I started the day trying to learn more about this 1953 Detroit Ford anniversary thing, but never got there.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/117891934@N07/15616640721/

Steve dug into this, and found out something similar to what I did, there doesn't seem to be any other photos of this on the internet, and he spent a couple hours to get the following info, which I want him to know I appreciate a lot!

The temporary building was a temporary display promoting the newly refurbished Ford Rotunda in Dearborn, and displays on the 50 years of Ford in general. It was located at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue in Detroit.

The little blue building contained displays of the 'new' Rotunda designed to entice the locals to travel the 8.4 miles to Dearborn to see it in person. The blurb on each side says (I think) "Visit The New Ford Rotunda Opening on June 16."

That's the statue of General Alexander Macomb in front of it, and the tall building in the extreme background is the Book Tower (built as the Book Cadillac Hotel, and now the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel). The Book Tower Garage and the Complete Home Outfitters to the left appear to be gone.

The Rotunda was originally built in Chicago for the 1934 World’s Fair and after the fair was dismantled and relocated in Dearborn, and redesigned to resemble four gears stacked in decreasing sizes. It reopened in 1936.

In 1942 the Rotunda was closed and converted into office space and school for the Army Air Corps. After the war it sat empty until 1952, when remodeling began in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Ford Motor Company in 1953.

After it reopened, the Rotunda became the fifth most popular tourist destination in the country in the 1950s. It burned down in November 1962

a Department of Street Railways Chartered Coach Division woodie and bus

why the railway dept had bought a woody is a question

https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/bysearchterm?keyword=Ford+Motor+Company&page=7

Count de Sakhnoffsky's design on a Lincoln station wagon

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/desakhnoffsky/

good news, I just found a couple designs of read engined cars by Count De Sakhnoffsky, and a sheet on interior designs

https://www.flickr.com/photos/autohistorian/8400648786/in/photostream/

the Lincoln-Mercury Sports Panel, seems to be a handful of legendary athlete's that did publicity for Ford- Lincoln- and Mercury, like Olympic games coverage from 1960 to 1973, and the annual Detroit autoshow

a 1971 Lincoln-Mercury advertising display that has been signed by Gordie Howe, Al Kaline, Sharron Moran, Jesse Owens, and Bart Starr.

Selling the American Muscle Car: Marketing Detroit Iron in the 60s and 70s By Diego Rosenberg

Dan Gurney was also on the panel!

and Gordie Howe

So, here in the above photo are a couple really famous names, Howe, Starr, and Palmer.

Yes, Arnold Palmer, probably the most famous golfer, was giving away merch, as probably all of these celebs were, with this promotional situation

But a mid 70's car with all their autographs? I've never heard of the LM Sports Panel before, nor this autographed car

But if you graduated before 1989, you remember reel to reel movies in class, and the LM SPorts Panel did a movie like that, for teens in athletics, for motivation and a first hand account of their offer advice to young athletes and share their winning psychology... with Frank Gifford, Gordie Howe, Al Kaline, Byron Nelson, and Jesse Owens  https://www.worldcat.org/title/lincoln-mercury-sports-panel/oclc/183198756


https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/bysearchterm?keyword=Ford+Motor+Company&page=7
https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/57783
https://kb.osu.edu/discover?filtertype=subject&filter_relational_operator=equals&filter=Lincoln-Mercury%20Sports%20Panel
http://www.thegolfauction.com/arnold_palmer_signed_sleeve_box_of_lincoln_mercury-lot24331.aspx

the Ford Motor Company had a fleet of ships, for moving iron ore down the great lakes to Detroit

Built in 1924 for use by the Ford Motor Company, the Benson Ford was original utilized to transport iron ore and related materials across the Great Lakes by the growing auto company.

A sister ship, the Henry Ford II, was commissioned to the American Ship Building Company, Lorain, Ohio, and scheduled for completion several weeks prior to the Benson Ford; however, a tornado struck Lorain prior to completion and delayed construction of the Henry Ford II. Consequently, the Benson Ford sailed first.

Above the Henry Ford II in L'Anse  http://www.baragacountyhistoricalmuseum.com/photohistory/picture_ford_sawmill_1920s_henryfordII.JPG

Both ships were named after Henry Ford’s grandsons and the Henry Ford II was officially launched by the youngsters through electrical remote control in Detroit. Clearly the most modern ships on the Great Lakes, the twin ships were the cornerstone of the Ford Motor Company’s lake transport system.

After more than 50 years of tireless service, the Benson Ford was decommissioned in December of 1981 and stripped of the engine and other salvageable parts, sold to Sullivan Marine, for intended use as a barge; however, it never sailed again.

After much consideration, Sullivan decided it would not be cost effective to utilize the ship on the Great Lakes and opted for a less conventional use, so, the entire forward superstructure was removed and transported by the barge to South Bass Island, also called Put-in-Bay.

The 62’ X 59’ foot section was then used as a 7,000 square foot, four story, summer home, which included the walnut paneled state rooms, dining room, galley, and passenger lounge designed by Henry Ford for his own pleasure while traversing the Great Lakes on business.

