Transportation

12-1. “Father of the American Automobile.”

Bold signature of Chas. E. Duryea, clipped from a check by his son M.J. Duryea. From Charles’  Philadelphia period, c. 1925, essentially at the end of his auto-building career, by then making  scale models and writing. With his brother J. Frank, the Duryea was the first “mass-produced”  motor vehicle in America, building thirteen cars in their Springfield, Mass. shop. On canary  paper. Excellent. $100-130

12-2. Chevrolet Hood Mascot.

Interesting aftermarket interpretation of 1935 Chevrolet-style radiator mascot, by Norlipp,  Chicago, made late 1930s. Probably cast aluminum. Sun Goddess in ascending flight, with four  streamlined wings as long as her body. On original base, with fiber washer and all metal  fittings on underside. 6-3/8” long. Dull nickel-like patina. Few mottled spots on “legs,” some  manufacturing imperfections, else fine. Reasonably inexpensive when new, these mascots  expanded the artistic offerings of the Deco motif to everyday motorists, but did not survive in  large numbers. $80-110 

12-3. Auburn Hood Mascot.

Factory-issue 1935-36 Auburn radiator ornament, showing a distinctively Deco Mercury.  Partial chrome, as made, over zinc, her long geometric dagger-like spine and tail left unplated,  giving a dramatic contrast between bright and dull metal - an uncommon technique, but  perfectly exemplifying the Machine Age. 7-5/8” long. Chrome uniformly pitted, some  intermittent luster remaining, else very good. Now scarce in any condition. Williams 7. $225-  275

12-4. Simplicity Itself - 1907.

Probably the first catalogue for “Simplicity Motor Car - Without a Gear,” 1907, made in  Evansville, Ind., 5¾ x 8¾, (10) pp., lilac and grape on pale grey cover, red and black text.  Models B and C. Seven full-page illustrations of cars and components. Novel engineering,  though the early cars, offered here, had a quirk: they would not move in rain, when the  friction gears became wet. Delicate and defective, with old water damage, all leaves free but  with marginal feathering and thinning of clay-coated paper, mousechew of one leaf affecting  two photos, loss of some text, but an excessively rare offering of this short-lived, problematic  car. No Simplicity items found in Indiana Historical Society, Mathis, or other major  automobile archives. $110-150

12-5. “It has speed standing still....”

Early sales folder for Marmon Sixteen, evidently predating its 1931 premier. Metallic silver  and black, 9¼ x 12, 4 pp. Form no. AH 220. Striking Deco design and typography, with line  drawing of Close-Coupled Sedan. “There is no other car in the world like the Marmon  Sixteen...The highest ratio of power to weight of any car in the world...Walter Dorwin  Teague... has caught the true spirit of its performance...Priced under $5000.” (The 490-cubic-  inch pièce de resistance would actually start at $5200.) Purple handstamp of Los Angeles’  Marmon distributor. Lacking upper right tip and fragment at right margin, handling and edge  wear, one vertical fold, but very satisfactory, and an impressive record of an immortal  automobile. • With 1953 magazine article on Marmon history, with large photo of 1932  experimental V-12. $65-85 (2 pcs.) 

12-6. One of America’s First 12-Cylinder Cars.

Issue of “The Haynes Pioneer,” Feb. 1915, company magazine of Haynes Automobile Co., Kokomo. 8¾ x 11½, (16) pp., full color cover  with charming motoring scene in the country, red and black text. Including early preview of Haynes Light Twelve, though production  would not begin til Aug. 1916. Feature articles on motors of the Haynes Light Six and Twelve. Numerous crisp photographs of cars and  components. ”Sincerity is built right into the Haynes.” New Haven dealer’s handstamp on cover. Old soft vertical fold, front cover  separated, handling wear and some creases, but good plus, the cover and many inside spreads charming for display. Haynes’ radiator  emblem proclaimed it “America’s First Car,” though this involved an agreement with an even earlier pioneer, 1891’s John Lambert, not  to object. $60-80

12-7. The Only American Car with an Aluminum Motor.

Delightful 1922 Premier sales folder, opening to 9 x 23, pumpkin and black on pale yellow matte enamel. Four complete cars, plus  chassis, factory, and 8 smaller views of interior and mechanical components. A very high quality car, their Sedan, included here, topped  out the line at $5190. “Premier’s light-hearted athletic motor...trained down scientifically to a fighting edge, can do unusual  things...The doors almost three inches thick....” San Francisco dealer’s label on front. Light fold wear and handling evidence, else about  very good. $55-75

12-8. Prime Exemplar of the Pre-Great War Art Catalogue.

