(BUSINESS) Pin up wall thermometer advertising WB Johnson Mo

Sale 2663 - Lot 74

Price Realized: $ 469

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(BUSINESS.) Pin-up wall thermometer advertising W.B. Johnson Motorcycles, the first Black-owned Harley Davidson dealer. Color art of a partially nude model, 9½ x 7 inches, titled "Fancy Number," with 3-inch thermometer mounted in a cut-out; tack hole, moderate wear, two staples suggesting that a calendar may have also once been attached. Somers, NY, circa 1950

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William B. Johnson (1895-1985) came to suburban Somers, NY as a household servant. When his employer died, he stayed in town to operate an automotive service station. He was a competitive motorcycle racer in his spare time, which he parlayed into being the first Black man to be granted a Harley-Davidson dealership. He was a fixture in Somers and in the motorcycle community for six decades. The story was told in the 2016 television miniseries "Harley and the Davidsons," and artifacts from his career were displayed at Somers Town Hall. Many service stations distributed cheesecake calendars and other wall art to their customers, and Johnson was no exception.