Vanderbilt Cup Races

The WPA mural is in the Hempstead Post Office on Fulton Ave, across the street from the Verizon Building. The picture was of Mitchell Field?  The mural on the other side of the post office shows early settlers, Indians and corn.. The post office should keep better care of these treasures.

From Mystery Foto #10 Solved: Mural of the British Dirigible R34 Landing in Roosevelt Field in 1919

The event depicted is the landing of the British dirigible R-34 at Roosevelt Field on July 6, 1919. It was the first airship to make an east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and made the first delivery of airmail from Europe. A few days later it became the first airship to make a roundtrip crossing. The artist is Peppino Mangravite and the mural can be seen at the Hempstead Post Office. The LIMP link is that the parkway was very close to the landing site and there are several photographs showing both the R-34 and the bridge over the LIMP connecting Stewart Avenue to Roosevelt Field.

From Mystery Foto #10 Solved: Mural of the British Dirigible R34 Landing in Roosevelt Field in 1919

The 1926 aerial is a gem..Shore Rd is obvious. I’m thinking the curved road in the upper left corner is Kissam La. When I was working in 2012, the Glenwood Power Plant was beginning being decommissioned.

From Mystery Foto #9 B Solved:The 1905 Darracq Team Headquartered at the Hotel Glenwood, Glenwood Landing

Commemorative mural of the first air mail, 1919, Paris to Roosevelt Field.
Featured in the Hempstead village post office since 1937.
Painted by Peppino Mangravite.
The R-34 Zeppelin was seen in photographs taken in 1919 showing its proximity upon landing to one of the LIMP bridges.

From Mystery Foto #10 Solved: Mural of the British Dirigible R34 Landing in Roosevelt Field in 1919

it was the east to west mail-carrying flight of HMS r-34.  First e-w transatlantic flight of an airship.  It was the first time a Brit had parachuted onto US soil from an airship.  Our ground crews weren’t sure how to handle the airship and needed help, so an officer parachuted from the ship to help. 
The mural depicted was painted by Peppino Mangravite, requested by the U.S. Government.  It resides in the Hempstead Post office.  The Long Island Motor Parkway traveled right past this Mineola airfield.

From Mystery Foto #10 Solved: Mural of the British Dirigible R34 Landing in Roosevelt Field in 1919

-What was the historic event depicted in the mural?
I had remembered this event from the #33 LIMP Bridge series entry from May 28th 2013. In July 1919, the British Army’s 643-foot dirigible R-34, was the first airship to cross the Atlantic Ocean coming from Scotland to Roosevelt Field in Hempstead in four and a half days.(also becoming the first airmail delivery)
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/long_island_motor_parkway_bridge_series_33_the_roosevelt_field_motor_parkwa

-Where is this mural currently located?
Hempstead Post Office

-Who was the artist?
Peppino Mangravite. Painted in March of 1937. Some interesting reading about the artist, mural and history of the event can be found on this link below.
http://wasahockey.github.io/Mangravite/pages/hempstead.html

-How was the Long Island Motor Parkway linked to this event?
As I’m sure we’ll see the photos posted again here, the Roosevelt Field LIMP bridge was used for access to the field and there are many photos taken from the bridge viewpoint of the R-34 landing.

From Mystery Foto #10 Solved: Mural of the British Dirigible R34 Landing in Roosevelt Field in 1919

What was the historic event depicted in the mural?

• The mural depicts the historic arrival of the British dirigible R34 at Roosevelt Flying Field, Mineola, NY, on July 6, 1919; completing the first east/west non-stop transatlantic air crossing (and carrying the first transatlantic air mail).

Where is this mural currently located?

• The US Post Office at Hempstead NY

Who was the artist?

• Peppino Mangravite (1896-1978).  Mangravite was active in New Deal art programs, and executed murals for the Department of Labor, D.C., and post offices in Hempstead, NY, and Atlantic City, NJ.

How was the Long Island Motor Parkway linked to this event?

• The Long Island Motor Parkway ran adjacent to Roosevelt Flying Field and the R34’s landing site, which was not far from the Roosevelt Field Highway Bridge.  The LIMP Roosevelt Field Highway Bridge provided a position to view and photograph the R34’s arrival, as evidenced by surviving photos of the event taken from the bridge.
• Mangravite began painting the mural in 1936 and it was installed in 1937; the same years that the Vanderbilt Cup races were revived at Roosevelt Raceway, adjacent to the Roosevelt Field landing site.

From Mystery Foto #10 Solved: Mural of the British Dirigible R34 Landing in Roosevelt Field in 1919

Identify this section of the Long Island Motor Parkway and its bridges:
• The Queens section of the LIMP, in the Little Neck area.
• The photo shows the Commonwealth Boulevard and Creedmoor Motor Parkway Bridges. 
• The Winchester Boulevard Bridge would have been at, or just outside, the left edge of the photo.

Identify the major roads:
• Union Turnpike runs west/east from the left to right across the lower portion of the photo frame.
• Cross Island Parkway runs north/south from the upper middle left to lower middle right.
• Grand Central Parkway runs west/east from middle left to upper right.
• Douglaston Parkway/Winchester Boulevard weaves north/south over the Cross Island Parkway and under the Grand Central Parkway, along the left side.
• Commonwealth Boulevard runs north/south from the upper right quarter of the photo to the middle-right side.

What are the buildings in the lower section of the aerial?
• The Creedmoor Hospital complex

Identify the golf course:
• The North Hills Golf Club, now the Douglaston Park Golf Club

What is the approximate date of the aerial?
• October 1941, after completion of the new bridges over Winchester Boulevard and the Cross Island Parkway, 3 years after the closing of the LIMP.