Lovely New Old Stock deluxe catalogue of 1911 Inter-State, Muncie, Ind., 8¼ x 10¾, intricately embossed grey and deep purple on pale  lilac linen cover, olive green and purple-black text on cream, 31 pp. “Bull Dogs in Strength and Endurance,” with detailed bulldog  embossed on cover. A superb exemplar of period design, typography, and pressmanship, showcasing the Inter-State automobile “For  Summer or Winter.” Profusely illustrated, including cars, manufacturing views, and components. “Model 35 torpedo touring car...is the  last word of perfection in the body builder’s art...The upholstering is...stuffed with genuine pulled and curled hair....” Central signatures  pulled from rusted staples, minor light-toning of oversize cover’s edges, else excellent. • With 1912 Inter-State booklet, “Specifications -  Models 40 and 50,” 5 x 7¼, (8) pp., pumpkin and black. Photo of Touring Car on back cover. Exhaustive, densely set technical  information. Rusted staples, dust toning bottom of front cover, else fine. Bought out by the Ball glass jar firm, Inter-State’s factory was  sold to the young General Motors for one of their now-forgotten nameplates, the Sheridan. $175-250 (2 pcs.) 

12-9. First- and Second-Year Ford Model A Catalogues.

Historically significant pair of early Ford Model A catalogues, 1927 and 1928, the former probably the first full-length literature for the  much-awaited successor to the ancient Model T, debuting in Dec. 1927. Each 7 x 9 oblong, 20 pp., browntone, entitled “A new kind of  motor-car beauty.” With same illustrations, but occasional slight changes in text. No form numbers. “...A car that is quietly new and  modern, yet by no means garish or loud-spoken....” Profusely illustrated. First with bend and some chipping at lower right corner,  handling wear; second with lower right corner wear, chipping bottom margin first two leaves, crack but no break at cover hinge. Both  removed from sewn binding, probably National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, the 1928 reinforced with white tape c. 1950s, else  both good plus. An important car, notwithstanding its low price, the Model A carried a very large number of body types, including taxi,  town car, and a multitude of commercials. The 1927 printing is unrecorded by Model A Ford Club of America in their master  publication list. With letter of provenance. $200-250 (2 pcs.) 

12-10. De Soto Hood Mascot.

1931 De Soto radiator ornament, with the explorer’s detailed likeness and upper body flying  prone atop the round base, his streamlined Deco cape extending Batman-style to cover the  cap. Chrome over zinc. Ding atop dorsal fin of helmet, mostly on right side, and lacking  vertical riser, but artfully filed and entirely presentable; usual considerable pitting, but  chrome uniformly bright, and further improveable with polish. Original round brass  mounting flange, tabbed washer, and nut present on underside. In all, suitable for display.  Williams 59. $110-140

12-11. Rails and Streetcars.

Group of six attractive stocks and bonds. Including: Poughkeepsie, Hartford & Boston Railroad Co. bond, 1875, signed by Pres. G.P.  Pelton. Lovely, detailed vignette of factories and steamboat, probably plying the Hudson, with railroad traversing a long bridge in  distance. Mocha and black. Scarce local imprint of Eagle Printing House, Poughkeepsie. All coupons present. Very light pleasing cream  toning, trifle wear at fold junctions, else fine. • Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co., 1922. Crisp vignette of streetcar in a suburb. Brown and  black. American Bank Note. Nine signatures in all. V.G. • Another, dark raspberry and black. Low no. N43. Signed but never issued;  stamped cancelled 1918. V.G. • City Railway Co., Dayton, Ohio, 1893. Very low serial no. 5. Streetcar in front of downtown building.  Signed by Pres. D.B. Corwin. Orange and black. Especially flamboyant typography, and unusual paisley anti-counterfeiting underprint.  N.Y. Bank Note Co. Stub reaffixed upon sale. Minor wear, else V.G. • Consolidated Traction Co., Pittsburgh, 189-. 1,000 shares.  Vignette, motorman at the wheel. Signed by Pres. but never issued, and hole cancelled. Currency-green and black. A.B.N. Crisp and  V.F. • Syracuse Rapid Transit Railway Co., 189-. Charming vignette of streetcar trailed by horse-drawn hansom cab. Signed but  unissued. Bright orange and black. Franklin Bank Note Co. Magnificent typography, and almost three-dimensional security border.  Some edge toning, else about fine. Lovely ensemble for display; it is said that the demise of the urban streetcar stemmed from the  collusion of General Motors and tire companies, to populate cities with buses. $225-275 (6 pcs.) 

