Vanderbilt Cup Races

"Cars, Culture and the City," opening at the Museum of the City of New York on March 25th, will be the first exhibition to "document New York's role in the promotion, marketing, and proliferation of the automobile as well as its transformative effect on the city and, ultimately, the country." The exhibit has been reviewed at core77.com, a design resource website.

Vanderbilia from the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the Long Island Motor Parkway will be displayed in the exhibit including these six items:

Vanderbilt Cup Race Broadside: Original textile promoting the 1905 American Elimination Race and the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race

1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Board Game: Based on the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course showing details of towns on the Long Island course. Game was manufactured by Bowers & Hard, Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Official Program Scorecard and Guide 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race: Guide provided information on the race, maps, car and automobile supply ads and a cardboard scorecard. The programs sold for 25 cents.

1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race Tiffany Plaque: The rarest memorabilia from the Vanderbilt Cup Races are the 22 oval bronze plaques produced by Tiffany & Company from 1904 to 1916. The race sponsors produced two plaques for each race that were presented to the winning driver and manufacturer.  This plaque was given to driver George Robertson for winning the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

Locomobile Vanderbilt Cup Paperweight: To celebrate “Old #16”, the first American winner of the Vanderbilt Cup Races, the Locomobile Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut produced a sterling silver paperweight.

1928 Long Island Motor Parkway License Plate: A porcelain “Easy-Pass” for the Long Island Motor Parkway. Cars with this pass indicated that their owners had paid a yearly fee and were allowed to pass the toll lodges without paying an additional fee. During the 1920s, the Long Island Motor Parkway would supply two No. 25 plates free every year to the National Highway Association which was formed for the betterment of highways.