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Period images to relieve some of the stress

Walt G

By Walt G
in Period Photos - Pre WWII

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Casper Friederich 1,000+ Points

Casper Friederich

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46 minutes ago, Walt G said:

 

the grainy touring car photo is one i would like all you who enjoy obscure cars of the 1920s will have to ponder and let us know what you think it is.

 

 

BIRCHcar001.jpg

I am pretty sure it's a Commonwealth, the last was made in 1922 when Morris Markin of Checker Taxi cab fame took over the company.

Edited by Casper Friederich (see edit history)
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Walt G 25,000+ Points

Walt G

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No, not a Commonwealth , I will give a few hints, the brochure I got the image from is dated 1922 and the car was available in both 4 and 6 cylinder Herschell-Spillman motors. Body styles were: three passenger roadster, four passenger sport model( touring), 7 passenger sedan. 117 inch wheelbase.

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wayne sheldon 25,000+ Points

wayne sheldon

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Part of what is SO interesting (at least for people like me!) about studying old era photographs is understanding how our world has changed so very much in those years and on up until now. Things we take for granted today (and some things for half a century now?) hadn't even occurred to people in those days. They didn't mind at all riding in open cars for a half hour in the cold rain (or even snow) because they had made the same trip several times before and taken way more than an hour on or behind a horse! Only a short time in an automobile was so much more pleasant than two to three times the time in a buggy or sitting in a saddle. The change for them was so dramatic, it didn't even occur to them that being wet and cold for a short time would eventually be considered extremely inconvenient. Today, so very many people have full size pickup trucks or SUVs and specialty trailers to carry their boats, gardening supplies, horses (or mules, I believe that is a mule!), and yes, antique automobiles, that it is difficult to understand WHY would a person carry a horse in that manner???? Holy criminy! It might take a dump all over the back seat (horses and mules along with many other critters do that sort of thing a LOT and whenever the feeling says so without any consideration of where they are) or piss all over the seat and floor (almost worse if you have ever tried to clean THAT up?). Yet, over the years and thousands of photos I have looked at closely, I have seen a dozen or more with touring cars carrying horses, hogs, goats, and other things we today would never consider appropriate. I have also seen at least three photos of cars with the factory body removed or altered specifically to haul horses (wish I had them on my computer or hard copies I could find to scan and share?).

 

I sometimes remark about the hundreds, even thousands of photos I have studied over the years. Race car photos alone probably number way over a thousand by now. Maybe even two or three thousand.  Regular everyday automobiles and street scenes from 1900 into the mid '30s? I probably passed into the tens of thousands years ago. Seventy years of HCCA Gazettes, fifty years of the Antique Automobile, a few hundred Bulb Horn and lesser numbers of other hobby magazines, probably fifty or so books on the subject, a small personal collection of era photos myself, and having spent many hours perusing other photo collector's private stashes. God knows how many hundreds of hours on the internet, this forum and a couple model T forums mostly, but a lot of time doing specific research related to antique automobiles. It adds up! And think about it a moment, this one thread alone. Now over two hundred pages, if ONLY twenty photos per page? (Twenty-five posts per page, some posts like this one do not contain a photo, however many posts have two or even several photos.) We must be near five thousand era photos in this thread ITSELF!

 

My heartfelt thanks to ALL that have contributed!

Edited by wayne sheldon
Added the "mules" comment. (see edit history)
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Walt G 25,000+ Points

Walt G

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Wayne, thank you for your thoughtful words. They are exactly how I feel, and messages sent to me directly state that as well. It goes beyond the subject of the vehicle shown itself, and ones eyes and mind can wander and appreciate the details in the background, architecture, street and store signs, license plates, clothes being worn that are also "of the era". I am so pleased that many people are enjoying the view of the past that so many people who have contributed to this thread have made possible. And it is all pre WWII!   I , by no means want to ignore post WWII era cars but feel that there is a lot more information and images of that era that have been preserved and saved and are easier to access . All current publications, club or commercial are featuring post war cars and trucks - understandable , a 1970 car is now 50 years old -  I think these are great , but they were new in the showroom when I was already a member of AACA for  5 years .

I just thought that those of you who have not been around to see the pre war photographs could understand and appreciate the vehicles of that era if I started this. Henry Austin Clark Jr. was my mentor, and lived only about 15 miles north of me , I worked for him while attending graduate school to earn a few $, as his librarian, so got to see first hand 5 or more days per week his collection that now resides in the Henry Ford Museum. That time spent opened my eyes to photos, publications , brochures , programs etc that I had never knew existed and was world wide in scope , not just USA makes. It inspired me to collect even more for my own library/archives and know what to look /seek especially in European material. My focus was not a broad as Austin's as I mostly enjoy the larger cars of the WWI to WWII era, and was fortunate enough to have a close friend in England who was a motor book dealer that would act upon my behalf when he saw something he absolutely knew I would want. I was glad that happened for nearly 40 years.

