Search Results: Transportation from Royal Books, Inc.

N.p.: N.p., 1961. Archive of 31 vintage photographs of the final General Motors Motorama auto show, likely taken for press or publicity purposes, in San Francisco, CA in 1961. Housed in a brown paper sleeve with a manuscript pencil annotation detailing the location and year. The GM Motorama originated as a small-scale auto show in 1949 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, under its original name, Transportation Unlimited Autorama. In the ensuing years the show grew in popularity, and, in 1953, began to travel around the country under the Motorama heading, now incorporating a themed musical spectacular and revolving stage displays. In its early years the Motorama served as a showcase for the company's newest innovations, including luxury prototypes and dreamlike concept vehicles with non-standard paint finishes or fiberglass bodies, although in the last few years of the show the majority of displays presented production cars which could be purchased straight from the showroom floor. The photographs… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1980. Archive of 133 vernacular photographs from an custom automotive upholstery shop, the "Auto Seat Cover Co.," located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, housed in acrylic photo sleeves in a photo album, circa 1961-1983. The vast majority of the photographs in the archive appear to be from the 1970s, and are predominately before and after photographs, and ornate custom automotive upholstery in acrylic, cloth, and leather, of contemporaneous vehicles as well as vehicles from the 1930s - 1950s. Also in the archive are six photographs of the company's trade show booth, circa late 1960s, four photographs of the interior of the business, circa early to mid 1960s, as well as five photographs of the flooding of the business, likely the Harrisburg flood of 1972, and three photographs of a home upholstery job, circa early 1970s. Five black and white photographs, which appear to be the earliest photographs in the archive, all have the date of "Nov 61' stamped onto the margin, and six photographs,… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1930. Archive of eight vintage photographs documenting the harvesting, processing, packaging, and shipping of Sunkist Growers, Orland, California oranges, circa 1930s. Mimeo snipes on the versos of each, seven with a PIX Incorporated and Westport library stamps on the versos, and one with an American Photo Service stamp on the verso. One of the largest marketing cooperatives in the US, Sunkist Growers was formed in 1893, a time when citrus acreage had increased in California by more then ten fold, and today is one of California's largest land owners and the largest fresh produce shipper in the US, representing more than 6,000 members. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus to Near Fine overall.

N.p.: N.p., 1979. Archive of 148 photographs of custom truck and tractor pulls, taken by amateur photographer Charles Lloyd Watson, circa 1978-1979. Many photographs with developer dates of 1978 and 1979 on the versos. A former racetrack photographer, Watson was a prolific amateur motorsports photographer from Jeffersonville, Indiana. Included in the archive are 142 standard color snapshot prints, five standard black-and-white snapshot prints, and one 8 x 10 color print. The photographs capture several indoor and outdoor events, and were likely taken in the Indiana area. Truck and tractor pulls became popular in the midwest and southern regions of the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Pulls generally consisted of tractors in varying weight classes competing in towing a drag, which was either composed of dead weight or a group of people stepping onto a sled at fixed positions in order to increase resistance as the pull continued. The late 1970s would prove to be a seminal and transitional… Read More

Wrigley, TN: N.p., 1990. Archive of over 175 photographs relating to the Wrigley, Tennessee, chapter of the Rare Blood Motorcycle club, a predominantly African American motorcycle club, with at least nine other (largely African American) motorcycle clubs identified in the photographs. 175 photographs are housed in a generic maroon three-ring photograph album, with each photograph affixed to adhesive leaves with plastic overlays. Nine additional photographs are laid in, including an 8 x 12 enlargement of a photograph found in the album. Much of the archive documents gatherings at the group's clubhouse and offers an unfiltered and intimate look inside a southern working-class African American subculture. A handful of photographs include personal photographs of family and friends associated with the organization and the unknown compilers. Although documentation is sparse, the Rare Blood Motorcycle Club appears to have been founded in Franklin, Ohio, in the 1980's, with that chapter filing as a… Read More

