WHERE IS THE JEAN HARLOW L-29?

We, the ACD Club, have accomplished what our mission demands of us -- correcting false history. The rest of our job is to diligently, but civilly, correct those who continue to purvey inaccuracies.

Thanks to Justin, Chris and Mike for a job well done.

Good timeline work, I should have done that and never did. The death, maybe suicide, likely murder committed by Paul Bern's common law wife, was a tragic end to a very strange life. That former wife drowned herself the day after Bern's body was discovered.

I still wonder how the legend of Harlow and the Cord came about. I have gone through her will, the list of cars she owned during her life and photos of her with her cars (and as she was the most photographed person of her time there were a bunch of them), and except a series of photos of the star and an Auburn Boattail at an air show/race, Jean was never shown or mentioned with with an Auburn product.

Today I snagged a copy of "Bombshell" by David Snell, the only Harlow biography in my local library, and read the chapter on the Bern/Harlow marriage.

Bern had lusted for Harlow for some time. She finally agreed to marry him simply because she wanted to have kids. The license was applied for June 21, 1932, and they married July 2, 1932. No mention is made of a trip to Paris or a honeymoon of any kind. They apparently got married, went back to work, were miserable for two months, and Bern then shot himself September 5.

The important thing to notice is the dates. The Cord appeared in Paris with the apparently unmarried Mlme. Berne (with an "e") in June 1931, over a year before Bern (with no "e") married Jean Harlow. By the time Harlow and Bern married, the speedster had already been to New York, been to Paris, been to Toronto (where it was apparently in other hands), and seems to have been well on its way into history.

So:
> The woman with the car was Mlme Berne. Even if this was a misspelling, "Mlme" indicates unmarried, and comparing photos clearly shows that the woman isn't Harlow. (Some resemblance, but not the same person.) The woman with the car is not Harlow.
> Harlow and Bern married a year after the car's appearance in Paris and by which time it was already in Toronto and on its way "elsewhere."
> Bern owned an L-29 touring car. As Josh said, they knew the difference back then.
> Ace (who seems to know his Harlow) claims Harlow never left the US.
> They apparently never had a real honeymoon much less a jaunt to Europe. How would they have time? They married, worked for two months, and then Bern died.

I think this evidence would convince a jury. Harlow and Bern never owned the car.

Looks like Stan Gilliland has already spent some time and effort trying to trace the car from the last known photos (Cutter photos). Read interview here:

www.ddclassic.com/l_29_cord.html

Justin

Justin, the snow photos are the ones you and I discussed previously.

Ok I'm going to stop lurking and wade into this conversation. Here is my rough timeline as well as I can put it together. Let's work on refining/correcting this:

1930 - Phil Wright presented the design to Roy Faulkner and Roy decided to have it produced as a show car for 1931 shows
1930, December? - Car extensively photographed in snowy field (Snow photos)
1931, January - The car was shown at the New York Auto Show (has anyone ever seen it photographed at that show?)
1931, June - Car shown and photographed at Paris Auto Show
1931, August - Car photographed in Toronto (Velasco photos)
1931, November - Car photographed in Auburn (Cutter photos)

Is that correct? Anyone have more specific dates?

There is a progression of headlights. It appears to be as follows:
1930 - Snow photos - Woodlites
1931 - Paris Show and later - Marchal or Cord? headlights

I have also observed another change to the car that I have not seen previously mentioned. It relates to the finish of the grill louvers and is as follows:
1930 - Snow photos - grill louvers painted darker body color
1931 - Paris show and later - grill louvers chrome

I've gleaned this info from this thread, newsletter archive searches and my own photo archive. If we can agree on the basic timeline and progression then we will know exactly where the trail ended.

Justin

Well done!

Well done, Chris and Mike.

You may have solved two mysteries simultaneously:

1. Who the unknown lady was.
2. How Harlow's name got attached to the Speedster. (Mlle Berne, not Mme Bern.)

During the Mountain Haunt last weekend in Lynchburg, VA, Bruce Woodson, Jr., graciously allowed attendees to spend an afternoon browsing the many albums of ACD information assembled by his family over the years.

Mike Huffman and I discovered the September 1931 issue of "The Accelerator," which includes a brief report on the speedster's appearance at a French concours with a picture of the Lady in Question with the car. She is identified as Mlle. Berne.

Editorial conventions of the 1930s would have identified a married Mrs. Berne as Mme. (Madame) Berne. Mlle. is "Mademoiselle," the French equivalent of "Miss." Mlle. Berne was likely unmarried and her name was her own.

I imagine that at some point Mlle. Berne was confused with Mrs. Bern (Jean Harlow, another attractive lady), and from that the rumors spread.

As for the misidentification as Suzy Vernon, Vernon is mentioned and pictured elsewhere in the article, but not with the speedster.

