[AUTOMOBILIANA - WORLD WAR I] FLAGS FOR AUTO RADIATORS complete in orig. box VG

Description

[AUTOMOBILIANA - WORLD WAR I].
Flags for Auto Radiators / Five U.S. Flags About 4 x 6 in.
N.p., ca. 1917. Original pictorial lidded paper-covered box containing the following contents: five (5) 48-star U.S. flags (ca. 15.5x9.5cm.) each mounted to a "black staff with gilded spear" (27cm.); two-piece steel shield enameled with the stars and stripes; two (2) steel handles; and an unopened envelope presumably containing a clutch of screws and bolts. Box soiled, bottom portion splitting along lower margins, else Good or better. Contents mostly Fine, though flags a bit wrinkled.
A nice little kit for the automobile enthusiast, possibly issued in the wake of the United States' entrance into World War I and its subsequent patriotic fervor. We find advertisements for this set, as well as calls for agents, appearing in newspapers as early as May, 1917, a month after the country entered the War, though production continued through the 1920s. We find one 1928 advertisement for a particularly enticing display, though rather than a simple shield, the car is mounted with a toy model of the plane the "Spirit of America," whose propellers spin when the car is in motion. Sadly we have been unable to locate such a model for ourselves.