Saturday Morning, August 22, 2026
Two Planets Aligned and a Star Smiled
The movement, so routine, barely caught the astrologer's attention. He sat back and sighed.
1890. Carl Benz leaned over his workbench, the answer elusive. His motor was sound. Pistons tight. Spark plugs sharp. It was the fuel. He had tried alcohol, coal gas, but only one other met his test. Chemists had suggested gasoline, a derivation of oil distillation, and though its volatility worked well in carbureted motors, handling it was dangerous. And was it plentiful enough?
Saturday we go to the races, literally.
Posters. Autographs. Photographs. Auto racing in the earlier days.
Thirty years prior, Edwin Drake had drilled the first oil producing well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. A landmark moment. Here, distillation's primary goal was producing kerosene.
B.W. Molded Plastic race car. The exact scale model of the car driven by Rex Mays.
When heating oil, hydrocarbons separate by density, octane, into a gaseous state. When cooling these distillates, scientists could capture kerosene liquid in condensing tanks. Who knew better about stills than the boys of western Pennsylvania, home of the Whiskey Rebellion? One unfortunate by-product of this process was gasoline. For years it was discarded, normally burned. But, by 1890, two planets aligned and a star smiled.
Three Planets Aligned and several Stars Twinkled
The astrologer sat forward, not quite sure how to read these heavens. Something was happening.
1900. Geologists were certain something lay beneath their feet. At 300 feet, the drill head penetrated quicksand. Bypassing this detour with casings, at 575 feet they ran out of investors. But the allure of wealth attracts endless disciples. Institutional funding appeared. At 645 feet, they began twenty-four-hour shifts, anticipation driving the drill deeper. 800 feet limestone. 870 feet soft sand saturated in oil. 960 feet sulphur.
1897 stereo cards - Foot Ball - A Scrimmage.
Sports represented this week on the diamond & gridiron.
And then it happened. To replace the drill bit, they lowered casing extensions with the new bit when stirrings began deep below. At 1,136 feet, the well hole belched, spewing mud and gas. Silence. Excusing itself, it belched again. Out flew the drill bit. Heimlich maneuver. Silence, as the well took a deep breath. From within, there arose a rumble shaking the drilling tower and surrounding landscape. Laborers back away from the rig as an oil geyser shot up 150 feet into the air. Black gold. The sound deafening. Such was the thrust, nine days passed before it could be capped. By then, the wealth produced in Spindletop, Texas covered America. This single field would soon produce 13 additional strikes. It represented the end of John Rockefeller's Standard Oil Eastern monopoly. Texaco and Gulf Oil rising competitors. But the best was the volume. Overwhelming, enough to fuel the automobile industry with infinite barrels of gasoline. Three planets are all it required. There was one more alignment lingering.
Trust your Car to the Man who Wears the Star
The astrologer sat wide-eyed and cried. How did he miss the signs?
Child's Indianapolis driver racing suit, 30" x 28"
There had to be a better way. Henry had studied industrial manufacturing. It was cumbersome, inefficient. He had witnessed assembly lines before, but this needed a polished run. What if he set up a moving assembly line. Precision timing. Each worker at a particular spot would add another part to the assemblage. All involved and responsible for the finished product. From Henry Ford's insight, his innovation would produce automobiles in the millions.
This was not his only success. He guaranteed a daily wage of $5.00 per day and a forty-hour week. Leisure time would insure something far greater. With money, his employees could afford his cars and the time to drive them. The labor reaction was Spindletop spectacular. With this package, he attracted the best tradesmen. This moment, when all the planets aligned, became America's statement on the threshold of a the new century. A car in every driveway and a chicken in every pot. Darker days lay ahead for the struggle between wealth and power, sprinkled with labor unrest. But for this moment, all the stars twinkled honoring America's ingenuity, discovery, and work ethic. And the beat goes on.
In the Everything shows up at Brown Bros. department - remnants of a Sprint car body, late 1940's, 6' 6" length.
This Saturday you will be racing, from one category to another. The green flag is out.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU 1265L