The Internet is a marvelous thing.

It should also be noted that the women who accompanied cars to those shows were not necessarily the cars' owners. (Girlfriends, actresses, models, friends of the owner, coachbuilder's wife or daughter, etc. etc.)

The identity of the lady is now one more mystery for you guys to tackle when trying to trace the car. (Me, I'm still trying to find that lost Duesenberg in Europe, and don't have time for lesser rabble. <!-- s:twisted: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_twisted.gif" alt=":twisted:" title="Twisted Evil" /><!-- s:twisted: --> )

Fellow auto lit packrats: The known history of the speedster is well-covered in the December 2004 issue of "Hemmings Classic Car," as part of the article on the Addison recreation.

The widely-circulated photo below was taken in a park at the western edge of Paris. It shows a blonde woman standing next to the L29 Speedster. The occasion was a Concours d'Elegance. In the 1930s that was an event that judged a combination of car and driver, often a woman, for, well -- elegance. The woman's clothes often complemented the car.

In the early years of the ACD Club this photo was mis-identified as being Jean Harlow. That error keeps being cited and repeated. In fact, we really don't know who the woman is. She has been identified as model Suzy Vernon, but Chris Summers has provided a photo which contradicts this. (For sure it wasn't Harlow; she never left the USA.)

The photo also tells us, of course, that the Speedster did spend some time in France.

josh

by the way, how did harlow and berne get connected to the car in the first place? and the idea that it went from Toronto to Paris. where did that come from?

brent

Hey guys, it is pretty well established that this car never belonged to Jean Harlow or to husband Paul Bern. It's probably fruitless to try to detach the Harlow moniker from the car, but maybe we could at least call it the "Harlow" Cord. Better yet, the Phil Wright L29 Speedster, 'cause that's what it really was.

harold tallman was an executive member of the Canadian Theosophical Society according to an article in the Canadian Theosophist on May 15th, 1926 which listed the members of the executive as follows:

THE CANADIAN THEOSOPHIST

THE ORGAN OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

IN CANADA



Published on the 15th of every month.



seal here - "There is no Religion Higher than Truth"



- Editor - Albert E. S. Smythe.

- Entered at Toronto General Post-office as second-class matter.

- Subscription, One Dollar a Year.



OFFICERS OF THE T. S. IN CANADA.

GENERAL EXECUTIVE

- Roy Mitchell, 17 Munro Park Ave., Toronto.

- Mrs. Edith Fielding, 206 E. 27th St., N. Vancouver.

- H. R. Tallman, 71 Ellerbeck Ave., Toronto.

- J. Hunt Stanford, 17 Westmoreland Ave., Toronto.

- Felix A. Belcher, 250 North Lisgar St., Toronto.

- Laurance H. D. Roberts, Suite 5 Cornish Court, 19 Sherbrooke Street, Winnipeg.

- Miss Helena M. Hesson, 324 W. 18th Ave., S. Vancouver.



GENERAL SECRETARY

- Albert E. S. Smythe, 22 West Glen Grove Ave., Toronto 12.


the above appears to confirm the address for Harold Tallman and further confirms that his middle initial was "R".

sometimes Jim Brockman was not always correct in his information. he wrote an article for the ACD newletter that indicated my 1937 supercharged phaeton's first owner was E. P. Taylor, a bigger than life tycoon in our country. However i have since been able to trace every owner of the car and the original first owner was Gordon Taylor Jr. that won many important golf tournaments in our country in the early 30's and was no relation to E. P. Taylor. i spoke to the family of E. P. Taylor who confirmed that he had never owned such a car. The family of Gordon Taylor lived in a posh part of Toronto and had an investment firm in the heart of the business section in Toronto at King and Bay.

so we need to go back through Brockman's records and double check his theories to see if they are correct with respect to the Harlow Cord.

mike

there are over 30 listings for R. Velasco in the Toronto and surrounding area phone book. it seems that Velasco is a pretty common name around here......

where did Raphael Velasco live? do we know anything about the guy?

brent

mike

mr cutter, he is driving the car after it was in toronto according to your timelines. so he was an auburn service manager in auburn indiana or in toronto, ontario or elsewhere?

brent

The licence plate on the car in the photo taken in Toronto, does not appear to be an Onatrio plate from the early 1930's. Anyone know or can guess if and where the car was registered while in the USA ?

Did anyone ever prove that the car went back to Europe from Canada or is that only conjecture?

