Vintage Fashion and Autos

Fairbanks is home to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, which features pre-WWII cars, along with fashions from the era and photos from those early days in Alaska.  I'm posting this photo of a 1906 lace tea gown, which is my photo index #7834, and linking with Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 85.  I posted a photo from Fountainhead for an earlier Foto Friday Fun in August, and you can check out that post and earlier Fountainhead Museum posts HERE.

I just can't imagine wearing something like this for afternoon tea, but then I'm more comfortable in jeans or sweatpants.  For that matter, I can't imagine attending an afternoon tea either.

Behind the lovely dress is a 1904 Buckmobile Runabout.  It is one of two known to still exist, and originally belonged to a doctor in New York.  The sunshade could be put up when the vehicle was parked and it touted its smooth ride. 

Click on the photo below to enlarge it and learn more about this interesting vehicle.

The Museum has a fantastic collection and is a delightful way to spend several hours.  You can see more at their website HERE.

Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

My son Brian and his wife Andi just went home to Mt. Vernon in Washington after a 10-day visit with us.  One of the places we visited was the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum here in Fairbanks.  The northernmost automobile museum in the world opened in 2009.  It contains pre-WWII autos, fashions from the era, and many early Alaska photos.  All of the vehicles run and are periodically taken for a drive around the Wedgewood complex where the museum in located.  There are many rare and one-of-a-kind vehicles in the collection, all lovingly restored.  It provides a delightful walk back in time.

The photo is of a 1912 Peerless, Model 36-K Seven-Passenger Touring car.  It was built by the Peerless Motor Car Company in Cleveland, Ohio.  There were 450 Model 36s built and only a handful are known to still exist.  It cost $5,000 new.  Each Peerless could be customized to suit an individual buyer's tastes.  The company's slogan was "Peerless--All That The Name Implies."  Peerless was included with Packard and Pierce-Arrow in the "Three P's" of early motoring royalty.

I'll be posting more photos from the museum, but you can also check out previous posts HERE and HERE.  I am linking with Geogypsy on her Foto Friday Fun 71.  Each week she posts photos using their index numbers, and is asking readers to post a photo using the week's index number, this week 7777.  Gaelyn is a park ranger at the Grand Canyon and also posts many photos from visits to South Africa.

Autos From the Past

Our friends from Montana are in town visiting their daughter and son-in-law. It was raining off and on, so our plans to take a walk around Creamer's Field were put on hold. We went to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum instead.They have one car at the museum that you can get in for photos, so we all climbed in and took it for a spin. The lighting made it a bit difficult to get clear shots of both the car and the people, but you can just close your eyes a little and pretend it's back in 1911 when this Everitt was built.

Wouldn't it be fun to be out for a drive in this baby?

The museum is full of cars from before WWII. I posted about it when it opened last June and you can click here to check that post out. The car in these two photos is 1932 Chrysler Custom Imperial. It's price in 1932 was $3,595.

Below is a 1914 Woods Mobilette Model 3 Tandem Roadster Cyclecar. Its top speed was 35 mph but it got 35-40 mpg.

It cost $380, but brakes were $10 extra, the speedometer $11, and the top and windshield $15. It carried two people with the passenger sitting behind the driver.

Another beautiful car is the 1931 Cord Series L -29 Cabriolet. It cost $2,495 new.

This is an exceptional vehicle in that it has only 14,000 original miles on it and has it's original top and interior.

Below is a 1920 Argonne and is the last Argonne of only 24 produced.

It's factory price was $4,500.

You can read more about the museum at Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. Oh, by the way, some of you may recognize the gal sitting next to me below from her blog, Montanagirl. We have been friends for many years and became acquainted when she lived here in Fairbanks.

We are hoping to hit the trails at Creamer's Field tomorrow and also explore the new trail that takes off from the car museum. With luck we'll get some nice nature shots.

Tour Time: Automotive Museum

Our tour of Fairbanks continues. I hope you're ready for a trip back in time. The newest attraction in Fairbanks is the Fountainhead Automotive Museum. It just opened June 1st. It covers U.S. autos built before WWII and showcases the automobile in early Territorial Alaska. It also displays vintage clothing and historical photographs portraying the automobile in early Alaska history. Above is a 1906 Cadillac, the Model K Runabout, with it's snappily dressed owner ready to take it for a spin.

This beautiful vehicle is the only surviving 1906 Compound.

Here's a back view of a 1933 Auburn Boattail Speedster.

This is a 1936 Packard, a Dual-Cowl Convertible.

There are many beautiful items in the vintage clothing collection. Above is a 1920s flapper outfit. A net base is covered entirely by silver beads and gelatin sequins.

One of the most fun photos is this image of a Nash Standard that had a little problem on the Cushman Street Bridge, the main bridge in downtown Fairbanks.

This Motel T Snowflyer was built on a 1917 Fort MT chassis. It was used principally for business, like delivering the mail or by a doctor. It was an ideal vehicle for Fairbanks' snowy winters.

The photo above it titled "Joy Riding" Fairbanks Alaska. And now, although this is just a small sampling of the absolutely gorgeous vehicles in the museum, I think we'll have to call it a day and come back again. It will be well worth a second visit. Over the years in our travels we have visited many automobile museums across the country, and this museum compares favorably with any of them. The fun part of the museum is that all the vehicles are in working order and they will be driven around the adjacent grounds of the Wedgewood Resort, which covers 27 acres. The Resort is also adjacent to Creamer's Field and has connecting trails to the Field. If you are a birder this is the perfect hotel for your stay in Fairbanks. So get lots of rest, because I think our next stop will require a bit of walking.