New York: General Motors Export Co., [1924]. 6.5 x 8.75 inches, 30 pp, original stapled wrappers, with a map and many illustrations from photographs. Owner’s signature at bottom of title page, edgewear and a few short tears to wrappers; very good. A lively account of Lowell Thomas’s journey through Afghanistan in a six-cylinder Buick specially outfitted to carry racks of photographic equipment and extra gasoline. On the final page, Thomas is quoted as declaring the Buick’s performance “one hundred percent perfect” throughout “one of the most remarkable feats of endurance ever accomplished by any motor car.” That said, the uncredited author is not overly concerned with the car (although there is a point where the vehicle is “wrenched, twisted, and shaken until it seemed it must break in two”), instead focusing on the more colorful details of Afghan life and scenery and the dangers encountered by travelers unprotected from “natives with accurate rifle-aim and sensitive trigger fingers,” who are “a bloodthirsty lot.” The party traveled over the Khyber Pass (then under British control), into Afghanistan, where they had been granted special permission by the Amir to make a documentary film. They visited Dekka, Jellalabad, and Kabul, and each place is described in some detail, as is their visit to the royal palace. They see “water-carriers, fakirs, hook-nosed money-lenders, coffee-sipping merchants,” and “wild tribesmen from every corner of Central Asia” who, although savage, had “a proud bearing and a self-respecting independence.” There are descriptions of exotic food and clothing, sandstorms, punishing heat, and perilous roads. The “pathetically secluded lives” and inferior treatment of women are noted with disapproval. Western prejudices notwithstanding, this is a very readable and interesting narrative. We locate just one copy in OCLC, at the Revs Institute in Florida. (Item #19960)

Dyea, AK: Trail Printing Company, 1898. Volume 1, Numbers. 3, 7, and 8. Each 8 pp, 11 x 15 inches, with horizontal fold at center. Light toning, a few chips and short tears to the margins; very good. The Dyea Trail was founded on January 12, 1898, by George T. Ulmer, whose brother, Charles, published several newspapers in Washington State. As one of the salt water ports closest to the Klondike, Dyea was abuzz with activity at the time, with thousands of stampeders landing there to pick up the Chilkoot Trail to the gold fields. The weekly Dyea Trail carried almost exclusively local news and reports of developments in other parts of the Pacific Northwest that would be of interest to miners. These three issues include a graphic account of the town's first serious fire, a report on Chilkoot Trail conditions and their effect on the cost of getting to the Yukon, details of new regulations on the importation of merchandise to the Klondike, and an article on the anticipated arrival of 500 Norwegian reindeer that were to carry relief supplies to starving miners in Dawson. Shorter entries note the arrival of steamships, eviction of claim jumpers, opening of new businesses, social club meetings, etc. Each issue also carries dozens of advertisements for local real estate, restaurants, saloons, hotels, banks, pack trains, outfitters, and more. Despite this abundance of advertisers, Ulmer apparently found the newspaper business unsustainable, for it was not long before he had loaded up his press and moved to Juneau. The exact date of the paper's demise is uncertain, but in a February 1899 issue of the trade journal Printer's Ink, it was declared "now dead." Dyea itself would all but disappear within another year, after the opening of the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway made Skagway the starting point for nearly all trips to the gold fields. (Item #19774)

Twelve views, each with original printed label on the back. Undated, but likely 1860s. All with light to moderate foxing; good. Adolphe Braun (1812-1877) was an influential French photographer who pioneered Alpine photography. His "perilous expeditions in the high mountains produced large-format landscapes of the Swiss Alps that appealed to the scientific community and tourists alike. These images document a natural landscape undergoing rapid change as a result of industrialization and a changing climate. To this day, they remain some of the most striking pictures ever taken of Alpine scenery" (Münchner Stadtmuseum). This group of views includes three shots of climbers or hikers (one including a woman, another with a landscape painter at work), one of an alpine hotel, and one of a hikers' hut, where less prosperous climbers would have stayed. The others show a variety of aspects of the alpine landscape, primarily in Switzerland. (Item #19875)

