Vanderbilt Cup Races

The Mystery

In the original 2008 post, apart from Walter McCarthy from identifying the automobile, nobody was able to discover anything else about this photo.

"Hi Howard, I don’t know the location, but the car in the photo is a 1912 Hupmobile “20” roadster.
  Regards,  Walter"

The Clues

A plate closeup gives us the obvious date of 1914, (as well as the manufacturer from the radiator emblem).

Update; 12/11/2025

A curious clue. Why are there 4 barrels located in the middle of a random field?

Anyone care to theorize?

Beer delivery for the nearby Petit Trianon? Barrels of pickles for travelers? Your guess is good as anybody else!

A sign in the very upper right corner states;  " To Parkway Inn, Lake Ronkonkoma via the Motor Parkway" according to Howard in 2008.

It would be a safe assumption the location is very close to Lake Ronkonkoma with the sign pointing in the direction towards the Motor Parkway and the nearby terminus.

But the real clue lies in the smaller sign that the men are pointing to.

A small stylized finger pointing sign with an "AB" logo.

In the post, Howard states; "A smaller sign on the post indicates the direction to a company or store with the logo "AB"."

So, what was the "AB"?

This was the logo for the Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

According to Wikipedia; 

"The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over 3000 short films and 12 feature films. During the height of silent film as a medium, Biograph was the most prominent American film studio and one of the most respected and influential studios worldwide, only rivaled by Germany's UFA, Sweden's Svensk Filmindustri and France's Pathé. The company was home to pioneering director D. W. Griffith and such actors as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, and Lionel Barrymore."

So this means there was a silent movie being filmed nearby in Ronkonkoma! Unfortunately, there is no known list of movies made by the company in 1914...

Another piece of this mystery photo puzzle came about in the form of yet another mystery Foto on February 13, 2017;

Mystery Foto #6 Solved: Theda Bara’s Film Debut in “The Stain” Filmed at Petit Trianon

The post describes a little-known silent film shot at the Petit Trianon in 1914, called 'The Stain', starring newcomer, Theda Bara. 

Theda Bara (1885- 1955) made her film debut at the age of 29 in The Stain in 1914 as an extra. The film was shot in New Jersey and at Petit Trianon, located at the eastern terminus of the Motor Parkway in Lake Ronkonkoma. Her look and amazing eyes caught the attention of director Frank Powell who cast her as the lead in his next film A Fool There Was, which became a major hit.

And sure enough, as per the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB), 'The Stain' was indeed filmed in Ronkonkoma in 1914.

Conclusion

Albeit circumstantial, all the evidence points to this Hupmobile very near Lake Ronkonkoma, (it also does look like Ronkonkoma area in the background) with the gentlemen in the car possibly being involved with the movie company (hence, pointing to their sign)

The exact location of the car may never be known, but at least it looks like the rest of this 17-year old mystery photo is likely solved!