Vintage (Old Photographs Only) Pics of the Day

[badger34]

Was Frank Ray Whitney also the proprietor of South Side Motor Station in CR, an auto & cycle retailer and service station?

[duffeycycles]

There were 3 Frank Whitney's in CR. one was a little older than I posted, one was the son of the guy I posted. The one I posted had an amusement park & there was an amusement park with a race track. I could be wrong on the one I posted !....the other one...Frank Ray Whitney (1881-1951) - Find a Grave Memorial

[duffeycycles]

Cedar Rapids-Marion, Ce-Mar Midget Bowl was a short track in an amusement park. I think this is 1946 because Tuman isn't expert yet. Edit; Ce-Mar opened in 1946 ...notice guys we have been talking about; Johnny Egeberg, Lloyd Tibbets, Charles Chenoweth, Johnny Spiegelhoff, Bob Pazour. Others like Lyle Smith was Rock Island Smitty's brother. Stormey Stocker was either dad or uncle to Roger Stocker, Indian Motocyle collector, often seen at Davenport meets.

Ce-Mar 1.jpg Ce-Mar 2.jpg

[badger34]

I think the above Ce-Mar race program is from Wednesday August 6 1947.

Feature Race results were,
1- Tuman, 2- Spiegelhoff, 3- Bissman,

[duffeycycles]

This pic was in my family photos. It only said Robert & Mary Walters. They were neighbors to my grandma. Turns out this is Bob Walters from Walters Bros HD in Peoria & Galesburg Illinois. Ambrose "Bruce" Walters was their older brother. This pic is about 1906-1908. In 1903, their father Vincent was killed when struck by lighting while sitting on his planter. Bruce born 1898,Bob 1900. Bruce bought a motorcycle age 15 & began racing. This was when Iowa City had races & there was another track at the ghost town of Pittsburg. Bruce & Bob started a motorcycle shop in Galesburg in 1922, later buying a Harley dealership. Bob ran Galesburg & Bruce ran Peoria. They started Galesburg M.C. & Peoria M.C.The world famous Peoria TT & other races were run by them.Notice Mike Wilson as one of the racers.Roger Soderstrom was a powerhouse TT racer & had his own dealership in Normal & later Bloomington Illinois...AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame | Bruce Walters

Walters bob mary.jpg Walters bros license frame.jpg Wren Thomas 1951 Peoria TT program cover.jpg img335.jpg

[T. Cotten]

I met Bob at the Peoria store!

An open house of some kind, where he had a '36 or something with the wheels laced eccentrically on purpose. He had to explain to me that it was for fun.

(Bruce was before my time..)

....Cotten

[duffeycycles]

Cool, I rode a bicycle that had wheels like that. Crazy to ride. If in sync you didn't have to pedal once moving but out of sync was impossible to ride very fast,it would try to buck you off.

[duffeycycles]

Peoria TT pics

Peoria TT winner 1947.jpg Peoria TT about 1949.jpg Walters Bros HD 1951 ad.jpg

[duffeycycles]

Late '40s

img344.jpg img345.jpg img346.jpg

[badger34]

Roger, do you happen to have a photo from the 1947 Peoria TT of the 45 cubic inch class top three finishers?

A young Council Bluffs man named Homer Miller finished second in the 1947 45 cubic inch class that day. Sometime in the 1943-1944 time frame Homer moved to the Milwaukee area and was employed by the H-D factory. In late 1945 Homer Miller, Hal Deckert, Griff Kathcart and my grandfather all took part in a long distance factory test trip to the southwest dubbed the "Hydra-Glide test trip" testing hydraulic front fork assemblies. I have some photos of the four men taken during this trip and souvenir items from Carlsbad Caverns that my grandfather brought back with him. In Wisconsin Homer became quite a good racer advancing though the AMA rankings achieving an expert rider license. Sadly in 1949 he was critically injured in a race at Cedarburg WI and succumbed to his injuries two days later on June 9th at only 27 years of age. The racing incident also involved riders Bill Tuman and Floyd Emde. It's reported that Homer and another racer brushed together resulting in Homer skidding to the ground in front of the grandstand where he was struck by another rider.

This is a photo of Homer Miller taken during the 1945 test trip at the Pecos River in Texas.

1945smcopy.jpg

[duffeycycles]

Only that 80" winners pic. Here is 2 poor images of Herman in 1947 races. Bill Miller won '48 45"

img379.jpg img386.jpg Homer Miller.jpg

[badger34]

Thanks for the program pics! I did know that Homer won a heat race in '47 but didn't have the pic. Are both of the pics from the 1948 Peoria program?

[duffeycycles]

Yes, I have 2 copies but none from '47. Herman's number was 8G in '48. He was not shown before '47 or after '48. He was listed in 1947 springfield mile as 8G

Peoria 1948 cover.jpg

[badger34]

Yup, number 8G. He passed before the 1949 Peoria race date.

[FLFD7]

img063.jpeg