Overview

In 1919 there were just 6.7 million cars in America. There was no interstate system. The national park system was thirty-seven years young. In this fledgling environment for long-distance travel, H. A. Spallholz and family set out from Salem, New York, to see America's national parks. In his 1917 Haynes Roadster, Henry packed his family and a camera and headed west. From storied New England through Great Plains grasslands, up the Rocky Mountains and down the west coast, this book documents firsthand what America looked like from very early highways and byways. Collected here into a book for the first time, the Spallholz photographs are a fascinating picturesque time capsule of early twentieth century America. See its cities and monuments. See Yellowstone Park pristine and wild. See the dirt and muddy roads that connected our states and metropolises and the tremendous challenges that came with traversing them. See a young family energized and beleaguered by the length of the journey: 10,400 miles. These family photographs were lost for a generation before they were uncovered by Art Vaughan, a hobbyist photographer who was stationed in Portland, Maine, with the Coast Guard. He found the glass slides and original lamp projector in a Salvation Army shop. Years later, when he posted some of the photographs online, the Spallholz descendants recognized their grandfather's photographs and contacted Mr. Vaughan. This serendipitous story, some fifty years in the making, is documented herein. This book provides a unique view across generations of American travelers and belongs on the coffee table of anyone who loves photography, American history, and the great outdoors.

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9781682832103

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Julian E. Spallholz, grandson of H.A. Spallholz, earned degrees from Colorado State University and the University of Hawaii before becoming professor of Nutrition and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University, where he taught for over 40 years. Now retired, he lives with his wife in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lance O. Spallholz, grandson of H.A. Spallholz, grew up in Salem, New York, and was educated at Union College in Schenectady, New York. After 16 years of high school teaching, he returned to Union College to teach for 27 more years. He is now retired with his wife, Norma, in Round Lake, New York. Arthur S. Vaughanis a self-taught photographer and camera club enthusiast from Massachusetts. In 1967, while on leave from the US Coast Guard, he purchased a treasure trove of archival slides at a Portland, Maine, Salvation Army. These slides make up the majority of the Spallholz Collection photos presented in this book.

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