W. R. Densmore photograph album of early automobile touring, 1904-1915

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Summary

Abstract:
An album of over 100 photographs chronicling early automotive tours across the United States, 1904-1915.
Extent:
1.17 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. W. R. Densmore photograph album of early automobile touring, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

An early automobile photograph album and scrapbook compiled by W. R. Densmore of the Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit. The album contains over 100 professionally-made photographs, with 19 approximately 8 x 10 inches, and also contains newspaper clippings about Densmore, early automobiles, and races. The album primarily chronicles Densmore's driving tours, although it also contains material dealing with other aspects of his life. Many images chronicle the famous Los Angeles to San Francisco drive of 1904, with Densmore and three companions seen in a Packard touring car. The other men were: H. B. Larzelere of Pacific Motor Car Company, San Francisco; Wallace W. Everett, guide; and H. A. French, correspondent for The Automobile magazine. Other images record similar overland auto journeys, in the White Mountains (1905); Long Island, New York (1905); the Wilkes-Barre Mountains, Pennsylvania (1905); and a grand tour of Italy (1913). Most of the automobiles featured are early Packard models, with riders in open-air cars, often wearing goggles and duster coats.

Biographical / historical:

William R. Densmore (1874-1943) was a businessman in the early automotive industry. A friend of Henry Ford, he became a dealer with the Packard Motor Car Company in 1903, then for five years he was the Packard distributor in Buffalo, New York. He was especially noted as a travelling promoter for the automobile industry, engaging in many famous early auto races, such as the Vanderbilt Cup, and early overland auto journeys. In 1904 he made a sensational overland auto journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco which gained wide notoriety and established a new time record for motor car travel between the two cities.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Alta California Bookstore, 1979.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff, circa late-20th century. In 2021, Suzanne Oatey created a finding aid.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. W. R. Densmore photograph album of early automobile touring, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2129
reference@huntington.org
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