(ROOSEVELT FRANKLIN D) Press release and photographs for the

Sale 2432 - Lot 290

Unsold

Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750

(ROOSEVELT, FRANKLIN D.) Press release and photographs for the armored car used by Roosevelt at the Cairo Conference. Press release: Credited to Fred B. Barton, war correspondent, and addressed to A.F. Davis of the Lincoln Electric Company, Cleveland, OH. 7 typescript stapled pages, moderate toning. Photographs: 6 images on two 8 x 10 inch sheets, one of them with the backstamp of the Lincoln Electric Company. Np, February 1944

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

President Roosevelt attended the November 1943 Cairo Conference with Churchill and Chiang Kai-Shek to plan for postwar Asia. Egypt was regarded as somewhat dangerous territory at that point, so the Secret Service requested a custom armored car for his transportation. A standard 1937 Packard was brought to an Army shop in the desert near Cairo, and within four days was rendered bulletproof and bombproof. Aesthetics were a secondary concern; the president dubbed the car "the county jail." The work was done using welding gear made by Lincoln Electric Company of Cleveland, OH, hence their interest in the project.