New York: United States Rubber Company, 1950. Archive of fifteen vintage photographs of automobile tire testing by the US Rubber Company at the Lancaster, California proving grounds, circa 1950s. All with United States Rubber Company credit stamps and identification number stamps on the versos, and fourteen with printed mimeo snipes affixed to the versos. The tires presented in the collection are noted as US Royal Air Ride Tires and US Royal Master Tires, with the test vehicles averaging 760 miles a day in the desert terrain of the Lancaster proving grounds. Tests depicted in the photographs appear to assess the tires' endurance against a number of roadway factors, including flint causing chipping, steel cones, and excessive mud, and tracks designed to test the tires' performance with skidding, zig-zagging, and driving over potholes. 8.5 x 10 inches. Near Fine overall.

Tooele County, UT: N.p., 1963. Archive of 163 vernacular photographs, including 145 in color and 18 in black-and-white, capturing the 1960-1963 National Speed Trials (commonly known as Speed Week) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Housed in 17 yellow envelopes, with dates and names of racers written in manuscript ink annotation to the rectos. Offered with the archive is a brand new set of the two-volume Bonneville National Speed Trials references, covering 1949-1958 and 1959-1968, respectively. The set is new and still in shrinkwrap. In the early 1960s, wealthy California car owners began to experiment with surplus jet engines to boost the horsepower of their cars, creating distinctive, bootlegged hotrods (referred to as jet cars or jets) designed specifically for the compacted salt surface of the flats. The photographs in the archive document many early iterations of these unusual (and profoundly dangerous) vehicles, with a particular focus on racers from Southern California, including Art… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1964. Archive of 12 vintage vernacular photographs of a tractor pull at the Boone County Fair in Indianapolis, circa 1964. Tractor pulls became popular in the Midwest in the 1950s and 1960s, and endure to this day. Pulls generally consisted of tractors in varying weight classes competing in towing a drag, which was either composed of dead weight or, as indicated in many of the photographs, a group of people stepping onto a sled at fixed positions in order to increase resistance as the pull continued. Farm equipment companies would often sponsor displays of their newest machines at the events, allowing farmers and their families a chance to examine the items up close and, during the pulls themselves, witness the machines' raw power. Included in the archive are several photographs of Carmel, IN dealership Riley Brothers' display of the Oliver 1800 tractor, released as part of Oliver's four-digit model series after the company's acquisition by White Motor Corporation in 1960.… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1938. Archive of 63 vintage vernacular and professional photographs, along with a number of newspaper and program clippings, all relating to midget auto racing in Southern California, circa 1937-1938. All materials housed in a string-bound scrapbook, with captions in manuscript ink adjacent to most photographs. Of particular note in the archive are five photographs of African American "outlaw" racer Rajo Jack, the first driver to integrate into the all-white sport-nearly two decades before Jackie Robinson broke the "color barrier" in Major League baseball in 1947. Born Dewey Gatson in 1905, Jack would never have been able to compete on a national level in the American Automobile Association (AAA) due to his race, so he instead competed in the American Racing Association (ARA), the largest racing body to allow him to compete-making him an "outlaw" racer in the eyes of the AAA, and largely restricting him to West Coast racing. A continual target of discrimination, Jack would frequently… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1970. Archive of 32 vintage photographs documenting the October 20, 1970 collision of two trains along the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad line in Raytown, Missouri. Also included in the archive is a single broadside reward poster offering $5000 for information pertaining to the accident. According to a contemporary newspaper article which appeared in nearby Jackson County's Independence Examiner, the accident was believed to have been caused by juvenile vandalism to a nearby track switch. The collision and subsequent derailment resulted in the death of one engineer, whose partial body is visible in several photographs. The photographs in the archive range from close-up shots of the mangled train cars and tracks to distance views of the surrounding woods. Frequently displayed in the images is a small, handwritten police chalkboard noting the date, location, and case numbers. A vivid and interesting look at investigative photography and railway disasters in the late… Read More

