Mystery Fotos #15 Solved: W.C. Fields in an American Underslung in 1909
Kelly Williams challenged you to identify these two Mystery Fotos taken during the same photo shoot.
One of the photos is courtesy of The Free Library of Philadelphia.
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions
Identify:
- The celebrity driver and the reason(s) for his fame
William Claude Dukenfield, aka W.C. Fields. Star of vaudeville and Broadway. W.C. Fields went on to become a film star including Sally of the Sawdust partially filmed on the Long Island Motor Parkway.
- The automobile
1910/1910 American Underslung (see Dick Gorman's below Comment).
Link the automobile to the Vanderbilt Cup Race(s)
An American was entered in both the 1909 and 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Races. The #23 American driven by William Wallace finished 26th in the 1910 race.
Comments (4)
Congrats to Greg O., Dave Russo, Dick Gorman and Steve Lucas for contributing to the Mystery Foto.
Kudos to Dick Gorman and Kelly Williams for posting the American and W.C, Fields jpegs.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Submitted by Kelly Williams
From "W.C. Fields from Burlesque and Vaudeville to Broadway: Becoming a Comedian
Brooklyn Citizen, October 19, 1909
Kelly Williams: "Those W.C. Fields pictures may have been promotional photos for an act that Fields was doing in 1909 called "Motoring."
Close-Ups
A different angle during the photo shoot.
Opening Day at CitiField-2021
It was wonderful be one of the 8,500 Met fans to attend Opening Day at CitiField.
Check out who the TV camera focused on just 20 seconds before the Mets won on a walk-off "Hit By a Pitch".
Comments
I’m exempt from this one this weekend since I know the answers, but this W.C. Fields shot is amazing! I had originally thought that was Barney Oldfield in the passenger seat, but had misunderstood the caption. W.C. Fields was simply saying that he was pretending to be Barney behind the wheel.
And of course the American Underslung is very cool as well!
What’s even MORE wonderful about the Mets now is that they are now owned by someone who CARES. And who is willing to spend some money to get some talent! Welcome to Citi Field Mr Lindor. I’m quite sure you wouldn’t be here if the Wilpons still owned the team!
As a hard core baseball guy, the game is nowhere near as great as it used to be. Data and analytic people have taken over the game and all people do now is either hit a homerun or strikeout. Kids don’t care at all about baseball anymore and for some reason nobody gets that. The average baseball fan is over 55. Not good.
Let’s hope things change and the Mets and baseball can get back to greatness.
Mystery Foto #15… Looks like Greg O’s answer was already published here but here is my answer anyway. The celebrity here is W. C. Fields who was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer. Fields’ comic persona was a misanthropic and hard drinking egotist, who remained a sympathetic character despite his supposed contempt for children.The automobile is the wonderful 1909 American Underslung Traveler. What a gem. Way ahead of its time.
An American brand racer was entered in the Vanderbilt Cup in 1909 and 1910.
That’s William Claude Dukenfield, better known as W. C. Fields in his American “Traveler”. Although a Star of both Vaudeville and Broadway, Fields is best known for his roles in movies especially “Sally Of The Sawdust”, filmed partially on the Long Island Motor Parkway. The American Motor Car Company entered a racer in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race driven by William Wallace.
I grew up two blocks from W.C. Fields’s cottage on Little Neck Bay in Bayside. It was a part of the area called “Actors Row” that included the home of Gentleman Jim Corbett, the former boxer who was active in local Bayside sports and appeared on Broadway. Scenes of Sally of the Sawdust were shot on Bell Blvd around 43rd Ave where the old Straiton and & Storm cigar factory used to be.
“Discriminating few” is right, check those prices!