a section of the abandoned Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, is now (in 1958) backyards and kids used the macadam of the road to create a basketball court.

Oct. 15, 1958.  This section of the road was south of Tranverse Road, between Pell Terrace and Russell Roads in Garden City.

https://projects.newsday.com/feature-grid/long-island/vintage-newsday/#vanderbilt-motor-parkway

Vanderbilt Cup Race souveniers coming to auction

https://rmsothebys.com/en/home/lots/hf23

I don't know what Roseville Pottery is, or why it's showing the Vanderbilt Cup Race, but, I like that they made both red and blue variations to distinguish the Vanderbilt family car, and the Astor family car (thanks Marc!)

Marc filled me in on what these are, and sent me a link to a Jalopnik article, which refers to Mr Jalopy's website post https://www.instagram.com/cocosvariety (wow, I got such a kick out of his blogs in 2006-2008, even met him once when I stopped by his bike store just to let him know he'd been a great influence on me to blog https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-looked-up-my-jalopys-bike-shop-cocos.html)

the Ohio-based Roseville Pottery Company were part of the relatively inexpensive art-pottery market in the early 1900s. Roseville produced a lot of different types and genres of styles and designs. Here are their only automotive-based line, known as the Tourist or Touring series.  https://www.pbs.org/video/roseville-tourist-jardiniere-ca-1915-4hzzei/

https://jalopnik.com/there-was-once-a-genre-of-pottery-all-about-making-fun-1846046478

The Tourist pattern captures the early days of motoring when it was viewed as an annoying folly of the rich. Each piece takes a poke at motorists wherein the broken down car is pulled by horse team, the auto scares chickens or a horse is spooked which throws the rider.

https://www.proxibid.com/Matthews-Auctions-LLC/Day-2-Bob-Harrington-Display-Auction/event-catalog/238073?p=3&sort=0#cnTb

and now you can see 5 different pieces that Bob Harrington collected

William (Willy K) Vanderbilt's Sikorsky S 43, in San Diego, in 1937

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72157711086321396/with/48804314362/

This is the Vanderbilt that was so in love with cars he started Vanderbilt Cup races  https://www.huntingtonny.gov/filestorage/13747/99540/16499/William_K._Vanderbilt_II.pdf

The problem was, he impressed the wrong people with it, and the Army brass decided they REALLY liked it for their own comfortable flying around to international golf courses. (am I guessing, or spot on?) 

It was "impressed" by the U.S. Army Air Corps 14 September 1941 and designated OA-11, 42-001. It was destroyed in a crash landing in Trinidad, Nov 1941.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sikorsky_S-43_NC-16925_(5996028804).jpg

https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/cradle_of_aviation_archives_willie_ks_sikorsky_s_43_seaplane_at_roosevelt_f

Actress Natalie Kingston in the Jackman Special,1927

https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/early_women_drivers

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/auto-racing-1894-1942.380814/page-384

that way!

The "man in the felt hat" was 54-year old George Robertson, vice-president and manager of the new Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury. Robertson was the winner of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race in the "Old 16" Locomobile and participated in the 1905 American Elimination Trial driving a Christie.

This photo was taken on the track of Roosevelt Raceway, which was still under construction. The likely date was June 12, 1936, the official press "ground-breaking" day for the track which promoted the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

The logo on the racer reads "Lau Motors Special." There was no Lau Motors Special in the 1936 race.

My guess is that it was a photo op (obviously) where the race track needed someone quickly to show up with any race car they could bring, because the track wasn't finished and operating yet, but some newpaper wanted to get photos to run with the story

https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_39_can_you_identify_the_man_in_the_felt_hat

reminds me immediately of a Baby Vanderbilt Cup racer

I posted a BVC racer before: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-baby-vanderbilt-cup-racer-with.html

This one is in the Bill Smith Collection Museum of American Speed in Nebraska

http://wildandbad.tumblr.com/image/172477092638 via http://www.classiccartravelguide.com/smith-collection-museum-american-speed-nebraska/

Beautifully colorized photo of 1908 Vanderbilt Cup # 5 Mercedes 90 Hp driven by William Luttgen

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1725834954412086.1073741883.100009567938826&type=3

Sartori in Vanderbilt's 1906 250 hp automobile

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1725834954412086.1073741883.100009567938826&type=3

Remember the Stout Scarab? Well, William Stout was a syndicated newpaper columnist before making cars, writing a page a week for kids on how to make something cool using a jack knife

And he used the "nom de plume" / "pen name" (a name used by a writer instead of the writer's real name) Jack Kneiff.

In the above example, he reports on the Vanderbilt Cup race on the left, and the lower right tells kids how to make a push car that uses a rubber band to speed up once they release it

Thanks Steve!

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1912/12/15/page/58/article/paper-toys-for-jack-kneiffs-boys

lesson learned from the 3rd Vanderbilt Cup, held Oct 6th 1906

Many spectators crowded the race area, and one was killed. Many tore down the barb wire fences and fenceposts designed to keep them away from the road. Some declared that the public has at all times a right to use any highway, and that no one had a right to set any highway aside for the use of a few to the exclusion of any others.

