Kleiner’s Korner: The Motor Parkway in Advertising Part II
Part 2 in this series features the advertising of sporting events held in close proximity to the Motor Parkway.
Art Kleiner
Aviation
Weekly meets were held at the Hempstead Plains Aviation Field adjoining the Motor Parkway. Anyone want to venture as to what a "Courier of the Air in Bomb and Manifesto Dropping Tests" were? I'm not sure I'd want to be around!
Originally called The Hempstead Plains Aerodrome the field encompassed 900 to 1,000 acres east of and abutting Clinton Road, south of and adjacent to Old Country Road, and west of Merrick Avenue. A bluff 15 feet in elevation divided the plain into two large fields. The U.S. Army Signal Corps established the Signal Corps Aviation Station, Mineola on the west field in July 1916, as a pilot training school for members of the National Guard. When the U.S. entered the war in April 1917, the entire field was taken over and renamed Hazelhurst Field. (Courtesy metroairportnews.com)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Aug. 24, 1912
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Aug. 31, 1912
Golf
Lenox Hill Golf Club, forerunner of the Bethpage State Park Golf courses. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sept. 8, 1922)
The New York Times, Sept. 1, 1923
This ad was actually promoting the housing development to be built on the B.F. Yoakum estate adjoining the golf course.
1935
Old Westbury Links, same location as the Hempstead Plains Aviation Field (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jul. 6, 1935)
$1 a round! Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Apr. 21, 1937
1938
Automobiles
Auto Polo? Again, same location. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 3, 1913)
Wonder why this never seemed to catch on. Possibly demolition derbies took its place! Hilltop, NY (Library of Congress, circa 1910)
Coney Island, NY (Library of Congress, circa 1910)
The Vanderbilt Cup Races
The New York Times, Oct. 4, 1908
The name of the race was incorrect! (The New York Times, Oct. 18, 1908)
Advertising Postcard showing the 1908 Meadow Brook Lodge. Featuring Pan-O-Lite and Miller oil and grease.
Daniels' Parking provided a place for your car if you traveled to the 1909 race by auto; restaurant and toilet accommodations were also available. (The New York Times, Oct. 24, 1909)
And if traveling by train there was the LIRR . . . (The New York Times, Oct. 6, 1908)
and the Reading Railroad from Philadelphia to NY. (The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 28, 1909)
Comments
I’d say Rugby is safer than Auto Polo.
Early (1902) Auto Polo match in Boston
I’d rather have manifestos dropped on me than bombs.
I’ve seen “car football” (soccer) on Top Gear, but this is the first that I’ve heard of Auto Polo.
“Auto Polo”? OMG! I’d forgotten all about that. I saw auto polo played at Cedarhurst Stadium or the Freeport track with late ‘30s cars (junkers) and a huge (6’?) ball, ca. 1948. How I love these posts! Keep ‘em comin’, folks. Sam, III
Now that I am approaching 70 in June, I have great appreciation for history, especially for automobiles and old automobile advertising; as well as for airplanes and aviation history. Which is fortunate, because I work as a volunteer for the Nassau County Photo Archives at Old Bethpage Village.
Over the last year and a half, I have been archiving photos and documents, which display the history of aviation on Long Island. I note with interest your collection of aviation by way of advertising cards. Some of the info conveyed in your current newsletter, add the names of those early aviators who were active in Mineola and the Hempstead Plains. Thanks for publishing this information, along with the LI Motor Parkway.
JF Purcell
Oceanside, NY
Volunteer, Nassau County Photo Archives
Thank you for your comments, JF. I’m glad you find the material informative. Yes, lots of aviation history on LI - so glad volunteers like yourself are helping to preserve it.
Thought you’d like this matchbook cover for your collection. My best friend, Tony Carey, and I walked on the Parkway from Mineola to Searingtown when we were kids. (1952ish). Love your column.
JF and Art, don’t overlook aviation pioneer George C. Dade, founder off the Cradle of Aviation Museum - see my <http://sbiii.com/aviation.html#dade>. George Dade’s father and uncle, and later George and his brother, owned the northwest corner of Clinton Street and Old Country Road, diagonally across from Curtiss/Roosevelt Field; the Motor Parkway formed the western boundary of their property. Coincidentally, I worked in the basement of the Dade office building there on OCR (long gone now) ca. 1957 - see 16 Jul 2018 Update #3: Mystery Foto #28. JF - please contact me at sbiii at sbiii dot com. Sam, III
Thanks for matchbook cover, Thomas. Haven’t seen that!
Sam - see the article re: midget racing at Cedarhurst Stadium. From Billboard, 1948 but referencing pre-WWII.