I will echo Wayne's words " My heartfelt thanks to ALL that have contributed".

WG

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58L-Y8 25,000+ Points

58L-Y8

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8 hours ago, Walt G said:

No, not a Commonwealth , I will give a few hints, the brochure I got the image from is dated 1922 and the car was available in both 4 and 6 cylinder Herschell-Spillman motors. Body styles were: three passenger roadster, four passenger sport model( touring), 7 passenger sedan. 117 inch wheelbase.

Walt, I think you've stumped us all with this one.  Okay, we give up, what obscure make is this touring car? 

 

I'd like to add my thanks to all who have contributed.  Wish I could contribute more but simply haven't collected that much which would be worthwhile to post.  Know that I've greatly enjoyed and learned much from all these wonderful images. 

Edited by 58L-Y8
An appriciation for all who have contributed so much. (see edit history)
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Walt G 25,000+ Points

Walt G

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OK here you go all. The car is a Birch built in Chicago, USA.   The images come from a fairly nice sales folder they issued that is 8 1/2 x 11 and has four pages total.

Glad to get all of you thinking about what you are looking at. I promise the next "puzzle/mystery" I have will be much easier , well maybe not 😯

BIRCHcar002.jpg

BIRCHcar003.jpg

Edited by Walt G (see edit history)
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58L-Y8 25,000+ Points

58L-Y8

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13 hours ago, Walt G said:

OK here you go all. The car is a Birch built in Chicago, USA.   The images come from a fairly nice sales folder they issued that is 8 1/2 x 11 and has four pages total.

Glad to get all of you thinking about what you are looking at. I promise the next "puzzle/mystery" I have will be much easier , well maybe not 😯

BIRCHcar002.jpg

BIRCHcar003.jpg

Thanks Walt, I would have never determined it was a Birch.  I had to look in the Standard Catalog about them, certainly an unusual way to manufacture and promote the make, maybe more for the benefit of Birch Motor College.  The Birch does look like the Commonwealth, maybe both being in the Chicago area, they both sourced their radiators from the same supplier.   The era of the assembled car was analogous to the 'wild west' of auto-making. 

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John_Mereness 25,000+ Points

John_Mereness

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15 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

Part of what is SO interesting (at least for people like me!) about studying old era photographs is understanding how our world has changed so very much in those years and on up until now. Things we take for granted today (and some things for half a century now?) hadn't even occurred to people in those days. They didn't mind at all riding in open cars for a half hour in the cold rain (or even snow) because they had made the same trip several times before and taken way more than an hour on or behind a horse!

Henry Ford did very well thinking through the needs and on the flip side of the coin Andre Citroen was well ahead of his time thinking through uses as well, though you are very much correct as when I have a 30's car out (or especially earlier cars) people are very quick to comment on its beauty matched to its impracticality from little to no storage, no heat, blankets on the robe rail, mass, and ....

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34LaSalleClubSedan 10,000+ Points

34LaSalleClubSedan

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1 hour ago, John_Mereness said:

Sidenote:  When I see photos like this it is a reminder about how much more advanced airplanes have been (and still are) over automobiles.

Too bad you can't say the same thing about airline passenger's now, compared to the classy passenger's in the photo back then 😮✈️ 

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Pilgrim65 5,000+ Points

Pilgrim65

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11 minutes ago, John_Mereness said:

From Riots to Renaissance: Bronzeville: The Black Metropolis ...

I know the Indian Royal families were big collectors of rolls Royce’s in 20s and 30s as remembered seeing repatriated examples at auction , imagine they were they also big collectors of American top marques , did many return to USA 

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John_Mereness

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1 hour ago, Pilgrim65 said:

I know the Indian Royal families were big collectors of rolls Royce’s in 20s and 30s as remembered seeing repatriated examples at auction , imagine they were they also big collectors of American top marques , did many return to USA 

Given the Illinois license plate, I would say this family was quite influential in their community (the car I believe is a 1931 Pierce Arrow Model 41 Town Car - a top of the line body style in any marque of the period), unfortunately the photo did not describe the owner's name or occupation.  The topic of the post was Bronzeville in the Chicago area https://interactive.wttw.com/dusable-to-obama/bronzeville. 

 

As to automobiles from India, I believe they are protected and I assume other countries as well matched to pure paperwork headaches and shipping costs, I would say most remained in countries they were sent to or adjoining countries.  I do know it was quite the "thing" to do a tour of Europe and bring back your collector car that you bought there or the tour or stumbled across while there. plus it was fairly easy for those in the Military Service to bring cars from a lot of counties into the US. 

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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