[Florence, AZ]: Florence Chamber of Commerce. Undated, c. 1925. [16] pp, with many b/w illustrations from photographs. Chipping and short tears to wrappers, old dampstain affecting wrappers and last two leaves, text otherwise clean. This scarce pamphlet promotes the benefits coming to the Florence Valley (along the Gila River in central Arizona) from the San Carlos Irrigation Project. According to the Historic American Engineering Record, "the San Carlos Irrigation Project is historically significant for creating an integrated irrigation system to serve both Indian and non-Indian lands along the Gila River. Prior to project construction, irrigation of area lands was piecemeal and non-Indian agricultural development above the Gila River Indian Reservation depleted water supplies for native communities. Native communities and people suffered increased water shortages as non-Indian settlements grew along the river above Pima lands during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The passage of the San Carlos Act on June 7, 1924 culminated years of studies and efforts to develop water storage on the Gila River and restore water to Pima Indian communities." While this booklet does note proudly that "Indians and Whites will share equally," its main emphasis, not surprisingly, is on attracting new settlement to Florence, the largest city within the Project's boundaries. Extolling Pinal County as a "storehouse of riches," it describes existing agricultural enterprises and natural resources, a school "as fine as the west offers," and sunshine and pure air with curative powers "known from coast to coast." Land values "will never be so low again," and "the time to buy is NOW!" (Item #2814)

Tempe, AZ: The News Publishing Company, 1897. Volume VI, No. 156. 7.5 x 11.5 inches, 4 pp. Old folding creases, some splitting at intersections; good. An early issue of this afternoon daily, which was founded in 1887, when the town had a population of 400, and published through 1943. It carried both national and local news and local advertising. This issue reports on the progress of a train robbery investigation, failing banks in Minnesota, a coal miners' strike in Wheeling, West Virginia and another likely in Ouray, Colorado, and a "lion-hunting party," preparing to "operate on the ranges in the neighborhood of Silver King where the depredations of these animals is very great. Stockmen say that it is almost impossible to raise a colt in this section." Classified ads seek information on stray cattle, give notice that "any person found unlawfully handling any stock bearing my brand will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," and offer a variety of services, including veterinary surgeon and dentist, dressmaking "at eastern prices," bicycle rental, and a "guaranteed tobacco habit cure." One-hundred sixty acres of land under the Tempe Canal are offered for $750. (Item #19762)

Fort Smith, AR: Loumar Service Syndicate, 1925. 5.25 x 7.5 inches, 150 pp + [8] page advertising insert on colored paper at center, with ca. 15 detail maps in the text and a folding map (17 x 17 inches) tipped in at the front showing all itineraries described in the book, with ad for Cook and Border Motor Co., “The Largest Garage in Northwest Arkansas” (in Eureka Springs) on verso. Illustrated wrappers, lightly soiled and creased, with some small chips; internally very good. One copy located in OCLC, in the Central Arkansas Library System. Although the motto on the front cover, “Loumar Logs Show the Better Ways” suggests a series, this appears to have been the one and only publication of the Loumar Service Syndicate. That’s a shame, because this is a fine little guide. It offers mile-by-mile driving instructions (e.g., “Road forks. Take left fork down grade. Right fork leads to State Sanitorium for Tubercular Patients” or “CAUTION: Start down mountain. Narrow, winding road—sound horn for blind curves. DRIVE CAREFULLY. Note view of Paris in distance in the North”) for more than 35 automobile driving routes, primarily in Arkansas, but also in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. For each town along a route, the guide offers handy facts (demographics, climate, scenery, points of interest), notes service stations, and recommends restaurants and lodging when available. These descriptions, as well as the display advertising, make this an invaluable source of information about long-forgotten businesses in dozens of tiny towns throughout the region. (Item #19926)

