Scarce Piece of Chicago Motor Club Memorabilia in the form of a HONOR MEMBER Trunk Lid Badge. New Old Stock Condition. Made of Art Deco, Brass, Mystical Symbols and Integrity. These were sent to CMC Members who were "Honored" for referring another member to the Club. It is quite a beautiful item for a "give-away" but History shows us, that is how the Chicago Motor Club was run. It most often confused with a license plate topper. I can see why. Factories and Blue Collar Machinists flourished in the 1940s. One only has to straighten out boxed end and drill out the two rivets. Like Magic, a License plate topper is made. This was a trunk badge that hooked onto the lower edge of stylized car back in the day. Since this has never been used before, there is still a piece of felt attached to protect the car's paint finish. I believe there was also a circular piece of felt attached on the backside of the eyeball. That piece is missing. I can tell by the clips inside the bracket that this piece was never attached to a car. One would simply snap the badge on the lower portion of the trunk lid. I believe the original instructions suggested opening and closing the trunk several times to ensure it was properly affixed. It measures 6" Tall by 4-1/4" at its widest. the bracket is 2-1/8" long and has a 5/8" gap to it where the two clips rest inside.
This award was sent metered mail to the recipient and included a pre-printed acknowledgment card from the President of the Club: Charles M. Hayes. I believe Hayes was the President from 1914 right up until the day he died in 1957. After watching a pedestrian get hit by a motor vehicle, he created the AAA School Safety Patrol in 1920. It was a program adopted by Schools Nationwide. Hayes had a quite a bit of Class and it showed in everything the Chicago Motor Club accomplished over the decades under his leadership. The Invention of the Automobile and it's popularity gripped the nation (and the world) with incredible force. The popularity was pure uncontrolled growth. Car Dealerships not only had to sell cars but also had to teach people how to drive them. Simple infrastructure such as roads, signs, bridges and overall regulation could not keep up with the over abundance of cars on the roads. This was when such organizations as the Chicago Motor Club and the American Automobile Association came into being. Chicago back then, was the epi-center for the automotive world. In contrast to Chicago's current Notoriety of boasting record shattering Crime statistics thanks to continued Senseless Leadership, the city actually had a bright, energetic, progressive insight into the World of Automobile Transportation. Even before the turn of last century, the people of Chicago welcomed the transportation revolution with open arms. I have always admired the Building on the old 66 East South Water Street. At 16 stories, it is a "mini-skyscraper" by today's standards. Yet it oozes Art Deco. The building actually seems to shoot right out of the ground and into the air. Today it has been graciously restored into an elegant Hampton Inn, keeping all the ancient transportation insignia intact. Back in 1920s, with Charles Hayes at the helm, The Chicago Motor Club, an independent affiliate of AAA, its predecessor club, had a membership that was growing by leaps and bounds. AAA was formed in 1902 and the Chicago Motor Club joined it in 1914 under Hayes' direction. By January of 1929, their beautiful Building was completed on South Water Street. The traditional "C" for Chicago embedded into the star could be found engraved into the base of the granite building as well as above the revolving door entrance way to the building. The building has been referred to as "The Temple of Transport" while the symbol is nothing short of Freemasonry. Certainly by design, as Charles Hayes was one of the highest ranking Freemasons around.
About 8 months after the Grand Opening of the Chicago Motor Club Building, the world welcomed Kenny Howard (aka "Von Dutch") a son to a well known sign painter in the Southern California area. It is said that young Kenny started painting by age ten. He soon grew into one of the most legendary pin-stripers of the day. Starting off as a motorcycle mechanic, he striped motor bikes. Then he went onto cars. Howard's name is now synonymous with the flying eyeball. One cannot help to notice the similarity of the logo adorning the top of the badge to many several artistic impressions made by Von Dutch over the course of his lifetime. I can see why Charles Hayes, a man steeped in Traditional Symbols, adopted this logo. The Motor Club's "C" and Star are symbolic of Driver Safety and Road Improvement. The Wings are angelic symbols as well as that of a winged creature, or "overseer" of Automobile Safety which is why it adorns the top of the ornament. It is important to note that this is not the same logo that adorns the entrance way to the Building on South Water Street, the building logos lack the "flying eyeball". In fact, the only time that I have ever seen the Flying Eye associated with the Chicago Motor Club has been with the swag items that were sent to honor members. Such items, as ash trays, License Toppers. Compact Mirrors and Cigarette Cases as well as this badge all have it.
Young Kenny Howard led a hard lifestyle. He was said to be a racist. This was not true. He hated everybody without discrimination. I am not even sure if he even liked himself. He was a wonderfully talented and eccentric man that was brutally honest with himself and his art. In his own words, "Nothing is truly Original, copyrights and patents are mostly an ego trip". I find that comment pretty ironic after looking at the original "Flying Eyeball" as it hovers over the Chicago Motor Club Motif. I am guessing that these were Post War Late 1940s Trunk Emblems as no one would dare to be shipping out nice hunks of Brass during war time rations. At this very time a young Von Dutch was pin stripping motor bikes at George Beerup's cycle shop. Do you think one of these Chicago Motor Club badges on a car may have caught the young artist's eye? Either subconsciously or consciously I believe it did. Anyone who ever knew this guy knew he was anti-everything. That included anti-money, anti-corporate and anti-establishment. How ironic Howard's daughters sold the rights to his images to the corporate greed machine. Even though Von Dutch is long gone, I feel bad for his Legacy. And as the Olympic Sized Cesspool of lawyers trying to dig their evil talons into all drawn eyeballs that fly. I am reminded of the ol skool advertising motto still used to this day: "Respect Tradition." Try learning about real history, like the life of a hardcore brilliant artist whored out every day to this day by corporate greed. Not too mention, the beautiful imagery that adorns all the classy vintage art deco automobilia pieces like this Chicago Motor Club trunk lid. If you don't know Tradition, you certainly cannot respect it.
This Vintage NOS Trunk Lid will cost you $150. The information above is priceless.
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