Mystery Foto #48 Solved: Marion Spooner Photographed at the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
This adorable holiday Mystery Foto was taken by a professional photographer.
Mystery Foto questions:
- Who was the photographer? Provide a rationale. Hint (11/30/19): The photographer is related to the child.
The photographer was F. (Frank) Ed Spooner. Along with Nathan Lazarnick, Spooner was a pioneering photographer of early automobiles and racing including the Vanderbilt Cup Races. Spooner went on to establish the photograph company Spooner & Wells.
- Identify the girl.
The girl was Marion Spooner, the three-year old daughter of F. Ed Spooner. This photo and 687 other Spooner & Wells photos have been posted online at the Detroit Public Library's National Automotive History Collection.
Comments (7)
Congrats and kudos to Ariejan Bos and Brian McCarthy for correctly identifying Marion Spooner.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Close-Ups
Other Photos from the Detroit Public Library's National Automotive History Collection
Marion Spooner
F. Ed Spooner (left)
Spooner fooling around in 1910.
Spooner (left) and Nathan Lazarnick (right)
Comments
What a cutie, OMG!, but I’m going to wildly guess this mystery as George Robertson’s daughter, sitting in the driver’s seat of Old 16, after he won the first VCR race by the US, at the “winner’s circle,” if there was any. I didn’t research the steering wheel and its levers - it would’ve spoiled the experience. I hope I’m right. ADORABLE indeed! Happy Holidays to all!
This is Marion (on this photo misread as Marian) Spooner, the daughter of F. Ed. Spooner and photographed by her father at the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup race. Spooner was a journalist and photographer, who like Nathan Lazarnick was one of the pioneers in capturing early automobilism in photographs. Starting from Chicago he was later on a partner with Wells to form the famous Spooner & Wells, Inc., located in Detroit and New York. Unfortunately it seems to be almost impossible to get insight in the life story of Spooner, who seems to have been an amateur cyclist before becoming a photographer. The role of Wells is also unknown to me, as only Spooner’s role comes up in all reports. Spooner was e.g. the passenger in the first Glidden Tour in 1904 with driver Dwight Huss, famous Oldsmobile pioneer driver. During the transcontinental race in 1905 between two Oldsmobiles, the Old Scout and the Old Steady, Spooner and Huss formed a team again and in the Old Scout they won in a time of 44 days, beating the Old Steady by a week. Spooner & Wells were active not only in car reports for journals and car magazines, but also in corporate publicity and advertisements.
Marion is sitting at the wheel of a Jackson, possibly the same car in which her father was present at the American Grand Prize. The car is probably the new 1909 model E tourabout.
Both attached photos from the DPL-archive.
...don’t know, but love the photo!
The photographer was her dad, Frank Spooner. Her name is Marian. I’m submitting a 1910 census record below that shows Charles Wells, a friend & coworker of Frank- ‘Spooner & Wells’, resided with the Spooner family in New Jersey. Frank’s occupation is ‘Manager of a Newspaper’, and Charles is ‘Agent’ of the Newspaper’.
Could that be Consuelo Vanderbilt, almost 5 years old at the time and daughter of Willie K.? Maybe one of the Spooner and Wells photographers was related? Or maybe the photographer was Gladys Roosevelt? Maybe she was a distant cousin? All guesses and running out of time.
Hmm. That is unmistakably my late baby sister (and I certainly should know her) except for one leetle detail - she was only born in 1941! She drove at an early age, but still - - - . Uncanny. Sam, III
Mystery Foto #48… I will go out on a limb here and say the adorable child is Muriel Vanderbilt Willie K’s daughter. She would be about the right age as the child seen in this photo. If it is her the photographer might be Willie K himself.
That’s all I’ve got.
Thanks Howard, this mystery was a first for me. I’ve never seen before any personal images of Spooner, nor Lazarnick, only their remarkable and extensive work - finally both now captured on the other side of the camera! Now, where’s Wells? Great stuff!
Even ten years older, the resemblance is clear. Familialy, this goes from bad to worse - that little boy stole my father’s hat! [That’s my grand., great-grand., and Dad., ca. 1904] Sam, III
Gotcha, Frank! Ask and it shall be given - Fred. Spooner (left) and C. S. Wells (right)! If you want to call them, their phone number is 3472-3 (where - NYC?). :ยท) Sam, III
Sam - Your sis is gorgeous too. Hope I was able to improve the 1904 photo. I’m curious how it compares after on this webpage.
Thanx Sam!
You’re very welcome, Frank. Thought you might like that one. Thank YOU! I didn’t bother following that business card further but I could if anyone wants to know badly enough. Also, both the DPL and the LoC have endless more S&W pix (not my thing). Further, I rather doubt there was an “F. Ed Spooner”; that’s far more likely “Fred. Spooner”, as he, himself, put it. Hey; that phone was in NYC per attached stamp on the back of a photo. Sam, III
Ran across more (‘nuf?) - NYC - definitely. Sam, III
The enhanced photo helped a bit. As always, great stuff! Thank you gentlemen for keeping the historic roadway alive!
Neat, Sam. 1931 Broadway, today’s Lincoln Center!