My car is in the auto body shop because for the second time in less than a year I was in a car accident.
And just like before I was stopped at a red light and a car hit me from behind.

So, this week’s My Vintage Video is a little lesson on driving safely.
It’s narrated by the late Jimmy Stewart.

One hundred years ago this month New Mexico achieved statehood and became the 47th state.
The state was dubbed the “land of enchantment.”
This 1937 road map highlights various points of interest including Bottomless Lakes, Indian Reservations and Salt Lake Crater.

Another interesting detail is the layout of Route 66.
The original design of the famed route was to pass through Santa Fe, but after the state’s Governor lost an election bid, he re-designed the route so that it would pass through Albuquerque instead.

Birthday wishes are being sent to Chevrolet for turning 100 this month.

The Chevy brand was founded in Detroit, in November 1911, by racer Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant.

This week’s My Vintage Video is a TV commercial celebrating the car’s 46th birthday in 1957.

Now Pan Am wasn’t the only airline taking to the skies in the 1960s.
TWA (Trans World Airlines) was high-flying too!

The two sides of this matchbook cover advertise the novelty and adventure of international travel.
This was still an era when flying was still considered a luxury.
By the way, the first TWA flights between New York and Paris began in February 1946.

Here’s a really cool piece of ephemera I picked up recently.
It’s a application to register as a chauffeur.

It was filled out on July 25, 1925 and it looks like it was signed by Samuel A. Martins.
He was 21 years-old, 6 feet tall and weighed 185 pounds.
Martins lived in Portland, Oregon.

I wonder if he got the job?

Laconia Airport, Lake Winnepesaukee & White Mountains

The airport was built on over 400 acres of farmland.
Laconia Airport was one of thousands of federal WPA (Works Progress Administration) projects completed in the 1930s and 40s.
It was originally conceived as a defense airport, but it was never used for that purpose.

Today, it serves as a small municipal airport with one runway in operation.

Here’s a dandy doodle vintage license plate.
This is red, white & blue plate with embossed lettering.
It was made sometime during the prohibition era, which lasted from 1920 to 1933.

This essentially was a traveling billboard.
Was this one of the first license plates to promote a message?
These days we see so many on cars with message plates that we take them for granted, but I’m sure back in the day a plate like this would have stood out on a Ford Model-T!

One of the most popular transatlantic liners from the 20th century was the RMS Queen Mary.
It sailed the high seas from 1936 to 1967.
The ocean liner’s route was from Southampton to Cherbourg and New York City.
This abstract log provides interesting details on an excersion the Queen Mary took in 1958.

Abstract of the Log of the R.M.S. Queen Mary

May is National Bike Month!
Click here see what activities are taking place near you.
And here’s the Facebook Fan Page.

And before you hop on your bike, watch this vintage filmstrip about bike safety!
Happy and safe riding!