William H. Pickens Saturday Evening Post

Thanks to auto racing history researcher Ken Parrotte, we have this series of six articles written by ultra-promoter William Hickman Pickens for the Saturday Evening Post in 1927 and 1928. Pickens promoted many sports but is best known for his association with Barney Oldfield. It's not easy to find information about the guy. This autobiographical series is almost certainly the most informative source about him. Oldfield wrote a similar piece in the Saturday Evening Post that is very informative about his life and career.
 
I find these articles particularly interesting in the broader realm of historical context. I think such articles help fill in daily details about what life was like. I have tried to reflect that perspective in this website and my book, "The Legend of the First Super Speedway."
 
The first article (see attachment Accelerating102927.pdf) immediately demonstrates what an incurable promoter Pickens was. He drops celebrity names of the era right and left. Many are people he worked directly with, others who he did not. Among them are Charles Lindburgh, Lincoln Beachey, Louis Paulhan, Walter Howey, Secretary of War Lindy Miller Garrison, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Glenn Curtiss, Alexander Graham Bell, Bud Mars, Roy Knabenshue, Dick Ferris, Adolphe Pegoud, Orville Wright, Walter Johnson, Jim Jeffries, Benny Leonard, Barney Oldfield, and Jake DeRosier. The individuals that Pickens worked directly with are primarily Oldfield, Beachey, and DeRosier.
 
The article focuses primarily on aviation and Beachey's role in it. He was a stunt pilot, but there was a larger plan. Typically, the Federal government was divided into two sides arguing about military funding for aviation. There was no Air Force, and any military applications were under the purview of the U.S. Army. Pickens and Beachey assisted groups lobbying Congress for funding. The Army's planes were judged to be poorly maintained and not the latest technology.
 
Sadly, the article details the fatal injuries of Beachy and DeRosier. Beachey drowned at the bottom of the San Francisco Bay. Picken's conversation with DeRosier from the motorcycle racer's death bed is compelling.
 
The second article (Accelerating111227.pdf) discusses Pickens' role in professional bicycle racing, early auto racing, and mostly championship gas balloon competition. Again, he name-drops frequently. Many of those mentioned are not colleagues but high-profile personalities of the age who were players in the fields where Pickens plied his trade. Those mentioned include Phineas Taylor "P.T." Barnum (1810 - 1891), Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (1867 - 1932), Lee Richardson 1890s bicycle racer, Bozeman Bulger Sports Editor for the Birmingham Age-Herald, Bobby Walthour 1890s bicycle racer, George Waller bicycle racer, Tom Cooper, Henry Ford, Alexander Winton, William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., Frank P. Lahm (aviator), Oscar Erbsloh (aviator), Charles Andrew Coey (Chicago millionaire sportsman), Octave Chanute, Norman G Keenan, and Dr. Frederick J. Fielding.
 
Throughout the article, we gain a first-hand understanding of Pickens' work ethic, personality, and sense of humor. For example, Pickens created the amusing fictitious aviator Taro Wasaro. Pickens created him to strengthen his claims that his championship gas balloon race originating in Chicago was "international." To me, this highlights the population's naivete and awareness of the larger world. The world was far bigger then than now. People were generally unaware of happenings beyond their local communities, and certainly only a small percentage had any concept of culture and events beyond the shores of America.
 
A good example of Pickens' personality comes with his opening paragraph to this article.
 
"The old-time promoter drowned his conscience in his imagination, and when facts interfered with the truth, he discarded them both. We believed ourselves to be honest, but we never investigated too personally. Our books were open to the public, but as these were twenty-four-sheets on the sides of barns, we were forced to make the statistics attractive and the totals stupendous. There was no deliberate attempt at hoodwinkery. We simply tried to make the public believe things that we hoped were true. It was fortunate that none of our brilliant statements had to be endorsed by three reliable witnesses. We operated on the theory that the billboard is half the circus and never insisted on each of our bill posters being accompanied by a notary public. We were pasting up twenty-four sheets and not affidavits."
 
Pickens was ballyhooing for Richardson in the 1890s but also was a bicycle racer himself. An Alabama native, he reports remarkable success in those years in his home state and Mississippi. His athletic prowess declined with his increasing waist. In true Pickens form, he served as a traveling correspondwnt for his home town newspaper, the Birmingham Age Herald. He filed his stories with Bozeman Bulger, the sports editor. He "exaggerated" his stories with reports that he was a prolific winner until Bulger double-checked and called him out.
 