Company burgee from the Ford Motor Company steamship fleet. The flag is blue and yellow and is made of heavy cotton in a swallowtail shape. It has a blue border (5 inches wide) along all of the edges except for the hoist. The center area is yellow and contains a blue silhouette image of a bluebird in flight.

the pilot house of the William Clay Ford was cut off and mounted as an observation room on Belle Island

http://shiponthebay.com/history.html
https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/bysearchterm?keyword=Steamships&page=5

The Jim Lattin collection was on My Classic Car

Thank you Jeff J for clinking my tip jar!

one of the few, a photo of a service station work truck, but not it's tow truck. Paul's Gulf Service Station, Jamestown New York

https://www.flickr.com/photos/117891934@N07/24730774260/

Al Delong's Texaco station... a glimpse of a gas station in the prime of it's time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/117891934@N07/25021660509/

1961 Lincoln Continental Presidential Limousine - 1962 President John F. Kennedy and Ivory Coast President Felix Houphouet-Boigny

https://www.flickr.com/photos/117891934@N07/35981138031/

Compare it to Jackie's bubbletop:

Known by its Secret Service fleet number, 297-X, the new car was intended for more extensive use.
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-first-ladies-bubbletop-lincoln.html

loading up for the days deliveries

https://www.flickr.com/photos/117891934@N07/41618368885/

Did you know that Shorpy has about 250 photos of old gas stations? If you want to look at them, as they are in very large size, you will probably find some cool details

https://www.shorpy.com/old-filling-stations

cool gas station

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/old-gas-stations.75124/page-138#post-2369976

if you're anywhere near Minneapolis, you really ought to ponder, did you ever stop by the Chun Mee restaurant?

John Chun escaped from North Korea twice

He designed the coiled cobra on every Shelby Mustang sold today.

He thought the original emblem Shelby was using lacked menace, so he drew, and drew, and redrew, and finally came up with the coiled, fangs-bared symbol that any Shelby fan will immediately recognize today.

He was born in 1928, north of the 38th parallel that would come to divide Korea. The country was controlled by Japan at the time, with Korean culture brutally repressed. By the time Chun was ten, occupying Japanese forces had outlawed even speaking Korean. Then, war in the Pacific.

He emigrated to the US as an engineering student, arriving in Sacramento in 1957. Despite a limited grasp of English, his practical skills impressed instructors, one of whom suggested he enroll at the Art Center College of Design. Tuition was $350 a semester in 1958

He worked a full shift as a mechanic at International Harvester, and later at a GM truck shop. He paid his own way, becoming the first Korean student to graduate from ArtCenter.

Ford, GM, and Chrysler turned him down. But then Fred Goodell, chief engineer at Shelby American, came looking for recruits

Chun sat down at his desk in a converted hangar at Los Angeles airport, and began to draw. He was tasked with coming up with a concept for Shelby's followup to the inaugural Mustang GT350.

He married his wife, Helen, in 1978, and they bought the Chun Mee restaurant in 1986.
John passed away in 2013, the restaurant was full of photos and drawings of the 67-69 GT 500 Shelby Cobra Mustang

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27376687/the-north-korean-designer-responsible-for-the-1967-shelby-gt500
http://www.startribune.com/car-designer-builds-classic-success-story/165662766/
(thanks Mario!)

A car dealership HBO was using as a filming location went up in flames, more than two dozen '90s-era vehicles, including Corvettes and Camaros, were destroyed.

The dealership is located in Ellenville, New York. The fire was so massive 15 local fire departments were called on the scene. Fuel from all the vehicles caused several explosions. The Drive reports that several of the destroyed vintage Chevrolets were supplied by a company owned by Automobile Magazine's New York Bureau Chief Jamie Kitman.

https://www.powernationtv.com/post/fire-on-film-set-destroys-dozens-of-vintage-chevrolet-corvettes-and-camaros
http://carsradars.com/classic-cars/a-ton-of-pristine-1990-chevrolets-were-just-incinerated-in-a-fire/

Bill Nye's parents... wow.

His dad was a POW in WW2 for 44 months, because he was a Seabee on Wake Island installing an airstrip when the Japanese captured him, and his mom was a code breaker "code girls"

You can hear Bill Nye tell his parent's history in
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1079-armchair-expert-with-dax-28955120/  from the 5 minute mark to the 14 minute mark

https://math.asu.edu/events/code-girls a little about the Code Girls
https://www.lizamundy.com/code-girls/gallery-2/  for images

you can read an abbreviated version of the capture of Wake Island in late Dec 1941, https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1941/philippines/defenders-of-wake.html and it wasn't back in American control until the Japanese surrendered in September 1945

FYI, in 1972, Bill's mom was denied a credit card, because she was a "Mrs" and that automatically categorized her as a woman without income or credit that would qualify her, according to American Express

That's how recently things were seriously ridiculous

By the way, Bill Nye worked at Boeing as an engineer for 3 years, then went to work at Honeywell

it took a really big ship to take out a really big bridge

39 Years ago yesterday...….St. Petersburg Fla

https://www.facebook.com/groups/stiffspeed/permalink/1742663665880242/