Vanderbilt Cup Races

Tom Cooper

Tom Cooper began as a bicyclist and later worked as a salesman and driver for the Matheson Motor Car Company of New York.  

Scheduled to race in the 1905 American Elimination Race for the Vanderbilt Cup Race in his 40/45 hp Matheson  . . . (Brooklyn Daily Eagle Sept. 10, 1905)

 . . . the car developed engine trouble and didn't make the starting line.  (Brooklyn Daily Eagle Sept. 23, 1905)

The Oldfield/Cooper Team

Two years earlier, Cooper teamed up with Barney Oldfield to appear across the country in various automobile events.  (The Automotor Journal Feb. 14, 1903)

Cooper supposedly helped with the building of Oldfield's "Green Dragon" in 1905.  (Brooklyn Daily Eagle Oct. 23, 1905)

The Oldfield/Cooper team also designed the special effects used in the 1906 musical "The Vanderbilt Cup Race" starring Elsie Janis on Broadway.  The two appeared on stage nightly.  "The show was a success but Oldfield and Cooper tired of the acting lifestyle in less than three months and returned to auto racing full-time."  (Wikipedia)

Tom Cooper did remain in the auto business until his death in 1906 during a race in Central Park.  For more on Tom Cooper and his involvement with Henry Ford, Barney Oldfield and the automobile click here. 

Marion Hollins

Friend of the Vanderbilt's, Marion Hollins is reported here to have been the first woman to enter and drive in a Vanderbilt Cup Race on Long Island.  This was not the case.  (Golf, An Album of  its History, McCord, 1998)

Marion was the daughter of H.B. Hollins, a wealthy banker from Long Island who also served as a director of the Long Island Motor Parkway, Inc.  (Velocci, Kroplick)

Spending time in South Carolina.  Notice the name of one of Marion's brothers. (Wikipedia)

Throughout her life Hollins would become a winner of equine events but was best known for her golfing career in which she excelled. 

As a socialite, Hollins would participate in fund raising events, such as the "East Side Frolic" in 1922 to assist the East Side House Settlement in NYC.  Notice who led the parade of woman in costume. 

The event was a major fundraiser as shown by the many woman who participated.  (The New York Times Apr., 1922)

Marion Hollins was promoting Mercedes . . . 

. . . dressed, in my opinion, in Japanese wardrobe. (The New York Herald Apr. 30, 1922)

Martin J. Mount

Businessman Martin J. Mount started in the automobile business working for the Pope Manufacturing Company and in 1920 opened his own garage in New Jersey.  Reported here to be the mechanic (sic "mechanician") to ride in the first American car that won money in a Vanderbilt Cup Race.  (History of Monmouth County, 1922)

Glenn Etheridge was the mechancian for George Robertson in the 1908 Locomobile which was the first American car to win a Vanderbilt Cup Race.  If previous races awarded money to other than the top winner, might the claim be true?  Thoughts? (History of Monmouth County, 1922)

J. Andrew White ("Major" White)

Best known as a radio announcer in the early days of the medium, J. Andrew White originally worked in an automobile factory as an engineer helping build Vanderbilt Cup racers.  Unfortunately his first car ended in a ditch.  (Radio Broadcast Oct., 1924)

Maybe it was better that he went into the radio business!  (Radio Broadcast Oct., 1924)

Radio Broadcast Oct., 1924