This may have had something to do with the actions of the crowd at the race.

 One result of these facts is that W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr., August Belmont, L. C. Weir, Frederick G. Bourne, Colgate Hoyt, Harry Payne Whitney and others have determined to buy a right of way, and on it make the greatest speedway the world has ever known.

At a meeting of the gentlemen named a committee was requested to decide on plans for the construction of such speedway, which, it was said, should extend from New York City to the eastern end of Long Island, a distance of more than eighty miles.

It would probably lie along the southern edge of the great glacial drift and be fairly level without tight turns, which were so dangerous to the racers in the last contest. Such right of way would be private property, would have no crossing of a highway or of a railroad, therefore would be almost completely under the control of its owners.

Every rod of the way could then be walled or fenced so that neither man nor beast could trespass to risk his own life or that of a speeding driver of an automobile. As there need be no lack of money for the purpose, this speedway may be the very highest possible exhibit of man's skill in road-making. It may easily become the race-course of the civilized world,.

Good Roads magazine, Nov 1906

The Christie at the hairpin turn on the Vanderbilt cup race 1906

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/race_profile_the_1906_vanderbilt_cup_race

Jim Rathmann and Carroll Shelby at the 1960 Vanderbilt Cup Race (publicity shots)

The race was held in the parking lot of Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury on June 19, 1960.

the race was actually Formula Jr cars, not brass era



http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_5_can_you_identify_these_two_vanderbilt_cup_race_driver

the trophy for achieving the 1904 land speed record at Ormand Beach Florida

Made by the Gorham trophy company, who also made the Borg Warner trophy (Indy 500)

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_trophy_that_may_have_inspired_the_vanderbilt_cup

the Michelin mascot, Bibendum, was the groundwork for a 2500 page, 4 volume, thesis on graphic design by Professor Pau Medrano Bigas. All in Spanish, but available, just without the images, because of concerns for copyright on 100 year old advertising.

Professor Pau Medrano Bigas, Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Barcelona, has spent ten years researching Michelin's graphic history. In July 2015, Pau presented his doctorate thesis The forgotten years of Bibendum: the American stage of Michelin in Milltown. Design, illustration and advertising at tire companies (1900-1930). Several sections of his thesis detailed how Michelin promoted and advertised their tires at the Vanderbilt Cup Races and other great races of the era.

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_race_to_a_doctorate_michelin_bibendum_and_the_vanderbilt_cup_races

(wow, that... is EFFORT to be completely THOROUGH!) and I tell you I'd love to look through and admire all the advertising in it.

UPDATE Apr 2016, Dr Pau emailed me, and let me know that " I'm trying to find the way to translate my Thesis in english in order to make it available for all people. When I will find it, sure it will be reproduced in high ressolution with all the images. I will asure it will be a big surprise for all interested people in design advertising and motor-world)."

STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ACROSS FOUR VOLUMES
 The first volume, in addition to the statement of sources and the bibliography, reflects on the importance of advertising mascots in the early twentieth century in Europe and, especially, the United States, before an in-depth study of the origins of the Bibendum mascot.

The 2nd volume returns to the origins of the the industry in New Jersey and the birth of the American Michelin factory in the city of Milltown. The author details the factory’s activity and portrays the personal and professional profile of Jules Hauvette-Michelin, a member of the Michelin family who was sent from France to act as Vice-President of the business. The importance of paternalistic structures put in place by Michelin (building housing for employees, sports associations) is well understood. The author undertakes the significant work of cross-checking information on men, staffing, economic results, advertising budgets, providing completely new information to better understand the importance of this implementation. The Michelin patriotic commitment during World War It is presented as central to the success of the Company, while the author makes broad comparisons based on a vast inventory of patriotic campaigns launched by Michelin and its competitors, in the United States first, but also in France, England, Italy and Germany.

The 3rd volume attempts to describe the American Michelin advertising strategies in the United States but also creates a portrait of the three advertising illustrators that contributed to the success of the firm’s campaigns.

The 4th and final volume is a detailed study of the advertising campaigns of Michelin’s competitors in the United States during the years between 1900 and 1930.

Each chapter consists of a written section followed by content developed around illustrations that are indispensable to gaining a global understanding of the work.

Vanderbilt Cup Races in Milwaukee - 1912

Terrific photo, found on https://www.facebook.com/isabelle.bracquemond.7?fref=photo

Oldfield, Burman, DePalma and Rickenbacker... all in one race, the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup at the San Francisco Worlds Fair race track during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition

Bob Burman driving the #30 case

Eddie Rickenbacker in the #17 Maxwell

Ralph DePalma in the #22 Mercedes

Barney Oldfield in the #1  Maxwell

Images from http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/starting_lineup_the_1915_vanderbilt_cup_race_in_san_francisco

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/341211-period-images-to-relieve-some-of-the-stress/page/433/

the Baby Vanderbilt Cup racer with an Indian motorcycle engine at the Dan Rouit Flat Track museum

Found on https://www.facebook.com/marc.tudeau  and  http://www.vft.org/ForSaleWanted/SinglePages/IndianCycleCar/IndianCycleCar.html

Peter Helck, car guy and artist in the same league as Normal Rockwell, and sharing a founding members duties with Norman as well, of the Famous Artists School.