12-12. The Car that Never Was.

Sales folder for c. late 1917 Hackett, Jackson, Mich., featuring their proprietary Guy Rotary Valve Motor, designed by Chief Engineer  Fred Guy. Double gatefold, opening to 12 x 18, orange and black, two photographs of complete car, 8 of the ingenious engine. No  Hacketts with this motor are believed to have been sold, perhaps because of the business interruptions of the war that year,  notwithstanding their claim that it “has undoubtedly solved the many perplexing problems that automobile engineers have struggled  with....” Weak at some folds, with breaks but no separations, else about very good. Hackett material is extremely scarce. $70-100 

12-13. Last of the Marions.

Catalogue for c. late 1915 Marion Six Model G, Indianapolis, in the final iteration of the nameplate, and its last days in Indianapolis,  before it became the Marion-Handley in 1916, moving to Jackson, Mich. 7¾ x 10½, (8) pp., stylish Spanish-moss green, fire orange,  and black. Handsome double-page view of Touring Car. Two smaller photos of car, plus three of components. “...Deep, full Turkish  upholstering and cushions...A ventilating rain vision plate glass windshield protects against storm or dust...The springs are made of  imported English steel, direct from Sheffield....” Light uniform toning of enamel, minor file wear, else fine. Attractive for display. $80-  110

12-14. Last of the White Steamers.

Historically interesting dealer broadside illustrating, describing, and pricing 1911 National “40,” “the magnificent White,” and Everitt  “30,” and describing 1911 Lambert. Issued by More Brothers, Fargo and Wimbledon, N.D., 8 x 22. Also showing Hart-Parr tractor and  Robinson separator. Three full-side-view renderings of cars. Eight models of National, “unsurpassed on the American market...,”  including Speedway Roadster and Limousine.” “The Magnificient [sic] White for 1911,” eight gas and six steam models, the latter  including the $5,000 40 H.P., 7 passenger Limousine Body, and only slightly less costly “Presidential Pattern,” certainly alluding to  Pres. Taft’s inclusion of a 1909 White Steam car in the first White House fleet. The last White Steam car of any model was built in Jan.  1911; this broadside may therefore have been prepared in late 1910, though five of White’s eleven steam models are not listed here.  Everitt’s “originators are recognized as the greatest designers of cars in America....” Uniform toning, original mailing folds, else fine,  and attractive for display. $110-140

12-15. California Dreaming.

Very rare literature for 1949 Del Mar, “America’s Lowest Priced Standard Passenger Car,” San  Diego. Comprising: Early sales sheet, redtone and black, 9 x 12. “The Greatest Names in American  Automotive Engineering go into assembly of the New Del Mar - A Quality Car for the Average  Income...No delay in dealer and distributor display models....” Showing modern factory seemingly a  mile long, believed a Consolidated-Vultee aircraft building. • Press release, on groundwood. Four  corrections in red pencil, one extending first delivery to 1950, despite printed text assuring  “...delivery of 100,000 sets of units for complete cars in 1949...No delay is foreseen....” • Frame  diagram, with suppliers and specs of components, including 160 cu. in. Continental. • Printed letter  of enclosure, blue. “Dear Future Customer: Please find enclosed literature requested... Watch your  newspaper for announcement of the arrival...in your local salesroom....” Uniform toning, minor fold  and edge tears, else about very good. One of postwar’s ephemeral marques, its prospects dampened  by Korean War shortages - and one of relatively few vehicles made in southern California.  References to the Del Mar are scant. WorldCat locates nothing related. $150-180 (4 pcs.) 

12-16. The Car Built by a Pipe Organ Manufacturer.