All the information that is being sought is in the articles that Jim Brockman wrote in the Newsletter.
1. The photo of the people in the car on the farm was taken Nov. 1931. The man driving the car is Mr. Cutter and family. He was the Auburn service manager.
2. The picture with the young girl in the car was taken Aug. 1931. At the time the car was in the possion of Raphael Velasco. The photo was taken at the home of Harold Tallman, 71 East Ellerbeck Ave. Toronto Canada. The photo was taken by Dr. Ken Campbell with his girl friend Freda Thompson behind the wheel.
3. The back ground of the third photo is Knox College, 23 Kings College Circle, University of Toronto.
As you can see Jim did much research.
CORDially Mike

well.....the plate with the man driving does look european. but the plate with the young girl driving....i am not so sure.

The plate is certainly european no?

find the background.....



and learn more about the long lost cord!!!!

maybe the old girl was in europe......



check out that license plate!!!!

wouldn't you like to have been this young girl.......



find her and you have found your car.....ha ha

well boys. if you can figure out who these people are in the car.....then you will be well on your way to figuring out where she is.

[/img]

No numbers known. That's part of the mystery.

Could someone please list the Chassis/Engine or for that matter any identifying numbers associated with the lost Cord L29 Speedster.

g.kit

If the car went to Europe, there's always the chance it got lost during the war.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that at least 3 replicas have been built.

Hi Josh;
I think I got TWO different cars confused here. I now see that the "Auburn Speedster she posed in at the National Air Races." is meant to be a different car than the exotic car in opening photos on this thread. And Also agreed that there are probably lots of old auto photos with Harlow, that are simply of the actress posing with interesting cars, at special events (Like the National Air Races) of cars that were owned by others.
So STILL interested in seeing the NAR/Harlow/Speedster photo that was referenced, above, with possibility of finding other Auburn &amp; Cord photos of her and those cars. I have a whole SLEW of NAR photos of Mary Pickford in Auburns and other cars at NAR, maybe some L-29s too. Some good ones of L-29s with some of the most famous and winning female air racers. (The press sometimes referred to Henderson as "The Master of Ballyhoo.") Some with unidentified VIPS (probably politicians). And I must admit, I sometimes get confused between the large open Auburns, and the Cord L-29s, when just in side views <!-- s:oops: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_redface.gif" alt=":oops:" title="Embarassed" /><!-- s:oops: -->
There a a number of L-29 photos with so many VIPS posed in front, or along side, that one can barely see the cars. Will try to find a few oddities to post.

I stick to my position that this car was never owned by Jean Harlow or by her husband, Paul Bern. I have never seen any photographs of her with it, and to my knowledge no-one has ever unearthed documents, DMV or otherwise, connecting her with this car. I believe the rumor first started decades ago with a photo of the Speedster at a concours in France with a blonde woman standing with it. Letters to our Newsletter called her Jean Harlow. The woman was actually model Suzy Vernon. Harlow herself never left the USA.

As others have noted Paul Bern did own an L-29. When his estate was probated it was listed as a "touring car". In that era everyone knew the difference between a "touring car" and a "roadster". There is almost zero likelihood of the body styles being confused with each other.

I would enjoy discussion on this, especially if there is contradicting evidence. We can all keep learning. But what all of us would most enjoy is the phone call that says -- "Hey, I got this funny-looking car in a barn with front wheel drive and a pointy tail. I'm gonna tear the barn down so gimme a hundred bucks and tow it outa there."

AceCollins wrote: I have gone through everything concerning Harlow's car ownership, and she loved to drives. But as Josh note, a 1934 Packard V-12 and a Caddy V-12 where probably her finest automobiles. In my collection of photos of Harlow with cars there are Studebakers, Packards, Caddys and a Dodge (she did print ads for them), but the only ACD car is a Auburn Speedster she posed in at the National Air Races. I would love to know what happened to that Auburn as well.

I have a couple of thousand original photos from The National Air Races that were the personal archives of the Managing Director, Cliff Henderson. There are lots of photos of many different models of (mostly open cars)Cords and Auburns, including numerous photos with many starlets and actresses. A good amount from the 1933 National Air Races in L.A., with lots of movie stars. Henderson was quite the playboy and dated and hosted more movie stars/actresses, than one could count. If you or Josh could provide me with even a small thumbnail photo of the photo of Harlow/Speester/NAR, It might help me to turn up something, fresh. There are so many blond actresses in those L.A. photos that they all start to look alike, after a while. I am most interested in seeing what Harlow might have been wearing that day, and that could narrow thing down a bit, or confirm an ID.

