posted 03-02-2008 10:49 PM            

Greetings,

This, my first post, is to answer the query for information on the Anderson and Glidden Automobile Touring Trophies. I wrote a 4-page illustrated story of the return of the 1911 Anderson (Perpetual Automobile Touring) Trophy for the November, 2007 issue of Cars & Parts magazine, a 50-year-old antique-auto publication. My research included info and pix of the Glidden Trophy, as well.

The Anderson Trophy was presented to AAA by the citizens of Anderson, SC to be awarded perpetually to the individual winner of the Glidden Tours, early auto reliability and endurance runs sponsored annually by AAA that ran from 1904-1913, except for 1912. It was made by the J. E. Caldwell & Company silversmiths of Philadelphia. Two designs were submitted for the trophy, one by Gorham, and Caldwell's.

Caldwell's winning design took the form of a large punch bowl with ladle, decorated with the State Seal of SC, the AAA logo, winged wheels (the symbol of the Good Roads Movement), palmetto fronds, cotton bolls and dual, winged "Victories" with arms outstretched, clutching wreaths. Its most stunning feature is a large bias-relief image of Anderson's Historic County Courthouse as it appeared in 1911. (My mug is included to give the trophy a sense of scale; it is mammoth! Photo courtesy of Lou Rainey.)

The trophy is 39.5 inches wide, 15.5 inches tall, and fashioned from 23.5 pounds of solid sterling silver; it rests on the original ebony base. It bears the hallmark of J. E. Caldwell & Company (and .925) in its base. The original cost was $1,300, and was first won by the Hon. Hoke Smith, Governor of Georgia, who was chauffered on the 1911 Glidden Tour in his 1912 Maxwell Touring car. The tour ran October 14-26 from New York City to Jacksonville, FL., covering 1,460.6 miles on the then-new National Highway. (Then, as now, the new car models appeared in the early Fall, hence the 1912 Maxwell.)

The Glidden Trophy was competed for by 3-car teams, and was won by the Maxwell Team, of Tarrytown, NY, making it a clean sweep for Maxwell. I will be happy to email the complete (and absolutely fascinating) story on the Anderson trophy to the Moderator who posted the inquiry last December. Copies of Cars & Parts are available from the publisher, for those who may be interested. (The piece has run in truncated form in AAA Carolina's GO magazine and the Antique Automobile Club of America's Automobile publication.)

The Anderson Trophy is shared annually by the City of Anderson, SC and AAA. It's currently on display at the Anderson County Museum thru April, 2008, and will then be displayed at AAA's HQ outside of Orlando, FL. The trophy will be back in Anderson in 2009, 2011, 2013 and so on.

The re-acquisition (for the City of Anderson) of the Anderson Trophy was my own "magnificent obsession" for nearly 20 years consisting of dogged research, much travel, and a can-do attitude. Anderson and AAA are to be commended for working out a legal arrangement for the joint perpetual custody of this most-important piece of our shared histories.

The Glidden Trophy is permanently on display at AAA's HQ and as time (and AAA) permits, we'll learn more about its storied past. First awarded in 1905 at a cost of $2,000 to the sponsor, Charles J. Glidden (the AAA tours were renamed that year in his honor), it originally sported a sterling silver 1901 Napier automobile perched atop the porcelain enameled globe. That priceless little objet d'art vanished long ago, but the Napier commemorated Glidden's round-the-world auto tour (with his wife, Lucy), begun in 1901 and encompassing nearly 47,000 miles.

And yes, I'm looking for leads to the whereabouts of that Napier...

Regards,
TG

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Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity

posted 03-02-2008 11:38 PM            

quote:

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"I will be happy to email the complete (and absolutely fascinating) story to the Moderator who posted the inquiry.."

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I am sure everyone would like to know more about you and your silver interests -- please share with us.

posted 03-03-2008 01:19 AM            

I like any object of beauty regardless of it's composition, and the trophy is certainly a whopping hunk o' sterling. The shot of me smiling is there to give scale, but the grin is 'cause I'd just finished polishing it for city's and AAA's official unveiling/press conference back in April, 2007. It's kind of dorky, but it's hard to imagine the size otherwise.

I should add that the Glidden Tours were revived in 1946, and the "Revival" Tours have continued every year since. For an idea of what the Glidden Trophy looked like with the Napier on top,

It's a grille badge and pin given to the 1959 tour participants that I just snagged (for a song) at auction. Sorry it's not silver...

TG

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Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity

posted 03-03-2008 08:22 AM            

One other thought is about replacement value! If it cost $1,300 in 1910 what would it be today if it was possible to have it made? The silver at today’s $20 per oz. would alone be $5,640. Since we do not talk price on these forums I will not go on but in one hundred years inflation certainly has kept up with the boom in cars.

I hope through the network of dealers that the Napier model is recovered. How great that would be!

posted 03-04-2008 08:38 AM            

As a car guy you may find this interesting:
A Silver Salon

posted 03-04-2008 12:32 PM            

You wrote that Caldwell submitted a design for this piece and that it was made by them. Where did you obtain this information? I ask this because it is strongly believed that at this time in the company's history it was solely a retailer or agent and not a maker.

In addition to the marks J.E. Caldwell & Company and 925 are there any other marks of any kind on the base?

It's a great piece and it would be nice to know for sure who actually made it.

posted 03-04-2008 01:39 PM            

The info on Caldwell and Gorham came from a full-column, microfiched article from our newspaper on Sept. 16, 1911.

It's too grainy to post, but in a nutshell, "Mr. J. O. Godwin (Caldwell's rep., ed.) said that his concern would have a big job on its hands to complete the trophy; that every moment will be necessary to get it out. The order was telegraphed today, and Mr. Godwin said the engravers would be put to work at once to get the bowl completed in time to be shown at Philadelphia."

The story further states that when completed, the trophy would be put on display at the Hotel Walton in Philadelphia for the Tourists arrival, at the first overnight stop (Oct. 14, 1911) on the tour. Then it would be freighted to Anderson for display the day before the overnight stop here, Oct. 20th.

We actually only had the trophy for a very short time, as it arrived in Anderson late afternoon on the 19th. It was displayed in the window of Evan's Pharmacy at the Hotel Chiquola (host hotel) overnight, and left with the Tourists early morning Oct. 21st.

Sadly, my PC with the oval Caldwell hallmark and .925 images crashed, and I'm still waiting to see if the info is retrieveable. There was a 4-5 digit number stamped in the base, as well. If necessary, I'll get new images soon of the underside markings.

Given that they had one month to complete the "engraving," I've often wondered if the basic bowl existed and all decorative elements were hastily done to get it ready for its Philly debut. Maybe the Philadelphia Inquirer archives could shed more light, as we know the time-frame involved?

I hope this helps, as I want/need to know as much as possible, too.