Alma, Kansas street scene
Date: Between 1910 and 1920
A photograph showing The Alma Tire & Battery Shop, U.S. Army and Navy Goods store, and automobiles on a business street in Alma, Kansas.

Automobile Club of Wichita Year Book
Creator: Automobile Club of Wichita, Kansas
Date: 1909-1910
The Automobile Club of Wichita published this year book for the years 1909-1910. Its content reflects that automobile travel was a recent introduction to the lives of Kansans. It includes advertisements from automobile dealers, garages, and other businesses in Wichita, Hutchinson, Newton, Winfield, El Dorado, Dodge City, Yates Center, Iola, Independence, Topeka, Emporia, Garden City, and Lawrence. It also lists the officers and board of directors of the club, its constitution and bylaws, the Kansas law regulation the use of automobiles, two Wichita ordinances (#2875 and 3002) related to the use of cars, and rules of the road. The bulk of the yearbook provides driving routes to and from various cities and towns in Kansas, as well as Colorado and Oklahoma. An index to the routes and maps is on pages 22-23. These driving routes include specific directions and include references to many small towns and local landmarks, etc. The yearbook also lists Wichita residents that own automobiles, their license numbers and the type of automobile they own. The booklet concludes with a list of members of the automobile club.

Cimarron Auto Company Garage, Cimarron, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
This is a photograph of the Cimarron Auto Company Garage, Cimarron, Kansas. There are two Buick automobiles in front of the business with people sitting in them.

Commercial Street in Emporia, Kansas
Date: 1948-1949
This photograph shows a view of businesses along Commercial Street looking north in Emporia, Kansas. A sign for the Morris Drug Store is partially visible behind a street lamp on the left side of the picture. A sign for another drug store is partially visible far in the background on the left side. Businesses visible in the picture include Jones Hardware, Foodtown Super Market, Western Auto Associate Store, Pabst Billiards, The Palace Clothing Company, Winter Furniture, Newman's Department Store, Citizens National Bank, J. C. Penney, the Mitway Hotel, Ireland's Shoe Shop, V. D. Milner Insurance, Diltz Service, Towner Home and Auto Supply, Roberts Luggage and Shoe Repairing, and the Good Eats Café. Many automobiles are visible along the street.

Firestone Auto Supply and Service Store, Marysville, Kansas
Creator: Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay), 1890-1967
Date: February 4, 1937
This is an elevated view of the 1937 grand reopening of the Firestone Auto Supply and Service Store at 906 Center Street in Marysville, Kansas. The original store, built at this location in 1930, had burned down in 1936. Also visible are the small Hamburger Inn cafe advertising snappy service and five cent hamburgers, gas pumps, automobiles, a truck, and tire displays. The Hamburger Inn cafe was a popular "landmark" hangout for many years until it was finally torn down in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Firestone store, Topeka, Kansas
Creator: King, Orin C.
Date: April 07, 1985
A photograph of the Firestone car service store located at 21st and Fairlawn in Topeka, Kansas.

Folberg Tire Store, Clay Center, Kansas
Creator: Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay), 1890-1967
Date: October 8, 1929
View of four men and a woman standing in front of the Folberg Tire Store in Clay Center, Kansas. Firestone tires are displayed in the window and in front of the store. Additional images are in the Omar Hawkins photo collections (Kansas Memory item #216927).

George Thyfault's Garage, Tribune, Kansas
Date: 1923
This black and white photograph shows two men standing in front of the George Thyfault's blacksmith and garage in Tribune, Kansas.

H.B. Bell Land and Auto Company, Dodge City, Kansas
Date: Between 1910s and 1920s
This black and white photograph shows two automobiles parked in front of the H.B. Bell Land and Auto Company in Dodge City, Kansas. The business sold Michelin and United States tires.

Hockaday Motor Cycle Company
Date: 1909-1910
Business advertisement contained in the Automobile Club of Wichita's "Year Book" for 1909 to 1910. "Woody" Hockaday, a automobile dealer from Wichita, launched a campaign to mark Kansas auto routes. Later in 1918, he published a road map showing 33 marked highways in the United States.

Main Street, Scott City, Kansas
Date: Between 1940 and 1949
This photograph shows a view of businesses on Main Street in Scott City, Kansas. The second building from the right has a Rexall Drugs sign, and another building farther in the background on the right side of the street has a sign reading, "Drugs," beneath a Coca-Cola sign. (The drug store sign is visible just above the distinctive Western Auto sign, the curved arrow shaped like a backwards 9). Many other businesses are visible along both sides of the street. Many automobiles and a pickup truck are visible parked or driving along the street. Two people and a dog are visible crossing the street. A water tower is visible on the left side of the picture.

Road sign, Marysville, Kansas
Creator: Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay), 1890-1967
Date: October, 1927
This is a view of an elaborate Marysville, Kansas road sign, patented and owned by the General Outdoor Advertising Company. It combines a brief history of Marysville's founding with an advertisement for US Royal Cord tires.

Scenes of Sherman County, Kansas
Date: 1890-1930
Multiple scenes of Sherman County, Kansas.

Skelly Oil Company service station, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1930 and 1939
A photograph showing a Skelly Oil Company service station located at 10th and Jackson in Topeka, Kansas.

Star Cars dealership, Alma, Kansas
Date: Between 1915 and 1920
A photograph showing the Star Cars dealership and The Alma Tire & Battery Shop in Alma, Kansas. Visible are automobiles parked on the street including a Star test drive car that participated in an endurance race.

Street scene in Kirwin, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
This photograph shows a view of the west side of the town square in Kirwin, Kansas. Businesses visible include E. John and Sons, Garage, Hardware, and Harness; D. B. Fleming and Company Clothing; Fenner's Restaurant, and a drug store at the far end of the row of buildings. There are a few men visible on the sidewalk in front of the buildings, and three automobiles are visible along the street to the right side of the picture.

The Home Comfort Auto Tourist Bed
Date: 1923
This is a pamphlet advertising the Auto Tourist Bed, manufactured by Auto Bed Company in Savonburg, Kansas. It could be attached to the back of or on the running board of any Ford Touring car, or the running board of any other make of touring car. When closed, the bed was 4.6' x 3.3' x 8". It was invented and patented by James H. Bowlby. See link to patent record below.

Thompson-Schoonover Motors, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1940 and 1950
This is a photograph of Thompson-Schoonover Motors display window, located at 1000 W. 6th Street, Topeka, Kansas. Thompson-Schoonover Motors was a Lincoln-Mercury dealership.

Walt's Auto Salvage, Topeka, Kansas
Date: November 1962
A photograph of Walt's Auto Salvage located at 500 E. Crane, Topeka, Kansas. This photograph was taken prior to Urban Renewal.

Walt's Auto Salvage, Topeka, Kansas
Date: November 1962
A photograph of Walt's Auto Salvage located at 500 E. Crane, Topeka, Kansas. This photograph was taken prior to Urban Renewal.

Walt's Auto Salvage, Topeka, Kansas
Date: November 1962
A photograph of Walt's Auto Salvage located at 500 E. Crane, Topeka, Kansas. This photograph was taken prior to Urban Renewal.