Group relating to the very low-production Crawford automobile, Hagerstown, Md., built in tiny quantities by a pipe organ maker: 1915  folder to recruit dealers for Light Six-35, 9 x 12, 4 pp., plum and apricot. Attractive rendering of chauffeur-driven open car, New York’s  Metropolitan Insurance building in distance. Inside, photo of two black doormen looking on as driver and three passengers prepare to  drive off; large rendering, and two small photos. “We want every dealer to know of this Crawford Light Six...In it is embodied the sum  total of our car building knowledge...Prompt action on your part is imperative, Mr. Dealer....” Old tape repairs at two folds, light  waterstain, handling wear, dust toning, break at vertical fold, but good and attractive. • (1920) typewritten “Crawford Wholesaling  Plan” for Portland (Ore.) dealers, for Model 20-6-40, 8½ x 11, 3 leaves, as two top sheets, plus one carbon copy. Evidently a draft,  pounded out on a manual typewriter, with exhaustive specifications and dealer costs for buying a single car, a carload, from Oregon  distributor, and from Maryland factory. • Article from Sunday Oregonian newspaper, 1920, with two large photos “Introducing the  Crawford Six, a New Arrival in Portland - Racy Lines on Latest Motor Car....” One of the named company execs in photo likely authored  the preceding wholesaling plan. • Three Crawford ads, from Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal, 1906 (two full page) and 1908  (quarter p. ), latter waterstained. Generally good to very good. Crawford production in 1916 was just 104 cars, in 1917 a mere 38. $100-  140 (6 pcs.)

12-17. One of America’s Top Three Most Powerful Cars.

Lovely mascot of c. 1925-31 Elcar, winged horse’s head. 2¼” high plus 1½ threaded base; 3½ wide. Pot metal. Almost numismatic  quality, with platinum-toned nickel, pronounced purple undertones on head, as sometimes seen on mint-state silver coins, finely  detailed feathers and stylized mane. With polished brass radiator cap marked in later hand “1930 Elcar,” on handsomely turned,  stained and varnished wooden display base. Modern thick rubber washer fitted to stem for cushioning, easily replaceable. Small spot of  manufacturing roughness where head meets wings on each side, plating 98% on head, about 80% and better on breast and wings, and  generally very fine and striking for display. Used since 1925’s debut of the Lycoming straight-eight engine, the 1930 Elcar’s “top-of-the-  line 140 h.p. was among the most puissant engines in America of the period, outpowered only by the Duesenberg and Cadillac V-16...”--  Standard Catalog of American Cars. A very scarce item. Not in Williams. $675-875 

12-18. The Right-Hand-Drive Everitt.

Sales catalogue for 1912 Everitt, its third and final year. With right-hand drive, 6 x 9, 32 pp., apple green and dark chocolate on  embossed tan cover, mint green and black on yellow-cream enamel. Profusely illustrated, including eight full-page photographs of  models Six-48 and Four-36. “The men behind it have been...the leading spirits in such early successes as the Northern, Wayne,  Cadillac, and E.M.F....” Exhaustive text detailing machining and manufacturing steps, with enough information to contemplate  resurrecting the factory, embellished with charming drypoint views inside the plant. Though a low-priced car, whose genealogy  ultimately led to the Maxwell, they deserve top marks here for effort. Council Bluffs, Iowa handstamp on cover of Everitt and K-R-I-T  dealer. Old vertical fold, staples at centerfold reinforced with small pieces of tape, trivial nibble at margin of two leaves, darkening at  lower corner title page, else V.G. +. In 1912, there were still a limited number of American cars built with right-hand drive for domestic  use. $80-110

12-19. From Wreck of the “20th Century Limited.”

Envelope from the early wreck of “the most famous train in the world,” on only its fourth trip. Bearing 1¾ x 2½ printed slip affixed  with glue by “Post Office, New York, N.Y. The enclosure was damaged in the wreck of the ‘20th Century Limited’ train on the Lake  Shore and Michigan Southern R.R., that occurred at Mentor, Ohio, Wed., June 21, 1905. William R. Willcox, Postmaster.” Postmarked  Cincinnati, June 20, wide flag cancel. Backstamped “P.O.N.Y., 6-24....” Left corner of stamp lacking, tear at blank lower edge, some  soiling, but very satisfactory. Debuting in 1902, an open switch in Mentor resulted in eleven deaths, including several crew. Derailed,  wrecked, and burned, the train was rebuilt, running til 1967. In the month of this 1905 wreck, its engineers had managed to shorten its  journey by two hours; it would take almost three decades to resume that speed. “Transportation historians consistently rate the 1938  edition of the Century to be the world’s ultimate passenger conveyance - at least on the ground”--The Art of the Streamliner. The  expression “red carpet treatment” arose from the specially-made crimson runner unrolled for its passengers at New York and Chicago.  The train has been memorialized in the 1934 movie “Twentieth Century,” a Broadway musical, and in innumerable books and  backdrops. Another example of this cover, burned and lacking stamp, was offered by Robert A. Siegel Galleries in 2012. $100-150 

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