I have none of Jim's collection.
Mike

They are all on the website.
Mike

mike

somewhere in Jim Brockman's stuff i thought there was a picture of the "harlow" cord.....parked in front of the University of Toronto.

can you take a look?

brent

members

i now see that some of the Brockman collection pictures are being posted on this site.

so it looks like again....the board is listening to its members and things are beginning to happen.

jim took copious notes and while the pictures are nice, its the notes identifying the cars, the places and the people that are most important to enable us to match up the old pictures with todays cars.

i do appreciate this material finally coming to the members.

i hope one day that you the members will have acces to the collection in the not too distant future.

thanks at least for letting bill post some of the pictures.

brent

You never know. After all they just "discovered" the Tucker convertable. Didn't they?
CORDially Mike

I'm not so much concerned with whether Harlow owned the car or not, as whether or not it exists. The Brockman article makes a good case for the case having returned from Europe and possibly having been sold in Canada. I agree with Ethan, I can't imagine how this car couldn't have escaped scrapping, unless it had been vandalized or such.

They're still out there. It's just a question of whether or not "they're" includes this car.

MGM shot hundreds of photos of Jean Harlow with all her cars. She was a driving nut. Therefore, if the L29 had been hers, the studio would have shot scores of photos.

I am curious why the search has to end as it always has, up a dead alley. Is there any one who has a connection to her family or the studio that she was contracted to. Let us keep digging.

No, I have her with a Packard V12 that she owned, a Studebaker, a 37 Dodge, a couple of Caddys and the Auburn Boattail at the Airshow, but not Imperial.

Ace
Do you have any pictures of Harlow with a 1937 Chrysler Imperial by chance?
Russ

And, as Harlow never left the country and was always working during that time, the real problem with the France theory.

The plot thickens.

I was digging (literally) through my stock of old ACD newsletters tonight, and found an article on the speedster written when the ACD Museum got its replica. (I lovingly refer to that car as the Condiment Cord...mustard yellow and ketchup red.)

The article, in newsletter No. 10, 1995, is written by Jim Brockman, and includes a lot of interesting information, including on who supposedly took the car to Europe. This article hypothesizes, among things, that Jean Harlow and Paul Bern took the car to France; that Harlow displayed the car at a concours d'elegance near Paris in June 1931, where she was listed as "Mrs. Bern." It also suggests that Harlow was used by the Auburn Automobile Company for publicity. Photos of the car with a blonde-haired woman at the wheel were supposedly supplied to an earlier newsletter by Ray Wolff. His photo collection is at the ACD Automobile Museum now, am I right?

The article is rife with errors and unfounded "facts," which in Mr. Brockman's defense have largely been proven as such AFTER he wrote the article. Still, it makes for interesting reading and theories.

I would put the entire article here, but it's much too much typing for this late at night. Those of you with No. 10, 1995, look it up and give it a read.

I have gone through everything concerning Harlow's car ownership, and she loved to drives. But as Josh note, a 1934 Packard V-12 and a Caddy V-12 where probably her finest automobiles. In my collection of photos of Harlow with cars there are Studebakers, Packards, Caddys and a Dodge (she did print ads for them), but the only ACD car is a Auburn Speedster she posed in at the National Air Races. I would love to know what happened to that Auburn as well.

Nile Reed made a couple L-29 Speedsters also. One sold at Kruse Auburn sometime in the mid to late 90's for $85,000.
CORDially Mike

I do agree that the L-29 in question is to dame gorgeous to have ever been destroyed, anyone in there right mind whether a car person or not would questions it's demize. I for one keep hoping that it's reappearance will give a sigh of relief to anybody who has had a whimsical notion about finding it. I know that Dick Greene who owns a few L's would admitt that he has had serious thoughts over this L-29 speedster, admitt it Dick !

I agree with Josh. It's a nice story but not much else.

Don't ask where, but sometime in the past I remember seeing a copy of Bern's will; an L-29 touring car was mentioned but no serial numbers.

I always hold hope that a car exists, unless there is absolute proof of its destruction. Since no one has offered up a photo of the Speedster being turned into a pile of scrap, I'll always be hoping that it turns up in a barn somewhere, probably in Europe.

The other full-scale replica of the car was built for Arnie Addison and is now in the O'Quinn Collection in Houston. It is probably the largest two-passenger automobile I have ever seen.

Hi Ethan, The L-29 number should have seven numbers. Probably 2929XXX. CORDially Mike

Hello Josh,
As the mystery continues to unfold, and I am sure anybody who has owned an L-29 love's the look and personally I enjoyed my ownership of 29922 I believe was the serial #. A 1932 Cabriolet and a wonderful driver for the times. I would love to know if you have serial numbers from the will that may help determine a touring car or cab. Hey Josh, with the internet who knows "lightning could strike".

Hi Ethan. I agree the car is lost. I'm afraid that I don't agree that it was Harlow's. I have never seen any evidence, documentation or photographs that connect Harlow with this car. She drove a Packard.

When Paul Bern's will was probated a "Cord touring car" was one of his assets. That term meant something then, and I don't think anyone would have confused the speedster with one.

I hope you get some response on this. Talk about the ultimate barn find!