Indianapolis: O'Dell and Shields Studios, 1956. Two vintage photo albums documenting Dean Van Lines Indy car team before, during, and after the Indianapolis 500 in 1955 and 1956, with legendary driver Jimmy Bryan at the helm. Several photographs stamped on the verso by the O'Dell and Shields Studios of Indianapolis, longtime contract photographers for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Dean, a California moving company magnate and noted championship car owner, began his association with Bryan in 1954, when the driver would score his first significant win, the AAA National Championship. The pair would win an astonishing 17 national championship races over the course of the next four years. The 1955 album contains 12 photographs, capturing the moments before the 500, with several views of the team performing last-minute modifications to the Kuzma-Offenhauser, better known as the Dean Van Lines #2 Special, custom-built by Eddie Kuzma for the 1955 race. Also included in the album are several action… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1988. Archive of 120 vernacular borderless color snapshot photographs of the Detroit Grand Prix, taken in 1986, 1987, and 1988. In the summer of 1982, the US became the first country to host three World Championship Grands Prix in one season, with the older Grand Prix West races in Long Beach and Las Vegas joined by the newly established Detroit Grand Prix in Michigan, near the General Motors headquarters. The Detroit race continued to be held annually for the next six years, in spite of its growing reputation for its narrow, bumpy track (a result of the race taking place on a closed street course in downtown Detroit) and typically hot, humid weather. These factors would ultimately push FISA to declare the track unsafe, ending the circuit's affiliation with Formula One in 1988, to be replaced by the CART-sanctioned Detroit Indy Grand Prix the following year. The photographs in the archive document an attendee's perspective of the races from 1986-1988, won all three years by Brazilian… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1950. Archive of 13 vintage single-weight vernacular photographs and 1 vintage double-weight vernacular photograph of open-wheel racing events held at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, circa 1950s. The photographs in the archive show close-ups shots of races at the Iowa State Fairgrounds' original half-mile dirt track, with the idiosyncratic vehicle designs and paint schemes of the era on full display. Also included in the archive are several photographs of the Bardahl Special #2, "The Black Deuce," a champion racing car owned by noted car collector Hector Honore Jr., with the car's second driver, Bobby Grim, behind the wheel. Open-wheel racing was first sanctioned in the US by the AAA Contest Board, who introduced the first track season national championship in 1905. The sport grew in popularity after World War II, attributable in large part to the rapid innovations in auto engineering and design throughout the 1950s. In the ensuing decade the rise of the Chevy V8 would quickly… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1940. Archive of 59 photographs of automobile accident scenes or damage to vehicles in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, circa late 1930s through late 1940s. All photographs with manuscript annotations to the rectos or versos, or stamps on the verso, indicating their use in legal proceedings, and occasionally with dates or locations. Also included is a brown paper envelope with the stamp of photographer R. Werner and the District Court of Dakota County, MN regarding a hearing on May 16, 1939. Massachusetts became the first state to pass mandatory auto insurance laws in 1927, but it wouldn't be until 1956 that other states began to follow suit. However, the stamps indicate the photographs were used as evidence in civil cases, as several are stamped "plaintiff," rather than "prosecution." An interesting look at the early days of automotive liability actions, just before car ownership would skyrocket in America during the 1950s. Photographs variously sized, between 4.5 x 2.75 and 10 x… Read More