Fred Hess & Son; Atlantic Foto Service, et al. [1926]. 45 black and white photographs, of which 35 are ca. 8 x 10 inches, the remainder snapshot-sized. Many are linen-backed and nearly all in very good condition or better, a few with creasing or small chips. Thirteen negatives are also included. Most photos are credited in the negative to one of two prominent Atlantic City photography studios—Fred Hess & Son and Atlantic Foto Service. During the first half of the twentieth century, Atlantic City, New Jersey was one of America’s most popular vacation destinations. Following the model of British beach resorts, Atlantic City’s developers began in the 1880s to construct long piers extending off the Boardwalk, where visitors could stroll, dine, and enjoy games, rides, concerts, shows, and other amusements. The greatest of these was Steel Pier, which was constructed in 1898 and at various times dubbed “An Amusement City at Sea,” “A Vacation in Itself,” and “The Showplace of the Nation.” After fire damaged the pier in 1924, a local real estate investor and showman named Frank Gravatt purchased the structure and set about renovating it and adding new attractions. He expanded the exhibit space at the pier’s entrance to 20,000 square feet and leased it to General Motors, who used it to showcase their latest models—which were still enough of a novelty to draw large crowds when the exhibit opened in 1926. The images in this archive document the extensive renovation of Steel Pier in progress, showing workmen, equipment, and different stages of the job (both exterior and interior) over a two-month period. There are also photos of the installed General Motors Exhibit, the pier at night, and crowds on the pier and beach after the renovations were completed. The majority of the images are stamped on the back with the name of Philadelphia architect William F.B. Koelle, who was commissioned to build “The Home of the Century” – a model home filled with state-of-the art appliances and furnishings—on the Pier in 1936. Although we have not found any published report of Koelle having been involved in the 1926 renovations, this collection suggests that may have been the case. Koelle had a well-documented interest in the automobile industry, and there are three photos in this archive of drawings signed by Koelle that show slightly different concepts for signage on the General Motors Exhibit and other businesses along the pier. Koelle also operated as a general contractor and may have done so for this job. In any case, the collection offers valuable visual documentation for the history of this important American tourist destination. (Item #19983)

Columbus, OH: Columbus Buggy Co. Undated, but likely 1912. 3.5 x 6.25 inches, [12] pp., in original stapled wrappers. Ink stamp of Pastre's Auto Garage, Brooklyn, on front cover, one gathering loose from staples; very good. Not found in OCLC. The Columbus Buggy Company began producing electric automobiles in 1903. Promoting their vehicles as quieter and easier to handle than those of their competitors in Detroit, the company made a concerted effort to target female drivers. This advertising booklet takes the form of a fictional diary, in which nineteen-year-old Betty takes a trip to visit her cousin Jane, who "always provides such good fun!" and just happens to own a Columbus electric coupe. The girls have the kind of fun girls do (shopping and dining out with other girls), and all the while Betty is increasingly taken with the ease of auto travel ("It's such a dear and jolly good time it provides--the convenience--the real luxury of it all!). And what a lucky girl she turns out to be. Her birthday soon comes and she is given her very Columbus Electric Model 1230 Four-Passenger Coupe! This model is illustrated at the end of the booklet, as are several others, identified by their model names, but also as "Jane's Coupe," "Miriam's Runabout" and "Barbara Lewis' Car." Alas, the fun was over soon enough, as the Columbus Buggy Company went bankrupt and was out of business by 1915. (Item #19938)

Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brasil: Foto Mario Prugner. Undated; likely 1960s. Oblong photo album, 7.5 x 11 inches, flexible green vinyl with titles stamped in gilt on the upper board; with 33 original photographs mounted to both sides of 17 thick cardstock leaves, interleaved throughout with patterned tissue guards. Each photo has a printed caption. The first tissue guard is creased and chipped, the terminal leaf shows a few minor spots of soiling and dampstaining, else about fine. Since the sixteenth century, the Paraná pine (Araucaria angustifolia) has been prized as Brazil's "most important timber tree." But technical advances in commercial logging and milling, combined with encroaching agriculture and non-native timber plantations, led to the loss of 97% of the tree's native habitat in just three tree generations in the twentieth century. Those advances are in full display in the comprehensive photo essay in this album, which is captioned in English and clearly intended as a marketing appeal to American and European consumers and investors. Company pride shines through in every photo, from the views of the soaring and majestic forests to the felled "giants" and beyond. We follow the logging, milling, transport, and shipping process from forest floor to saw mill to tanker ship. The equipment and facilities are modern, spotless, and ferociously efficient. (Item #19860)

