The 1954 Carnival of Cars parade down Fifth Avenue
To promote the opening of the Carnival of Cars Museum in July 1954, Henry Austin Clark, Jr. and investor Robert W. Dowling held a parade of vintage automobiles down Fifth Avenue from the Plaza Hotel to Times Square.
Check out Times Square in 1954. How many of the automobiles can you identify?
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Business Week, July 24, 1954
A. Cartoonist and writer Ralph Stein and Henry Austin Clark, Jr. at the Plaza Hotel at the start of the parade.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J. Robert Dowling and 1950s television star Jean Martin
K.
L.
M. Actress/Dancer Marsha Reynolds who performed in the original Broadway production of the musical The Pajama Game.
Comments
Unfortunately, the Carnival of Cars was short lived, barely lasting 7 months, as it closed down on March 1, 1955. Photos D & J are of Robert W. Dowling’s 1909 Nott steamer with a 1919 American LaFrance tractor, originally from St. Paul, Minn., and now owned by the East Hampton F.D.; Photos H & L are a 1912 Packard Landaulet; and I believe Photo K is a 1910 White Opera Coupe. All were shown in Clark’s “Antique Cars” booklet.
Agreed that photos H & L are the 1912 Packard model 18 Landaulet. This car had a previous life as a taxi cab and when Austin purchased it, before he repainted it , it was still marked/lettered as such. There probably are photos of it in that guise in the Henry Ford museum collection that has Austin’s library that he donated to them . He had a file folder on each car he ever owned. I “drove” that Packard one evening - well was behind the wheel steering anyway when Austin and I towed it from his museum west to the golf course about a mile away on the same north side of the road for an event to raise funds for ARF - the Animal Relief Fund that was a favorite charity of Charles and Tee Addams ( he the well known cartoonist) who were chair people of the event. ( Charles had a great collection of pre WWII era European sports cars) Austin towed it ( with a rope) with his wife Waleta’s newish Toyota sedan and we stayed mainly in the shoulder of the road . We tried to get it to run just before we went to the fund raiser but it would not start. Behind us was the gal I worked with and also was an old car person. She was driving my 1941 Packard station wagon as a “sweep car”, since the 1912 Packard had no lights that worked and the 41 Packard had two tail lights that were about 4 inches in diameter and did. We also towed it back to the museum after the event was over at about 1 am the next morning- that was “fun ” too. SO many stories about the ‘adventures ’ I shared with Austin. I believe that Packard model 18 landaulet is now in a collection in southern N.J.
What happened to the collection of Henry Austin Clark jr?
I attach a photo of my 1929 RR. That I bought here in Jackson Heights in
1967 for $1500 and sold a year or so later. I used it in a parade of antique cars for the NY opening of “A Countess from Hong Kong” . Each AACA-Greater NY Region member with antique auto got $50 for attending.
Thanks for sharing that car event right in NYC!