"my interest in cars dates from childhood. I'm old enough to remember the automobile as a novelty, a rarity of sufficient interest to amaze and attract a swarm of youngsters whenever one came to a smoke-belching standstill on West 96th Street in New York City."

"My art schooling was of the standard type - drawing from antique casts, the nude figure, etc. - all unrelated to my love of cars. In 1913 this fascination got a substantial lift. I won the poster contest for Brooklyn's annual auto show and a job with a small firm engaged in advertising and press agentry. Its clients in both categories were automotive. I became submerged in the delightful atmosphere of auto race promotions."

"Drawing cars was my daily stint, made even more pleasurable by the $20 per week salary and the frequent glimpses of famous figures from New York's "Automobile Row. From then to now I suppose eighty percent of my professional work has involved automotives. I've had years of national campaigns for Packard, Republic, Ford, Mack, Chevrolet, and other highway haulers."

"But the occasions for picturing what the enthusiasts love to call "The Heroic age" or "The Golden age" of automobiling diminished with Detroit's policy of change or face-lifting with every fleeting year. This was sad stuff for an artist so irrevocably addicted to the early romantic periods of motoring. By 1926 I had already signified my interest in old cars and my hobby potential by acquiring a few elderly specimens like Mercedes, Renault and Locomobile."

it might explain his interest in vintage cars when you learn he had some, well, a collection of some

Found on http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2014/03/peter-helck-like-piece-of-music-some.html

Lindley Bothwell.. some people are inherently amazing, some are forged by the times they live in, some are both... I'm not sure which category he fit, but he was astonishing.

He invented some pretty cool things, like cheerleading. Well, sort of, cheer yelling might be more accurate. Not impressed? He invented flashcards for the specators at college football games to use to make those stadium seating areas display ginormous pictures of his team mascot smashing the other team mascot. And releasing balloons in tandem to float up in his teams letter.

He completed a masters at USC, and another unnamed degree, then went to Oregon State University to study agriculture (leading to owning 34 orange grove ranches and becoming in the top 10 largest citrus farmers in the US, and now the last in the Fernando Valley) and while at a game at Notre Dame impressed Knute Rockne so much Knute made him a honorary cheerleader at the Rose Bowl game against Stanford.

Impressed yet?

How about attaining the largest private car collection in the world? Not as large as collections since, but at the time, the biggest.

He loved old cars, and especially old racing cars... so much he invented vintage racing. No one else was, so I say he invented it. Prove me wrong. He was the Los Angeles regional director of the SCCA, and took a 1913 Puegot to the Indy 500 (it had won the 1916 Indy 500) so he could have fun... and inadvertently set a speed record, but didn't qualify for the race. It was 1949.

He collected horse drawn street cars, and was the only one to do so, and I'm sure he was the only person to save any for posterity.

Amazed yet? Hell, this is only the bits from the Wikipedia page!

At 12 Bothwell discovered the allure of speed by whizzing down Los Angeles' Cahuenga Pass at 50 mph on a high-wheeled coaster cart.
In 1926 he bought his first old car, a 1901 Olds
in 1928 a 1909 Benz driven by Eddie Hearne
and a 1907 Stearns which had known the heavy foot of the great Barney Oldfield.
" His chief regret is that no one else west of the Rockies maintains a similar stable, against which he might have a rousing series. " as the racing on Catalina Island and state fairs

he staged the 1950 Vanderbilt Cup in Santa Monica which Ralph De Palma officiated...

The "vintage racers" he collected
the 1913 boat-tailed Peugeot with which Dario Resta won the 1916 Indianapolis "500"
1913 Stutz once driven by famed Bob Burman,
 a 1916 Hudson
 a 1910 Buick.
1914 Ford,
1907 Stearns of Barney Oldfield,
1909 Pope-Hartford,
 1908 Benz,
1907 Packard,
1914 Ford,
 1909 Benz probably the Blitzen Benz, was the Oldfield world speed record breaker of 100mph
 1910 Buick,
1909 Mercedes,
1914 National,
1916 Hudson placed 8th at the Indy 500
1910 Simplex,
1905 Mercedes
 1912 Cadillac.

info from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1133626/index.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindley_Bothwell

November 1952 issue of Motorsports:

found on http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/pictures?userid={161BD2CF-C5CD-446B-B028-586AF136C181}&inv=8B7C8CB6972B330&userid={161BD2CF-C5CD-446B-B028-586AF136C181}&inv=8B7C8CB6972B330&albumid={FDEA0978-EA2B-409A-BAE6-B6C62751982F}

the 1913 Puegot, winner of the 1916 Indy 500

Color photos from http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?55599-Lindley-Bothwell