With the decline of the bicycle racing craze and the rise of the automobile Pickens soon found himself traveling with Henry Ford, Tom Cooper, and Barney Oldfield. This portion of the article is a more personal account of how those three dynamos collided to spark American automobile racing in the midwest. At this point we learn of the origins of the famous Ford "999" racer Oldfield's career-launching victory over Alexander Winton at Grosse Point, Michigan.
 
The last segment of the article focuses on Pickens' days as gas balloon racing promoter. After nearly going bankrupt in 1907 in San Antonio, he traveled to St. Louis for the James Gordon Bennett International Balloon Race. That contest was won by Erbsloh.
 
This gave him the inspiration to organize a "championship" balloon race in Chicago. That location was primarily determined by the reality that Pickens only had enough train fare to get to that Great Lakes metropolis. This is where his shenanigans included the fictitious Japanese balloonist. He called on Coey - an avid balloonist and all-around sportsman - to help finance the contest. Coey also attracted the interest of French aviator Octave Chanute, who was recognized as an international authority. Aeronautique Club of Chicago sanctioned the event. Thus was an organization he dreamed up shortly before attracting the interest of Chanute. This was important because the established Aero Club of America wanted nothing to do with them or their "outlaw" event. Next, they set about attracting additional entries. 
 
With Coey's leadership, they formed the Federation of American Auto Clubs across various cities around the nation. They attracted 36 clubs, surpassing the Aero Club of America's six. Still, balloon entries were not forthcoming. Coey ordered the construction of the most enormous balloon in the world - the Chicago - and launched all 100,000 square feet of it on a test flight. This triggered a string of well-welcomed copycats who built balloons of their own. These men included Dick Ferris, Keenan, and Fielding.
 
Meanwhile, Pickens employed the assistance of auto racer Lewis Strang, who was competing in France, to telegraph him the entry of a fictitious French balloon. Pickens named a "Captain Muller" of Alsace-Lorraine as the pilot. His co-pilot was a teenager and part-time race driver, George Schoenick. Pickens groomed Muller's mustache "upward in military fashion," and rented, for five dollars, a captain's uniform for five dollars. Pickens jokingly said, "I could have made him a general for three more dollars." The Chicago newspapers were all over the story, publishing the man's picture. Within weeks Pickens had his goal of nine entries. The contest was held on July 4th and attracted over 50,000 spectators to a makeshift airfield, complete with grandstands and tall fences along the perimeter.
 
In the end, Dr. Fielding landed in West Shefford, Quebec. This was a distance of 895 miles and a new world record! For his efforts across eight months, Pickens personally netted $10,000 a tidy sum in those days. This brought him back to full force as a promoter. He had come to believe he should channel his talents into gas-balloon "Sky Derbies." After an embarrassing and disastrous failure in Columbus, Ohio, he again poured his energy and talents into auto races.
 
The third article (AcceleratingSentiment.pdf) is exclusively about Pickens' promotion of air shows focusing on stunts. More than the other articles in this collection, Pickens provides insights into the relationships between promoters and journalists. He stresses the need for promoters to "play it straight." Still, Pickens always pushed the envelope. In some cases, he made promises backed by assertions he had no idea for delivering. In one case he cites early in the article, he describes a commitment to bring a Japanese pilot to a show. This kind of promotion was essential to attracting spectators to his events from various market segments that previously had no one they could relate to culturally. 
 
Meanwhile, Pickens concocted another stunt involving Lincoln Beachey flying a plane indoors. Eventually, Beachey did pull off the indoor flight in the Palace of Machinery at the Pan-America Exposition grounds. He also had another inspiration. This was to prove the aircraft that Samuel Langley developed in the 1890s actually could sustain flight. At first he planned to recruit Beachey for the task, but later settled on Glenn Curtiss due to schedule conflicts. After much haggling, Langely's aircraft was procured through a loan by the Smthsonian. Langley had passed away in 1906. Curtiss installed an engine of his design and pushed forward. His flight attempt was successful and the aircraft was returned to the museum.
 