San Diego: San Diego Timing Association, 1964. Archive of vintage programs, bulletins, flyers, and newspaper clippings published by and relating to the San Diego Timing Association, a foundational sanctioning organization in US drag racing. In postwar America, the return of risk-loving, unmarried ex-GIs with advanced mechanical skills and extra money to spend led to the rise in popularity of illegal street racing. Southern California racers took advantage of the growing number of abandoned military strips in the state, colloquially known as "drags," such as the Santa Ana Drags and Sweetwater Dam Navy Outlying Field. Local car clubs pressured law enforcement to allow racing on the strips, efforts which would precipitate the formation of the San Diego Timing Association. The SDTA held their first sanctioned meet at the Sweetwater Dam drag, which the members renamed Paradise Mesa, on March 11, 1951. The events drew spectators and racers from across Southern California, catching the attention of the… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1940. Archive of 26 vintage photographs of mid-Atlantic roadside alert signs with advertisements, circa 1930s-1940s. Includes 21 double weight photographs and two matte-finish. Three photographs bear annotations in manuscript pencil on the verso. The collection contains thirteen photographs of alert signs advertising Champion spark plugs, seven advertising hotels (the Biltmore in Dayton, Hotel Sinton in Cincinnati, Hotel Adelphia in Philadelphia, Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh, Hotel Webster Hall in Detroit, and two for Hotel Elizabeth Carteret in Elizabeth, New Jersey), three advertising radio stations (WJW and WADC of Akron and WSPD of Toledo), and three for various automobile and travel-related businesses. Ostensibly designed to warn drivers of forthcoming crossroads, turns, or junctions, the roadside alert signs presented here were perhaps more effective for the prime advertising real estate of their plinths. The circular "alert" section, containing text or symbols of approaching… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1965. Archive of 40 vernacular photographs taken at the NASCAR World 600 race on May 23, 1965 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. Eight of the photographs with manuscript annotations on the verso, identifying the date and location, as well as drivers pictured. The photographs are primarily taken at track level, and feature shots of the pit, track, and car storage areas, indicating that the photographer was likely involved as more than a spectator, as either a member of a crew, a race official, or member of the press. A close up look at stock car racing, from a time when it was very much still a regional sport. 3.5 x 3.5 inches. Very Good plus overall.

N.p.: N.p., 1967. Archive consisting of 42 vintage vernacular photographs of the Camrod Corporation, a motorcycle and motor scooter dealer and repair shop in New York City. Included are 15 loose black-and-white photographs, 7 black-and-white photographs stapled to the inside of a manila folder with two business cards and a clipping of a contemporary newspaper ad, and 20 color photographs, 8 of which have manuscript annotations on the rectos or versos. Manila folder with manuscript ink annotations noting "Camrod Swap Shots" and "Dec. 1965," and business cards for Camrod and Outrider Accessories, also of New York. Several loose photographs with printed or manuscript dates of 1967. Camrod's was a long-standing dealer located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, originally opening in the mid-1960s at 604 W 52nd St, and later moving to two other locations before closing in 2010. The photographs in the archive are from the earliest years of the shop, when riding motorcycles was still an outlaw subculture.… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1940. Archive of 20 stunning oversized photographs of Buick auto dealerships in Minneapolis, MN, circa 1940s, all owned and operated by the W.R. Stephens Company. Each photograph mounted on board, with the stamp of photographer George Miles Ryan on the verso, and all but five with his name in manuscript pencil to the rectos of the boards, just below the lower right of each photograph. Photographs in the archive include images of the exteriors of three different dealerships, cars parked in lots, garages, showroom floors, service centers, interior spaces, including waiting areas, offices, a secretary pool, and employee cafeteria, occasionally with employees going about their day. Ryan worked primarily as a commercial photographer in the Minneapolis area, operating his own studio for roughly 40 years, and it seems likely these photographs were taken for use by the Stephens dealerships, either as artwork or for promotional material. Photographs roughly 13.5 x 10.5 inches, mounted to 16 x… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1968. Archive of 48 vintage photographs of car accidents scenes in the Columbia County, New York area, from the years 1961-1965, 1966, and 1968. With the stamp of Lee's Studio in Chatham, NY on the verso of the majority of photographs, along with occasional manuscript annotations. Most photographs housed in sleeves with annotations detailing dates, locations, and occasionally noting whether or not the accident was fatal. Also included are several accident reports prepared by Lee Studios for internal use, and correspondence between Lee and law firms representing people involved in the accidents requesting copies of photographs. The 1960s saw large increases in the number of vehicle fatalities, as car ownership greatly increased over the previous decades, and out of the six years documented in the archive, 1966 and 1968 are both among the ten deadliest in US history. Photographs variously sized, with most being 10 x 8 inches. Generally Near Fine. Housed in a contemporary photo album… Read More