Letter from R. D. Merrill to Barney Oldfield, January 18, 1934
Add to SetSummary
R. D. Merrill owned a lightweight bicycle. Each night he stored it at his Toledo, Ohio, hotel, where he was a tenant in the 1890s. Merrill was unaware, however, that a teenaged bellhop "borrowed" the two-wheeler at night to train -- it was always returned. The young hotel worker -- Barney Oldfield -- later turned his passion for speed to race cars and became an automobile racing legend.
R. D. Merrill owned a lightweight bicycle. Each night he stored it at his Toledo, Ohio, hotel, where he was a tenant in the 1890s. Merrill was unaware, however, that a teenaged bellhop "borrowed" the two-wheeler at night to train -- it was always returned. The young hotel worker -- Barney Oldfield -- later turned his passion for speed to race cars and became an automobile racing legend.
Artifact
Letter (Correspondence)
Date Made
18 January 1934
Subject Date
18 January 1934
Creators
Merrill, Richard Dwight, b. 1869
Place of Creation
United States, Washington, Seattle
Creator Notes
Letter written by Richard Dwight (R.D.) Merrill of Seattle, Washington to Barney Oldfield, Detroit, Michigan
Collection Title
On Exhibit
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
2005.108.17
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Typewriting
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
Dimensions
Height: 11 in
Width: 8.5 in
Inscriptions
Typed letter to Barney Oldfield / Chrysler Automobile Co., / Detroit, Michigan / Letterhead from: R. D. Merrill / 919 White Building / Seattle / Body of letter: Enclosed...pictures of you and your "Green Dragon" taken in Seattle / ...younger than you are today. / ... Was this one of Henry Field's (sic) cars / which you drove in the early days...(book) entitled "The American Procession? /... (they) omitted a picture of you on my bicycle. / Yours very truly, / (signed) R. D. Merrill