2017 Gilmore Heritage Auto Show salutes the cars of 1957
Gilmore Heritage Auto Show. Photos courtesy The Original Farmers Market.
The property at the intersection of Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles, California, has been in the Gilmore family since the 1880s. It was originally a dairy farm, but the discovery of oil on the property ultimately created the Gilmore Oil Company and helped to reshape the landscape of Southern California. In a nod to this heritage, The Original Farmers Market (started by the Gilmore family in 1934) marked its 60th anniversary with the first Gilmore Heritage Auto Show in 1995; now in its 23rd year, the 2017 event, scheduled for Saturday, June 3, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., celebrates Fintastic: A Tribute to American Cars of 1957.
It was 1900 when Arthur Fremont Gilmore struck oil on his land while drilling water wells for his dairy herd. Within five years, the dairy farm was gone, replaced by an ever-growing number of oil derricks on the property as the oil business prospered. By 1913, the Gilmore Oil Company was advising consumers, “Someday you will own a horseless carriage. Our gasoline will run it – Gilmore Oil Company.”
The company’s petroleum also helped to pave the roads in Southern California, and by 1918, the Gilmore Oil Company was the largest independent producer west of the Mississippi. Arthur’s son Earl, who favored his initials “E.B.,” proved to be a natural showman, and the Gilmore brand soon became equated with outlandish promotions, such as sending Gilmore the flying lion cub on a 30,000 mile promotional tour with barnstormer Roscoe Turner. Gilmore-sponsored racing cars (featuring the brand’s red leaping lion logo) twice won the Indianapolis 500 (1935 and 1937), and a like-liveried land speed record racer achieved 369.8 mph at Bonneville.
1957 Chevrolet, on display at a previous Gilmore Heritage Auto Show.
Zoning changes did away with most of the oil rigs on the property in the 1920s, leaving the land largely vacant for a time. The Great Depression hit hard, and in 1934 a pair of visionaries approached E.B. with a revolutionary idea: sell produce, direct from the area’s many farmers, at discounted prices to local residents. The farmer’s market (at least as we know it today) was born, and within a few years, the venue grew to include permanent vendor stalls and numerous restaurants. The Original Farmers Market proved a success, outlasting the Gilmore Oil Company, which was acquired by Socony-Vacuum, the predecessor to Mobil, in 1945.
Looking to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the farmer’s market and to acknowledge its petroleum-rich past, the Gilmore Company added a car show to the event in 1995. It was intended to be a one-time show, but popular demand saw it return the following year, and today the Gilmore Heritage Auto Show attracts over 100 cars (and perhaps thousands of visitors) annually.
With a focus on the cars of 1957, the 2017 show will include several feature vehicles, including a 1957 De Soto Adventurer hardtop, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, and a 1957 Chevrolet 210 hardtop. The show is free to the public, and the day is capped by a 5:00 p.m. drive-off, where participating display cars traverse the Farmers Market property.
For additional details, or for information on displaying a vehicle, visit FarmersMarketLA.com.