[San Francisco]: ca. 1891. 7 x 11 inches (oblong), [54] pp, with 25 full-page, half-tone photographic illustrations.Original string-tied embossed wrappers with ties replaced; mild toning to wraps, else fine. Rare promotional book for a luxury hotel destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. The California opened for business in 1890 under the management of experienced hotelier A.F. Kinzler, billing itself as "unquestionably the most beautifully and luxuriously furnished hotel in America" and the first on the West Coast to compare favorably to the grand hotels of New York. The eight-story stone structure was entirely paneled in a variety of polished woods on the inside. It included a first-class restaurant with tiled floor and mirrored walls; music room with frescoed dome; gentleman's reading room with Moorish arches and "Oriental" decor; billiard room; wine room; smoking room; and ladies' conservatory, "where tropical plants and rare flowers abound." Notwithstanding its claim to be "positively fire-proof," the California burned to the ground in the aftermath of the earthquake. This well-illustrated booklet offers valuable documentation of the hotel's interior, as well as a birds-eye view of the city with the hotel at the center. The text gives details about its planning and construction, and there are also many interesting advertisements, particularly for luxury goods and wine and spirits. One copy found in OCLC, at the Bancroft. (Item #20064)

Los Angeles: Arroyo Guild Press, 1909. First and only issue published. pp. 67, XV, [i] (ads) + illustrations. Two tiny tears to wrappers; still a fine copy. The Arroyo Craftsman was intended as to serve as the mouthpiece of the Arroyo Guild, a loose association of Los Angeles-area artisans founded by James and artist William Lees Judson. As James explains here, members of the Guild "will plan your home whether it be a palace or a bungalow; they will design its every detail; the stained glass, the wall and ceiling decorations, the carpets, the furniture...and all will be done with that rational, systematic harmony which comes of experience and expert knowledge. All these things are made by the craftsmen of the Guild with their own hands, in their own workshops, or under the personal direction of their own designers." The Guild also included landscape architects, printers and book binders, and makers of ceramic tiles, baskets, pottery, jewelry, etc. Although Arroyo Craftsman folded after just one issue (probably because the "Guild" lacked any real organization), as historian Kevin Starr explains, it remains important for "its expression of the Arroyan ideal: the spiritualization of daily life through an aestheticism tied to crafts and local materials....Southern California, James asserted, was destined to become the great center of aesthetic expression in America. In that rise to aesthetic prominence, no art would be more important than the art of domestic living" (Inventing the Dream, pp. 111-112). (Item #19861)

San Francisco: United States Farm Land Co., [1912]. Single sheet, 18 x 24 inches, folded to form a 4 x 9 inch brochure, with cover image of a bucolic farming scene printed in full color. On one side of the sheet are twelve panels of text and b/w images from photographs. On the verso is a three-color map of California showing the location of United States Farm Land Co. holdings, as well as two smaller plat maps, one of the Chowchilla Ranch, and the other of the City of Chowchilla. Some archival reinforcements, small losses at intersections; good. Two copies located in OCLC (Yale, CHS). The United States Farm Land Company was founded in 1910 by Orlando Alison Robertson, an experienced land speculator from Minnesota. Robertson purchased the Chowchilla Ranch—a 108,000 acre tract located in the San Joaquin Valley—in 1912, and promptly had it surveyed and divided into tracts for sale to farmers, preserving the northeast corner of the property as a town site. After creating 300 miles of roads, installing a town water system, and building a large hotel, Robertson launched an aggressive marketing campaign. This brochure assures prospective farmers that they “need have no concerns whatever about an abundant supply of water” (groundwater being close to the surface and electricity readily available) and shows off the agricultural bounty of the valley, which produces peaches, apricots, grapes, olives, citrus fruits, almonds, and berries, as well as a steady crop of alfalfa to support the feeding of hogs, cattle, and horses. Robertson set October 15, 1912 as grand opening day for his colonization project. According to the City of Chowchilla website, “some 4,000 people responded to the invitation to look over the new land, see the rodeo and partake of the free barbecue lunch,” and many of them became buyers. (Item #19915)