Wheaton Automobile Company

I apparently got a little bit ahead of myself.  I was putting a few things away tonight, and it had been gnawing at me that I had more photos of automobiles stashed in an album, but I just wasn't finding them.  I had been overlooking a completely separate album which I had assumed was all family photos.  It was full of photographs of automobiles.

Some of them are in pretty bad shape, and by 'them', I mean the photos.  There are some which are fair, and I'll just put up a little gallery here, instead of trying to comment too much.  I believe these are mostly Chalmers.  Here we go...

Unknown automobile.  Anyone?  (My new friends from The Old Motor recognize this as a Matheson Silent Six.  Thanks!)

The Hudson Motor Car Company.

Love this composition!  Not sure if this is still the Hudson company, though.

The Chalmers factory.

Century Tire Company?  The treads read "non skid".

Another auto manufacturer!

An early Hupmobile panel truck?  No date, but some of these license plates are 1913, so that's my guess. (From the comments below... "the hupmobile is a Model 32, 1911-1913.. (this model was made from 1911-14.. most of the 1913-14 had electric lites.. the pics is gas lites.))"

Go look at this 1940 Hupmobile.  Gorgeous.

This may be the Chalmers in which Ivan begins racing. We'll see this automobile in the next blog post as well.

Lot's more Chalmers coming up, but notice they all have different license plates.  I found a local newspaper archive that contained a huge amount of headlines about Van B. Wheaton in Amsterdam.  It does mention the photograpy business in 1898, but nothing about the automobile company.  From the amount of car factories in these photos and the wide range of automobiles, I'd say that he (or Ivan) was pretty certainly in the Auto sales business.  (This newspaper online was a fun find, since I knew nothing about Van's remarriage in 1920 to Ethyl Winters. It may explain some census records in the archives.  My sisters will find this interesting, or anyone involved in our family history.)

I could use some help on this automobile, not a clue.  (and again, David Greenlees and Mike Turner, at The Old Motor have this identified as a Lozier 72)

The album finishes with a few family photos, and I found this one particularly fun.  Fishing rods spread on the chairs, and the fish hung between.  I have another iconic family photo which is really amazing with this dog in it.  No information other than his photos, sadly.  Later... much later actually, we'll meet the mascot of Ivan's squadron in France, and I have a fabulous story from Ivan's letters to go with it.

-kpw

Auto Polo?

Okay, this is just funny.  I mean, how many of you have ever heard of a sport called Auto Polo?  I never had either, but as I'm preparing to start the actual biographical section of the blog, this is what I found leading up to it.

I found a few hits on this fascinating sport via Google search, but then I came across these incredible photos, completely by accident while looking for some info on an unrelated car.  Don't read any further, seriously go get a good laugh.  Cars, men, giant polo balls, and giant polo mallets flying!  Safety apparently hadn't yet been invented.

There are also a few photos of family friends scattered across the pages in between the Indy 500 of 1913, and the racing photos and newspaper clippings which are coming soon.  Since I have no biographical details on these photos (other than my grandmother and great-aunt Corinne), they'll be passed over, and none of them is particularly interesting in composition.  I'll post some family photos, since family is reading this as well, but in a future post.  However, we do have a couple of photos of Ivan in wonderful automobiles.  

This car was what I was attempting to research when I stumbled on the Auto Polo photos. My first car was a 1964 Dodge Lancer, affectionately known as "The Kurtmobile".  Ivan's apparently was a Chalmers, if my research is correct.  They paid more for that car in 1914 than I did for my first two cars starting in 1976.  Isn't it gorgeous?  My Dodge was not.

I also found Ivan in this Chalmers racer, in all it's muddy glory, just prior to the racing photos.  They will be coming very soon!  I'm not sure how often we'll see this, but the Wheaton family garage can be seen in the background with another automobile in it.  Considering that automobiles are so new, I suppose garages are as well.  There must have been stables nearby.  I see horses in quite a few photos at this home as well.  The photography business must have been very kind to Van Benschotten Wheaton.

I've never seen, nor heard any family history regarding Ivan or Van B. having been in the automobile business, but this letterhead is tucked away in the collection, and I have another letterhead of the Wheaton Automobile Company with a Pierce Arrow header.  Actually, Ivan wrote in his journal of 1920 that he had taken a position as a used car salesman, in southern California.

-kpw