Congratulations to our new Governor... Whoever he may be!

As I write this the 2014 Colorado Gubernatorial election has yet to be decided. As I went to bed last night I thought for sure I would wake up today and know who our next Governor would be but apparently we'll have to wait. This election was Colorado's first all mail-in ballot. I'm not sure what that tells us - American culture today turns up its nose at anything to do with snail-mail yet we deem it a step forward when we elect to choose our civic leaders that way.

Akron Weekly Pioneer Press Front Page 

Back in 1914, the year leading up to the legislative session that would create our company, voters didn't have the option of voting by mail. Most Coloradoans didn't even have the option of climbing into their own vehicle and driving to the polls.

Most of us this year were not thrilled with the amount of political advertising on T.V. but my sympathies go out to those voting in November 1914 - they had 45 propositions on the ballot, including whether to make Colorado 'dry' by implementing Prohibition.

The Prohibition proposition passed, although like the current vote for Governor it also was too close to call for several days after the election, and Colorado was scheduled to become completely 'dry' on January 1, 2016. National Prohibition didn't become effective until 1920 so Colorado was ahead of its time. Colorado would also repeal Prohibition and legalize alcohol ahead of the nation in 1933, and of course we led again in November 2012 by being the first state to eliminate marijuana prohibition by making its recreational use legal. This year's election cycle saw Oregon and Washington D.C. pass marijuana initiatives and Alaska's vote on the issue is still being counted.

For those Coloradoan's who could afford a car in 1914 they had a choice of gas or electric; given that any thought of global warming was still decades away the makers of the 1914 Fritchle Electic Car were really, really ahead of their time. Given that November weather in Colorado can be somewhat cool the proud owners of the Fritchle could have sought accommodations at the Denver Albany Hotel (17th & Stout Streets) and waited for the election results to sort themselves out. A room at the  Albany, which was demolished in 1976, would have set you back $1.50 per night.