Join us for our first in person lecture since before the pandemic! We can’t imagine a more perfect location than the Nethercutt Museum and Collection, for an illustrated presentation on the new Angel City Press book Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 by Darryl Holter with Stephen Gee and a foreword by Jay Leno. In addition to the book talk and signing, this event includes a private tour of the Nethercutt Collection, featuring over 250 American and European perfectly restored vintage automobiles, along with a vast array of rare mechanical musical instruments and precious antique furniture, as well as a visit to the Nethercutt Museum (which includes a 1937 Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson Locomotive and a 1912 Pullman car built for Lucky Baldwin’s daughter).
We adore introducing youngsters to the history of the 1920s and 30s, so may we call attention to the fact that this would be an excellent event to bring your budding vintage car enthusiasts to? The vehicles are a wonderful treat to see and include fancy racing cars as well as commercial and service vehicles!
J.B. Nethercutt, who started the collection in 1956, is a man after our own aesthetic hearts. He once said, “The recognition and preservation of beauty has been a major focus of my life. It would suit me well if what people remembered about me was, ‘Where he went, he left beauty behind.’”
Members Gary and Steve at a previous ADSLA visit to the Nethercutt Museum. Photo: Brian Boskind.
SCHEDULE
12:30 PM | Guided Tour of the Nethercutt Collection Including the Antique Mechanical Musical Instruments.
2:00 PM | Presentation on Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City 1900 - 1930 with Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee.
3:00 PM | Booksigning
3:00 - 4:30 PM | Self-guided visit to the Museum
ABOUT THE BOOK & TALK
Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 explores the explosive growth of L.A.’s passion for cars, ignited by an unlikely and visionary mix of entrepreneurs. Car dealers made the big difference, as they ventured into unknown territory. That “unknown territory” meant introducing the West Coast to the concept of dealerships with service bays for on-site car repairs; dealers conceived the notion of “used cars,” those vehicles buyers “traded in” so they could buy a new one; and dealers made commonplace the idea of financing cars, an idea that scared the car makers in Detroit until they saw the orders rolling in. Steps that dealers took to make buying cars affordable, possible and—most of all—desirable were ingenious ideas born in Los Angeles, ideas that turned the new American city into the brain center of automobile sales in America. Most importantly, car dealers were the early adopters who broadened the market and convinced the general public that cars were no longer simply a luxury, they were a modern necessity. And today, Los Angeles’s car culture has shaped the world's preferences in automobiles.
ABOUT THE NETHERCUTT
On view are the many Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance winners and cars once owned by movie stars, royalty and other notable personalities.
J.B. Nethercutt started collecting and restoring cars in 1956. When he passed away in 2004 he had amassed quite a collection! In 1923, as a boy, he went to live with his aunt in Santa Monica. She founded the Merle Norman Cosmetics Company. As a young man he went into business with her.
TICKETS
$20 Members (Art Deco Society of Los Angeles and Nethercutt Members)
$25 Non-Members
Members may purchase the number of member tickets allowed by their membership level.
Tickets are non-refundable, but you may transfer your ticket to a friend.
ATTIRE: Vintage or vintage-inspired motoring attire admired, but not required.