintained as another line of speedometers within the organization. The Warner Auto-Meter became the top-of-the-line speedometer within the Stewart family. Based on the above info, I'd say your speedometer probably dates to 1910-1912. I believe that the Warner Auto-Meters produced after the merger would have the Chicago address as does the one below;
Wow! That pretty much dates it within a few years, and older than I thought! Thanks to both of you for the input!
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