MEET
OUR MEMBERS:
HADLEY & PAUL VEEDER
(Please
click on any photo to enlarge)
In 1993, Penny
Havard, a close friend of the Veeders, asked them if they would be
interested in going with her when she appeared in period costume as
a backdrop
for the beautifully restored antique automobiles which Dragone Classic
Motorcars had been displaying at shows throughout the area. The only
appropriate clothing that Hadley & Paul had at the time was what
they had assembled for the Metropolitan Club's 100th Anniversary celebration,
which had been held in New York City a year earlier. This attire was
deemed acceptable,
and so the three donned their formal clothing and attended the Hartford
G car show that fall with the Dragone's 1909 Glide shown below.
The Hartford
experience was so enjoyable that the Veeders decided to participate
in future shows and started their quest for costumes at clothing shows
and antique dealers,
while obtaining period wigs for Hadley from theater supply houses. On
occasion, Penny, who was an accomplished historian & seamstress,
would make an authentic
reproduction for Hadley when nothing appropriate could be found from
other sources.
Paul's quest was easier as men's styles did not change as frequently
as women's
A year later the three of them accompanied a 1911 Premier which the
Dragone's
entered in the Bell Town Antique Car Club Annual Motorcar Meet,
and helped win the best car & costume award.
Two subsequent
shows were attended with Dragone restored cars at Rhinebeck
with a and 1911 Cadillac and a 1925 Cole V-8 . Next year, it was with
a 1913 American Underslung which later appeared in a staged photograph
for the 1955 July/August
issue of the Horseless Carriage Gazette.
Another publication which featured restoration work by the Dragones
was Automotive Magazine,
featuring
a 1907 Peugeot 40 horsepower chain-driven touring car.
In this
photograph Hadley is wearing a combination linen dress & duster
originally owned by Mrs. Charles Noble who's son was selling it at one
of the Redding Car Shows.
The outfit, was last worn in 1953 when she and her husband drove
their 1905 tulip-body Cadillac in the Fifth Avenue Association night
parade,
and were photographed for the Journal American. A great find and a perfect
fit!
A picture of the threesome was featured in the June 2004
issue of Auto Events Magazine
as
part of an article on the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance.
Appropriate attire was worn for the Dragone's restoration
of a 1911 Fiat 90 horsepower at the Ridgefield Auto Show.
Hadley & Paul in appropriate costume with Dragone
Classic Motorcar's 1909 Panhard Levassor
at a show held at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk.
A majority of
the couples efforts have been at the annual Concours d'Elegance held
in Greenwich Connecticut. Over the years they have graced a number of
Dragone's restorations, such as the 1904 Columbia.
At this Concours they abandoned the brass car era and decorated a
1912 Hotchkiss Gentleman's Roadster, here doing a tableau (Penny Havard
on the right)
with reproduction newspapers covering the sinking of the Titanic in
that year. This photograph was used as a promotional in the flyer for
the next year's event.
On a number of
occasions they have teamed up with Gwen & Parker Ackley,
as witnessed by this Concours drive-by photo in the May 28th 2000 issue
of the New York Times, George Dragone in the driver's seat of a 1909
Stoddard-Dayton..
Occasionally
other owner's cars are used as backdrops for historic costumes, such
as Richard Kings
1911 Mercedes-Benz 37/ 90 pictured in the Greenwich Times,
or Timothy's Durham's Duesenberg Model J , which was
used as a backdrop for a tableau
commemorating Lindberg's 1927 flight across the Atlantic.
The photograph was used in a flyer promoting the following year's Greenwich
Concours.
The Veeders, however, have not limited their attendance
strictly to car shows.
They have also participated in Air shows, such as Wings over the Hudson
Valley
in uniforms loaned by the Military Museum of Southern New England in
Danbury, where Paul was both on the Board of Directors and the Exhibit
Designer for a number of years,
They, along with
Penny Havard, were part of an historic reenactment for the
Norwalk Historical Society portraying people who were buried in
Pine Island Cemetery during the 1900's. Paul played John Boulton, a
shop supervisor for one of Norwalk's hat factories.
In addition the threesome have also spent many hours at functions held
in the
Lockwood - Matthews Mansion Museum, such as the Victorian Ice Cream
Social,
and the annual Christmas Party. Paul's picture was also in one of the
issues published by the New York City Shirt Store, as he had
a number of custom shirts made specifically for use with starched collars
by the firm.
Getting
tired of hoops, bustles, and starched collars all the time, the Veeders
hauled
out Paul's father's 1966 Mustang Coupe and did some refurbishing,
maintenance, and minor restoration to put it in tiptop condition.
They then went in search on the internet for 60's clothes,
and entered the Fairfield County Concours in the Fall of 2009.
Though they still intend to provide costumed support to the earlier
automobiles,
you will see a lot more of them at local shows with their own "classic"
car.
Click Here to See a 2010 News Article from The Norwalk Hour
