On This Day

Tuesday 19th October 1915

104 years ago

American actress Anita King, backed by Jesse L Lasky, the studio boss of Paramount Pictures, became the first female to drive alone across the US. Driving a car supplied by the Kissel Motor Car Company she received a hero's welcome in New York City with one newspaper remarking that she had arrived with California "air" in her tyres. Dubbed "The Paramount Girl," amidst much publicity on August 25th she set out in her "Kissel Kar" from Paramount's studio in Hollywood. The Los Angeles Times newspaper is reported to have written a story that said "There will be nobody with her at any time on the trip. Her only companions will be a rifle and a six shooter." First heading north to San Francisco, Anita King spent several days doing publicity appearances at the Panama-Pacific World's Fair. With even more fanfare, and declaring that "if men can do it, so can a woman," she headed east.