[Photo Album]: Glidden Tours Press Photographs
![[Photo Album]: Glidden Tours Press Photographs](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/152/561/1427561152.0.x.jpg)
- Hardcover
- 1917
1917. Hardcover. Good. Oblong small quarter measuring 10.5" x 7". Stapled black leather photo album. Contains 80 sepia-toned or black and white silver gelatin photographs measuring between 2" x 4" and 5" x 7" with typed captions and handwritten editorial notes. good only album with nearly detached boards, worn leather, and detached but present pages with very good photographs with some creasing and edgewear.
An album of press photography of Glidden car tours and early automobiles taken between 1906 and 1917. The photographs follow various car tours, car owners, and new models of automobiles and include typed captions below each photograph. The album begins with crowds at the beginning of a Glidden tour in Detroit dated 1909 with spectators viewing the cars and drivers preparing their vehicles, referred to as Gliddenites. Once the tours started the photographer captures the events from a press car which follows the participants through a course over several states. The comments featured for these images mention the state they’re passing through and what it’s known for. One caption reads, “out in Kansas, the land of the Sunflower and the Jack Rabbit who is shot down in droves by posses of farmers who decry attacks make upon crops by this leaping pest.” Throughout the event the passengers of the press car detail every aspect of the tour including the roads, reliability of the “Rapid Truck” for roadside repairs, and places they stopped for food. One image reads, “down in Georgia was a queer place to find an Uncle Tom’s cabin show advertised – but we see a poster on telegraph pole just as the Pilots and a few contestants found it.” Many of the drivers and their passengers deal with the trials of long distance travel in an open car including sun, dirt, and bugs. One photo is captioned “with faces swollen and blistered by the sun and covered with mud Charles G. Reed and river Ralph Robitaille…reach Omaha. Makeshift solutions such as masks made from handkerchiefs were used to combat mosquitoes and sunburn. An image towards the end of the album shows George S. Waite of Standard Automobile Company "driving 1907 Peerless which the Standard represented. This view was taken on Euclid heights in zero temperature."
Glidden Tours, or National Reliability Runs, were events hosted by the American Automobile Association, (AAA), during the early days of automotive manufacturing. The races were used “to promote public acceptance and bring awareness of AAA’s goals” which included advocating for “safer roads and acceptance of automobile and automotive-friendly legislation.” The tours were named for automobile enthusiast Charles J. Glidden, who won the trophy in 1905 and were the first racing events to use a checkered flag. According to AAA, the tours were “grueling events, cars broke down, were damaged by accidents, and encountered nearly impassable roads. Drivers and teams did repairs on the run and helped out other drivers having difficulties.”
A wonderful collection of official photography from an early automobile event.
An album of press photography of Glidden car tours and early automobiles taken between 1906 and 1917. The photographs follow various car tours, car owners, and new models of automobiles and include typed captions below each photograph. The album begins with crowds at the beginning of a Glidden tour in Detroit dated 1909 with spectators viewing the cars and drivers preparing their vehicles, referred to as Gliddenites. Once the tours started the photographer captures the events from a press car which follows the participants through a course over several states. The comments featured for these images mention the state they’re passing through and what it’s known for. One caption reads, “out in Kansas, the land of the Sunflower and the Jack Rabbit who is shot down in droves by posses of farmers who decry attacks make upon crops by this leaping pest.” Throughout the event the passengers of the press car detail every aspect of the tour including the roads, reliability of the “Rapid Truck” for roadside repairs, and places they stopped for food. One image reads, “down in Georgia was a queer place to find an Uncle Tom’s cabin show advertised – but we see a poster on telegraph pole just as the Pilots and a few contestants found it.” Many of the drivers and their passengers deal with the trials of long distance travel in an open car including sun, dirt, and bugs. One photo is captioned “with faces swollen and blistered by the sun and covered with mud Charles G. Reed and river Ralph Robitaille…reach Omaha. Makeshift solutions such as masks made from handkerchiefs were used to combat mosquitoes and sunburn. An image towards the end of the album shows George S. Waite of Standard Automobile Company "driving 1907 Peerless which the Standard represented. This view was taken on Euclid heights in zero temperature."
Glidden Tours, or National Reliability Runs, were events hosted by the American Automobile Association, (AAA), during the early days of automotive manufacturing. The races were used “to promote public acceptance and bring awareness of AAA’s goals” which included advocating for “safer roads and acceptance of automobile and automotive-friendly legislation.” The tours were named for automobile enthusiast Charles J. Glidden, who won the trophy in 1905 and were the first racing events to use a checkered flag. According to AAA, the tours were “grueling events, cars broke down, were damaged by accidents, and encountered nearly impassable roads. Drivers and teams did repairs on the run and helped out other drivers having difficulties.”
A wonderful collection of official photography from an early automobile event.