From Mystery Foto 2013#5 Redux:Creedmore Hospital and Commonwealth Boulevard Motor Parkway Bridge in 1941

Missed the first question;
-Identify this section of the Long Island Motor Parkway and its bridges
Queens near Creedmore, The Commonwealth Boulevard Motor Parkway Bridge was still standing in the middle far right.

From Mystery Foto 2013#5 Redux:Creedmore Hospital and Commonwealth Boulevard Motor Parkway Bridge in 1941

I hate to say it, but we have another duplication from mystery photo #5 from March 12 2013, but this is such a great aerial, it’s ok to challenge people who may have not seen it!
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_5_can_you_identify_the_motor_parkway_in_this_1941_aeria#

-Identify the major roads
Union Turnpike, Commonwealth Boulevard

-What are the buildings in the lower section of the aerial?
Creedmoor Hospital

-Identify the golf course
North Hills Golf Club

-What is the approximate date of the aerial?
October 1941

From Mystery Foto 2013#5 Redux:Creedmore Hospital and Commonwealth Boulevard Motor Parkway Bridge in 1941

I had all intentions of coming to this presentation,but something came up and couldn’t make it on time. As I said earlier I’ll catch you later this month,I hope,with the way this weather is,who knows

From Learn About The Treasures of the Vanderbilt Cup Races & the Motor Parkway

Hope to see you all tonite, weather permitting, if not, later on this month, after coming back from Geogia and Florida. I’ll be down that way, in Williamsburge Virgina, this Friday-Tuesday. Be seeing ya.

From Learn About The Treasures of the Vanderbilt Cup Races & the Motor Parkway

I’m still puzzled by this photo.  According to Ray Cunningham, president of the Homer Historical Society, this photo was taken by Wilbur Tudor, sometime in the [19] teens.  Wilbur Tudor lived in Homer Illinois, about 140 miles south of Chicago.  The Homer Historical Society has dozens of Tudor’s photos taken in the Homer area.  It seems likely then that the photo would have been taken somewhere in the midwest rather than in Connecticut, as some have suggested.

I thought that the photo might have been taken while it was making the rounds of the Locomobile showrooms, perhaps at the Chicago branch, during 1909 or 1910 but in the photo, the car appears to be wearing black tires.  Photos taken during the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup race as well as one showing the car on display with the NY to Paris Thomas Flyer in 1909, in NY, show the car wearing white tires (albeit often quite dirty).  This suggests that the photo was taken sometime later, after the tires had been changed.

From Mystery Friday Foto #9: Can You Identify This Old 16 Locomobile Photo?

Wow. Being a former Lilco employee, I’m familiar with the substation property that pretty much covers the area of the former Karatsonyi property. Just had no idea of the history here. It’s good to learn something new, thanks guys.

From Mystery Foto #9 B Solved:The 1905 Darracq Team Headquartered at the Hotel Glenwood, Glenwood Landing

Thanks for those links Frank. You thought I forgot about you guys, never happen, been busy lately, don’t have much time to keep in touch.

From Mystery Foto #9 B Solved:The 1905 Darracq Team Headquartered at the Hotel Glenwood, Glenwood Landing

This the French team competing in the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup. Six persons, so they could be the fully ‘French’ equipes of Lorraine-Dietrich (Arthur Duray with mechanician Franville), Renault ( Ferenç Szisz with Dimitrievic) and Darracq (Victor Hémery with unknown mechanician). Unfortunately the quality of the photo is insufficient for good recognition, but the person on the far left could be Hémery and on the far right Duray.

From Mystery Foto #9 B Solved:The 1905 Darracq Team Headquartered at the Hotel Glenwood, Glenwood Landing

Though not affecting its performance, the racer’s block is cracked and use is limited by the museum.

Responses:

ED MINNIE · December 16, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Dave, Last time I was at the Henery Ford I was told the block was cracked on OLD 16 and they will no longer run it. It this correct? Ed Minnie

Reply
DAVID GREENLEES · December 17, 2012 at 7:03 am
Ed, Yes Old 16 is now silent as the conservators at the Henry Ford discovered small cracks starting at the top of some of the cylinders. They could very well have been there for years and are not affecting its operation, but in the interest of not causing any harm to this “Mona Lisa” of American treasures they made the decision to at least for now not run it.

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=65910

From Mystery Friday Foto #9: Can You Identify This Old 16 Locomobile Photo?

Unable to locate this structure in time. Closest guess is the Bulls Head Hotel before the large porch was removed on North Hempstead Tpke (Northern Blvd) and Back Road (Glen Cove Road) Greenvale, NY

From Mystery Foto #9 B Solved:The 1905 Darracq Team Headquartered at the Hotel Glenwood, Glenwood Landing

From Edward G.
Thank you very much for this.  Ed.

From Book "Ways of the World": Long Island Motor Parkway Documented as the First Parkway in the World

-Identify this Vanderbilt Cup Race team
The 1905 French Darracq & Company racing team (Cup winner, Victor Hemery and second place finisher Louis Wagner).

-What is the approximate date of the photo?
Oct. 1905

-Where was the team headquarters located?
Hotel Glenwood Hungaria in Glenwood Landing.  Owned by Karatsonyi and Kmetz. 
More information and pictures to be sent to Howard separately about this location.

From Mystery Foto #9 B Solved:The 1905 Darracq Team Headquartered at the Hotel Glenwood, Glenwood Landing