Pickens' efforts to create an event of international flavor continued in Sourthern California. He had pilots from Japan, Spain, India and several other developed nations of the world, but no Chinese representative. He found a young Chinese man willing to risk it all to be a part of the game. His name was Tom Gunn and he was destined for tremendous success. Pickens announced him to the world with a close up of the man clutching a child's toy steering wheel whild sitting in an armchair. After some flight training the young man became the star of a San Fracisco airshow which achieved the desired result of drawing heavily from the Chinatown population.
 
Another important pilot Pickens helped develop was Katherine Stinson. Stinson had her own Wright Brothers airplane and among her many accomplishments was her achievement of becoming the first woman to perform the loop the loop maneuver. She garnered attention when she started using magnesium flares to scribe letters in the night air. Stinson went on to a storied career in aviation and is remembered today, especially in museums such as The Henry Ford. Stinson's resume is extensive and couldn't be summed up here. It is good to note that she traveled to Japan and China to dazzle the curious there. Both countries recognized the importance of developing an aviation industry especially for military applications.
 
Mickey McGuire was another pilot Pickens worked with and helped build his name. McGuire's career was short-lived but spectacular. He so impressed revolutionary general Pancho Villa the leader hired him to use aircraft in his war campaign. Unfortunately, this led to McGuire's demise in a compensation suit with Villa. Another shooting star for what Pickens dubbed his "Flying Circus," was Horace "Sure Shot" Kearney. Kearney dazzled crowds but his career was as brief as it was spectacular. He perished over the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Los Angeles in an unprecedented distance over open water. Traveling with him was Los Angeles Examiner reporter Chester Lawrence, who was also killed in the plane crash.
 
 
Pickens was the ultimate publicity hound, staging daring stunts to attract attention. In one instance, Silas Christofferson assembled and then flew an airplane off the roof of the now-historic Multnomah Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Clarence Chamberlin flew his plane off the deck of a large ship known as the SS Leviathan. Another pilot, Eugene Ely, pulled a similar stunt off the deck of the USS Pennsylvania but took it to another level by returning to land on the vessel.
 
At this point Pickens discussed the commercial application of aviation in transporting goods. This first happened as early as 1912 when Farnum Fish carried a 300 yard bolt of cloth from Chicago to Milwaukee. He also delivered loads of the Milwaukee Jorunal newspaper by simply dropping bundles from the sky that were then retrieved by ground carriers.
 
The fourth article (Accelerating121027.pdf) discusses Pickens' approach to ballyhoo and staging thrill shows involving airplanes, race cars, and animals. Even Uncle Jasper and Aunt Matilda - which I surmise to be a stage act of the era - blend into the mix. Early in the article, his description of a car dashing around a race track with an airplane dangling rope ladder just above the car is of particular interest. A young woman in the car grasps the ladder and scales it to a spot on the airplane wing.
In the event of a failure, such as plane malfunctions, riots frequently triggered among up to 30,000 patrons, Pickens advocates blasting through the wood fence along with a bag full of gate receipts. Pickens also shares having a band play "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the Northern states and "Dixie" while in the South, both to quell unruly crowds. He also describes his misguided purchase of the board track in Kansas City - and the resulting financial loss. But Pickens' spirit was indomitable. He always bounced back with wild ideas, such as selling tickets to a head-on collision of two old locomotives. In one case, Pickens bought two such vintage locomotive engines for $2,000 a pop. He claimed that one had been robbed by Jesse James.
 
Pickens also describes his foray into airplane shows in an account of the 1912 Milwaukee Greater Aviation Meet on Decoration Day of that year. Among the pilots was the "Boy Wonder," 16-year-old Farnum Fish. The aviation meet was to last three days, but all but one of some 20 planes had crashed and were no longer fit for flying. Fearing the worst, Pickens went into town to the famous Plankinton Hotel and its taproom. While drinking to his sorrows, he heard a newsboy hawking a newspaper with the headline that Wilbur Wright had passed away. Pickens quickly announced the final day of the aviation meet was canceled out of respect for the fallen hero. That was pure Pickens.
 
With aviator Earle Ovington, Pickens attempted to compete for $50,000 in a Hearst coast-to-coast air race. Aviator Cal Rodgers was a competitor. Pickens had originally planned to work with aviator  Phil Parmalee, a Wright aviator. Instead, he switched to Ovington because he believed his French Bleriot plane was faster. Ovington crashed just seconds after takeoff. The pilot escaped injury, but the aircraft was done for. There was no limit to Pickens stunts. For the 1916 presidential election, he arranged for aviator Laddie Laird to cast a color aerial bomb with red for Woodrow Wilson and green for Charles Evans Hughes. Reports came that Hughes had won, but Laird cast the wrong bomb. A day later, it was discovered that the information the local newspaper had received was in error. It was a comedy of errors, but Pickens and his pilot had a hefty payday.
 
