Saturday, August 11, 2018

1937 CORD PHAETON


12 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Same car after total restoration

Tom Mix's 37 Cord changed hands

a few times and won many awards

This might have been the last

original license plate of his

Chic Silber said...


Mix’s Cord was acquired by Bob White of Scottsdale Arizona

White has done a thorough restoration of the car

During tear down it was revealed that no former owner

including the Imperial Palace Auto Collection in Las Vegas

had ever properly repaired the damage from Mix’s accident

Wade G. Burck said...

Food stuff Chic. After reading this thread I googled Tom Mix's 1937 CORD PHAETON and learned a whole lot. It is what a "history" blog is all about. I was always a big Roy Rogers fan as Mix's time was about up when I became aware of movie/tv cowboys, they were a big important part of my childhood. Fascinating how many of them were involved with the circus in some way.

Wade Burck

Eric said...

Roy Rogers hosted the 1966 and 1967 Ringling TV specials.

Eric said...

At one time, there was a roadside marker at the site of Mix's fatal car accident. Perhaps it is still there.

Wade G. Burck said...

Tom Mix's wife when he died was circus aerialist Mable Ward. Any link to the "flying Ward's" and if so, how?

The GSOE used to host what was called "Star Night" each year when the show played Los Angles. In 1984, at the start of the season Alan Bloom asked me if there was anyone I would like to personally meet and invite to "Star Night." I suggested Roy Rogers and Iron Eyes Cody, to which he replied "really, no one else?" To my great disappointment 2 weeks before the event Roy became very ill and had to cancel but Iron Eyes was able to come. The gold eagle's on my first Ringling costumes that Don Foote designed, and Trudy Strong and JoAnn Pinson constructed were patterned after the eagle's on Roy Rogers boots.

I wonder if kid's today had a "cowboy hero" if we would have the terrible mass shooting's that occur. Cowboy's back in the day didn't need to kill anybody. With their skill and deadly eye they were able to shoot the gun out of the bad guy's hand, at a gallop, hanging sideways, shooting under their horses neck......

Wade Burck

Roger Smith said...

WADE is right. I don't recall depictions of death in any of Roy's or Gene's oaters. Gene once stopped a fleeing outlaw by shooting the heel off his boot.

Mabel Stark was once among the honored guests at the Ringling show, down in the L.A. Sports Arena. I believe this was in 1961, marking her 50th year in showbusiness. Parley Baer told me how he set it up. She got her mink out of cold storage at the high-end furrier, Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills, and appeared, done to the nines, as the once-and-forever Tiger Queen.

Iron Eyes Cody was born Espera Oscar de Corti, in Vermillion Parish, Louisiana, to a Sicilian mother and a father from Southern Italy. He and his brothers got themselves into movies as extras, and shortened their name to Cody. Espera hit it big as Iron Eyes, even getting screen credit as director of Indian dialect in DeMille's UNCONQUERED. He denied his verified birth records and his half-sister's claims for their family heritage, insisting he was Native American. In his well-crafted character, he appeared in over 200 films, often co-starring with the top names. Few actors worked a self-chosen role as impressively as he. I visited his place of interment, in an expansive mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and sure enough, he kept his stage name for eternity, his simple plaque reading Iron Eyes Cody. He died in 1999, at 94.

Roger Smith said...

ERIC: I believe the marker for Mix is still there. I'm in Yuma now, with family around Phoenix, and friend Ivan Henry in Scottsdale. Next time I go up, I'll try to cut over from Casa Grande to Florence, and see for myself. Stay tuned.

Roger Smith said...

WADE: Note CHIC's posting of the Mix paper featuring the Flying Arbaughs. This act evolved from the Flying Wards, when they all came out of Bloomington. Jim Arbaugh married Jessie Hubbell to form their own act. Jessie was the sister of Mabel Hubbell, who was also in the Flying Wards. She was on the Mix show with them, which leads us to the following:

Check the "Milestones" column in the Feb. 2, 1932 issue of TIME Magazine, to find notice that Tom Mix, 52, film star, married Mabel Hubbell Ward, 28, in Mexicali, Mexico. The piece further states Mabel had done 300 one-arm revolutions in her aerial act, this being "a record".

Wade G. Burck said...

Roger, give my best to Ivan next time you speak with him. I hope his health is good. For folk's(Paul G.) queer for circus history his blog "The Circus Blog" is top shelf. There is a picture on site of Roger Smith holding one of those "natural born jungle killer's, straight out of the wild's of Asia" which were the only animal's trained back in the day(written tongue in cheek.) As I wrote earlier, I named my oldest son Adam Regan after my mentor Lou Regan. I found it interesting and unbeknownst to me that Roger named his son Richard Bennett after Roger's mentor Benny Bennett. Lou Regan also worked at Jungleland, back in the day and is credited with helping to get Chet Juszyk out of the cage after a severe mauling. I guess in our own way Roger and I are doing our part to keep the memory of Jungleland alive.

Roger's account of the Chet Juszyk incident from Ivan's blog:

The other man in the rescue was Dick McGraw. When Chet was attacked by Brutus lion, he was taken down hard. As Dick entered the arena, Brutus tore open Chet’s right rib cage. Dick hammered on Brutus, and from a vantage point behind his head, screamed into his ear, “Brutus! Brutus! Brutus!” He literally pulled at his ears to distract him. Brutus turned away from Chet, and Dick realized he couldn’t hold him off, plus the other 8 lions, and get Chet out alone. He yelled out, “Will someone please come in and drag this man out of here!” Lou Regan was already in by then, taking hold of Chet, and dragging him toward the door. Dick held off the 9 lions, who were then circling, checking each other out, readying for the gang-fight kill. Once Lou had Chet outside, Dick yelled at the boy on the door to take the lions home. The kid, who shall remain nameless, froze. Benny Bennett shoved the kid aside, and worked the door to unload the arena as Dick drove the lions out. They tried to stand Chet up, but he collapsed, torn open and bleeding profusely. He survived over nine surgeries, and went on to import animals for trainers and deal in rare animal books, but he was unable to return to the arena. Chet died at 81, of a bad fall in his home. God rest him, he was among the best.

That folk's, is by God history!!!!!

Wade Burck

Wade G. Burck said...

Chic, what email do you use so that pictures may be sent to you.

Wade Burck

Chic Silber said...


Thanks Wade please send to

sunshine@aadata.com