People Viewing the Thomas Flyer at Hotel Oriental, Kobe, Japan, New York to Paris Race, 1908

01

Artifact Overview

The 1908 New York to Paris race was a 22,000-mile automobile endurance contest. After crossing the continental United States, teams shipped their vehicles to Asia. The Americans, driving a Thomas Flyer, disembarked in Japan in early May. As the Flyer and crew trekked carefully over the narrow Japanese roads, they encountered many inquisitive, courteous and helpful people.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Lantern slide

Subject Date

1908

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

92.1.1774.107

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of the Family of Henry Austin Clark, Jr.

Material

Glass (Material)

Technique

Hand coloring

Color

Multicolored

Dimensions

Height: 3.25 in
Width: 4 in

Inscriptions

Label adhered to side of glass lantern slide, handwriting in pencil reads: HOTEL ORIENTAL (Imperial crossed out) / KOBE JAPAN Printing partially seen in upper left corner of image from backwards: (Curi)ous Celestials / [Inspe]cting the Thomas