After the death of Lincoln Beachey, Pickens hired DeLoyd Thompson as his replacement. They focused their energies on nagging the Federal government into investing more in aviation. On one occasion they illustrated how the nation's capital was wholly unprepared for an aerial attack. Thompson cast fake bombs over the city designed to explode, make noise, but carry no severe destructive power.
 
The fifth article (Accelerating122427.pdf) invests a lot of ink in describing how Pickens promoted runners. Among those he ballyhooed was the great Finnish Olympian athlete, Paavo Nurmi. Nurmi inspired younger runners who followed into foot racing careers. Among them Joie Ray, Lloyd Hahn, and Villie Ritola. Other running stars of the era included Olympic Marathon gold medalist Johnny Hayes, and Dorando Pietri, who was disqualified after finishing first after collapsing in the final yards before the finish line and then being helped by onlookers to stumble over the line. Haynes was awarded the gold.
 
Nurmi took on all opponents in a tour of America, with Pickens being assigned to promote his Los Angeles stop. Sprinter Charley Paddock, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, got involved in recruiting competition for Nurmi. Paddock responded by recruiting Native American athletes from the renowned Sherman Indian High School. Nurmi continued his cross-country trek, and Pickens reported on his success in his promotion for the Los Angeles event. The race distance was settled on three miles, and Nurmi won, but only by 300 yards.
 
Pickens spends a good deal of space discussing C.C. "Cash and Carry" Pyle's promotion of Red Grange. Grange's transition from University of Illinois football star player to the first professional football star of particular interest. He never managed Grange, but did manage another prominent player, George "Wildcat" Wilson from the University of Washington. It was the dawn of professional football.
 
Pickens also returned to staging air shows. His pilot was Lieutenant Locklear. Locklear's specialty was changing planes in midair. From there, they came up with a name for the profession - "aerobat." Locklear teamed with other army pilots (Lieutenants Short and Elliott) to pull off his stunts. Pickens staged an aerobatic show at Sheepshead Bay Speedway in 1919. Incidentally, there was another aviator Pickens promoted - 
 
Famed aviator Glenn Curtis witnessed Locklear's plane change and took an interest. So did plane constructor Eddie Stinson, who worked with William Brock, who also worked with Pickens. Brock performed an air stunt that dangled a rope ladder to a speeding car with Lillian Boyer ready to grasp it and climb aboard. Lockyear's career was brief, though, only 13 months. He was killed while performing stunts for a Hollywood film production.
 
Pickens recruited Tex McLaughlin, who proceeded to dazzle until one of his arms tangles with a propellor. Brilliant flying by Short brought McLaughlin down safely as possible, and the injured stunt man survived the ordeal. 
 
Pickens is clear that none of these antics were contributions to aeronautical science, and they were pure entertainment. I glean from the article that he feels his most substantive contribution to developing modern parachutes with Roy Francis and Charles Broadwick. 
 
In the sixth article (Accelerating010728.pdf), Pickens focuses largely on his promotional efforts supporting 1920's tennis star Suzanne Lenglen. She lived in France, much of the time at a villa or Hotel Negresco. Charles C. "Cash and Cary" Pyle played a significant role in managing her and connecting her with Pickens.
 
An example of historical context is May Irwin's song, "When I Walk that Levee Round." This is an odd piece in that it seems to support anger and aggression by blacks who have been bullied by a black man. The singer asserts that he is black. The "N" word is used casually throughout the lyrics. Really strange to hear now, but a good insight into America's history of racism - and implications for its enduring and insidious influence in the 21st century. This song is referenced at a point in the article where Pickens shares his work in the 1890s and early 1900s to help Thomas Edison promote his "cast iron machine with a human voice." This was the original phonograph with wax cylinders and tubes to hold to a listener's ear. Famous recording artist Dan W. Quinn is mentioned.
 
Other names dropped in the sixth article are boxer Georges Carpentier, author Damon Runyon, footballer George "Wildcat" Wilson, and boxing promoter Tex Rickard. Other celebrities of the era include tennis superstar Paul Feret, and Victor Breyer.