Escape to Detroit

photo from CMG Worldwide

Some people love buying a new car, but I’m not one of them. Even though its been a decade or so, I dread the dealer games, innumerable choices and spending lots of money (I consider ‘lots’ anything over $1,000), it all stresses me out. So I stopped at the dealership for a no-strings-attached-test-drive and I left with the salesman yelling behind me, “Remember, it’s the last one left in the state of New York!” 
Desperately in need of car dealer detente, I headed to the library ...


The Detroit Public Library offered me just what I needed, a story about a girl, her car and a great adventure. Sign me up.  I was actually in  The National Automotive History Collection, a public archive located in the Rose and Robert Skillman Branch Library.  The collection has been built for over a century and now includes 600,000 automotive items; including books, magazines, advertisements,  literature, photographs, specifications, service and owner's manuals, and personal papers.  There are four collections of photographs that can be viewed online but most of the materials are protected in the safety of the non-circulating library.
The story of Aloha Wanderwell Baker was listed in the manuscript section and just the name alone caught my attention.  The description of the collection cemented my curiosity:
"The World's Most Traveled Girl" who, from 1921 to 1925, completed the four-year-around-the-world endurance competition known as the Million Dollar Wager.
 

Since I don’t have a car, driving to Detroit was out of the question...so I used web magic and clicked to get the scoop.  Tmodelman and The Official Site of Aloha Wanderwell helped to unravel this great yarn.  
Johannes Pieczyski was an adventurer and explorer who changed his name to Captain Walter Wanderwell , during a trip to America in 1914 (get it, wander-well?).  He was in search of action, adventure and excitement and came up with the idea of driving around the world, stopping in every country and recording the adventure for posterity (and maybe just a little notoriety).  He had no money but planned to offer films to paying customers in each destination.  
Wanderwell needed a car that would be reliable and sturdy and would also withstand grueling wear (which is exactly what I told the salesman this morning).  The Model T fit the bill.  An added bonus was being able to find parts and service around the world (maybe people would think I was totally ‘retro’ pulling up to school in a Model T?)    In November, 1921, Wanderwell left Detroit with his crew and the Model T and boarded a tramp steamer to London.  They arrived in Paris in January of 1922.  

Meanwhile, at a convent school in France, a restless teenager was plotting her escape and longing for an adventure of her own.  Idris Hall was a 6 foot, blonde haired, blue eyed Canadian beauty who was driving the nuns crazy with her antics.  She finally escaped to Paris and answered Wanderwell’s advertisement:
"Brains, Beauty & Breeches – World Tour Offer For Lucky Young Woman…. Wanted to join an expedition…Asia, Africa…. imagine the lawsuits that copy would create today!
Walter knew a winner when he saw one.  He quickly saw the advantages of having 16 yr. old Idris star in his fundraising films and attract interested crowds across the world.  He hired her immediately, changed her name to Aloha Wandwell and told her mother, “This is no millionaire’s pleasure tour, Mrs. Vernon. We are to visit as many countries in the world as possible- we’re to earn our way . . I need someone to pose in the moving pictures and to appear on stage when they are being shown.”   What a guy.
Walter Wanderwell is beginning to remind me of my car salesman.  Tomorrow I’ll wander well to some more car lots and pick up Aloha’s story.
ps.  thank you NAHC.