Last year, we were loaned some uncategorized photos from the onetime archives of Speed Age magazine, which was published through the 1950s in Washington, D.C. Here’s one of them. Help us figure out what it is.
Based on some other banquet-type photos in the bunch, we’re speculating that this may have been shot at some sort of Speed Age awards fete on the West Coast, possibly around 1947. The credit shows the photographer was Don O’Reilly, editor of Speed Age around that time. A hand-scribbled note on the back reads, “Dick Adams, L.A. photog, towers over small car designed for a youngster.” Could this toy have been created by one of the great tinsmiths active around Los Angeles at the time, like maybe a Frank Kurtis? I have no idea, but I bet some of you do.