Topic: Solved (?): PN #161 -- Wanderwell's world touring Ford with someone calling himself "Captain P Teo O

[pnegyesi]

Okay, I will check my source tomorrow and will get back to you

[guido66]

Any relation to the 1934 Alexandria-Stockholm-Gibraltar roundtrip?

[pnegyesi]

Okay, I was mislead by the fact that the photo album is not from Sweden. But guido66 was right, this picture was taken in Kristianstad, Sweden. I am sorry for the confusion.

It seems this is a promotional picture, taken at the end of his trip around 1932. It took 12 years, crossed 4 continents and 52 countries. The man on the picture is of Dutch origin, but at the time of his trip his residence was somewhere else.

How's that for clues ?

[guido66]

A lot of clues indeed, but I still cannot find it. Did he travel with his wife?

[pnegyesi]

Among other people, yes

[guido66]

Did he write a book about his journey?

[pnegyesi]

Dear fellow AutoPuzzlers. I am not going to reveal the identity of the puzzle car. But I can tell you, that most of the previous clues were fake - and I am truly innocent.

Let me explain further. This photo, along with another one comes from a photo album put together by the Győr Automobile Club, depicting their activities between 1929-1939. This photos shows a certain Mr Osterhaus, of Dutch original, who was living in Miami, Florida and who was supposed to be a world traveller and met his wife during the world trip.

The only problem is, that I know found a lot of reports online about this trip and the man who _really_ did the world travel was dead by the time this impostor came to Hungary (years later) to talk about his adventures! This is getting more interesting, isn't it?

So, you can find easily this world travel online. It was with a Ford, it was a world around trip

[Tom_I]

So was this gentleman pretending to be Captain Walter Wanderwell, who made a round-the-world trip in a couple of modified Model T Fords? Wanderwell was actually Polish, called Johannes Piecynski, and had been briefly imprisoned as a spy in the US during WW1. He recruited a young woman called Idris Galcia Hall on the French leg of his expedition, and they later married, after Wanderwell divorced his first wife. She was known by the name Aloha Wanderwell.

They completed the expedition in 1925, and produced a film documentary called "With Car and Camera Around the World".

Walter Wanderwell was shot and killed on his yacht in Long Beach, California in December 1932, and the killer was never identified, so he could not have been in Sweden in 1933, if that's when the puzzle photo dates from.

Or have I got the wrong round-the-world trip?

[pnegyesi]

Date of the puzzle picture is unknown. "Mr Osterhaus" was in Hungary in early 1933. And it seems this Mr Osterhaus was in Hong Kong in 1939 so the story gets more twisted.

But the car is definitely the Wanderwell Ford, so a point goes to Tom_I.

I'll keep you posted on the developments and possible identification.

For now the original picture is featured at the beginning of this puzzle.

[guido66]

What about Neilshouse? He was the first to ask about Wanderwell?

[pnegyesi]

Quite so, I forgot all about it. So another point goes to neilshouse. This puzzle confused me

[guido66]

It is very confusing indeed  

I'm not at all convinced that it's one of Wanderwell cars. If the guy on the photo was an imposter, he could just as well dress up any Ford he could get his hands on.

Here's the car in Eindhoven, Netherlands in november 1932. Note the local Ford dealer name on the spare tire cover. Sadly there's no article with this photo.

[guido66]

Reading and investigating further I found this newspaper message, in which Osterhouse claims to be a member of WAWEC – Work Around the World Educational Club, which links him directly with the Wanderwells.

I found some more information on Wawec, and it seems they travelled in small groups all over the world, promoting disarmament.

My conclusion is that Osterhouse/Osterhaus was not an imposter, but a just another Wawec member doing what he believed in. According to the Dutch article there were 23 of these cars around the globe.

[pnegyesi]

Thanks, it is very interesting. And it all started with two innocent photos...

[woodinsight]

Great research there Guido.
It makes interesting reading.

[guido66]

A few more Wanderwell finds:

[Wanderwell]

Thank you all...that was very interesting, and yes I think there might have been around 44 teams or approx. 150 WAWEC members.
that Captain Wanderwell had signed up, Around the World. I have in the collection most of the signed WAWEC memberships that he collected for his World peace program. This was of course put together because of the inspiration that Walter had after his meetings with the League of Nations before setting out on the world adventures.
I'm are looking for any of the Wanderwell Automobiles. If anyone knows where they may be , please contact me.
The auto's had USA Presidents, Foreign Dignitary's and Famous movie stars signing the hoods. I would think at least one of those hoods
would have ended up in a collection.

Cheers
Richard Diamond
grandson of Aloha Wanderwell

http://www.AlohaWanderwell.com

[Wendax]

Another pic: