11 replies to this topic

[Robert Rampton]

Greetings to everyone here on this Historical Research sub-forum. I have been a member of TNF since 2006, but I have few posts to my credit. I visit nearly every day, but I look and read and learn from the many excellent and expert postings here. This is the thread that I frequent the most.

Recently, I have revisited a large file of material I have accumulated on one of my most favorite early American drivers, Theodore H. Tetzlaff. I am from Utah and research mostly early automobile and racing topics with a Utah angle. Going through these letters and emails, something keeps popping up, so I thought this forum would be the right place to make this inquiry and see what kind of feedback and discussion, if any, surfaces.

I’m talking about the kidnapping story. Here it is, briefly. In 1912, on his arrival in Tacoma, WA for the inaugural running of the Montamara Festo road race, Tetzlaff was kidnapped by local gangsters and held in a sleazy Tacoma hotel/brothel, and a hefty ransom note sent to his wealthy backer, at the time, E. E. Hewlitt. But Teddy turned out to be a handful, eating all the food, smoking all the cigars, cheating at card games and generally being a royal pain. When Hewlitt refused to pay, the gangsters realized they had made a big mistake and revised down their next ransom demand. Hewlitt finally did pay a much smaller ransom. But Tetzlaff liked the cushy set-up and refused to leave. The gangsters then begged Hewlitt to come and take him off their hands, essentially rescuing the criminals from Teddy rather than the other way around.

I have seen this story, in one form or another, printed in at least one book on auto racing. It can be found retold in several forums on the web as well as in a history of Lakeside, WA where the Tacoma Speedway existed in it its heyday. As late as last month, during a phone conversation with a Tacoma historian, this story was retold to me, at length, as gospel truth, right down to the assertion that the building that was the hotel/brothel still stands in downtown Tacoma.

So my questions to this forum are these: Does anyone know the origin of this story? Does it appear in any primary, period sources, and if it does, what are they, please? Was it actually 1912? Was it even Tacoma? I have not plowed through all primary sources that may be out there, but the ones that I have, make no mention of this story. Many of Tetzlaff’s movements prior the big races were reported in Tacoma papers. He was a celebrity and the favorite. Surely something like this would not have escaped the local papers. Does this story have a kernel of truth buried in it, or is it promoter nonsense retold and burnished so many times over the years, it is accepted as fact?

So that is it. Sorry for the lengthy post. I’m very interested in anything anyone may know about this. Thanks to any and all that contribute.
Bob Rampton
Salt Lake City

[Jim Thurman]

Hi Bob. The story exists, but as fiction in O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief" Perhaps Ernie Moross "borrowed" the story for promotional purposes. If you can find nothing in contemporary press, it's likely fiction.

I'd be interested in what you have on Tetzlaff, because I'm interested in his early days in Orange, California.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 03 June 2013 - 16:05.

[Michael Ferner]

I have never come across anything like it.

[RA Historian]

I have never come across anything like it.

...and if Michael has not, one can confidently conclude that it did not happen.

[Jim Thurman]

I have never come across anything like it.

I have, but as a work of fiction: "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry

[Robert Rampton]

Thanks to everone that posted a reply. You have only confirmed what I have thought about this story for some time; it's a charming story, but not a shred of truth to it. I will check out the O. Henry reference also. I guess what this all boils down to is a topic that has surfaced recently on another forum and another thread. Are you in love with the history and the truth of the thing or are you in love with the nostalgia and the truth you want it to have? I think the latter does not make for a very good or useful historian.
Bob.

[Michael Ferner]

...and if Michael has not, one can confidently conclude that it did not happen.

Well, thanks, Tom, but I wouldn't actually go that far. While I have certainly done a lot of research in period newspapers, this is the sort of story that just might have appeared in but one single, local source, and as such it may still turn out to be true, after all! In all probability embellished right there and then, but with a kernel of truth all the same. I wouldn't bet huge amounts of money on it, though...

[bpratt]

There is a Tacoma Speedway historian, Wayne Herstad, who speaks of the kidnapping. Probably a stunt set up by Teddy Tetzlaff's manager E.A. Moross. The punchline is that Tetzlaff was spending some time in a bordello and didn't want to leave for the races.

Video of a talk Herstad gave on Tacoma. About a minute is the Tetzlaff story:



I can't remember seeing anything in the Tacoma newspapers about the kidnapping. Will recheck just for my own satisfaction and let you know if I do find a mention of it.

[Robert Rampton]

Mr. Pratt, thanks for the reply. Truth be told, it was a phone conversation with Dr. Herstad that launched all of this. He told me the story a few years ago and it jogged my memory about seeing it in an automotive book more than 30 years ago. When I encounter things like this I always enjoy the story, but I always ask myself "is this the truth - did it happen?"

Since my last post, I have finally found the reference copy of the page and the book where I first encountered this. The story appears in The Encyclopedia of Auto Racing Greats, written by Robert A. Cutter and Bob Fendell. It was published in 1973 by Prentis-Hall. It is a random collection of short biographies of various automotive persons through history. Many I knew of, most I did not. Interestingly, the story about Tetzlaff is not contained in a bio about him. As far as I can remember, he did not appear in the book at all.

The bio entry is about Frank Verbeck, but the story is about Tetzlaff and Verbecks role in his kidnapping. I decided to do a qucik search for his stats, but found little about him. Don't know his DoB or DoD. I did get that he was a well known California driver from the early days and was a teammate of Tetzlaff, driving the big FIATs with him for E. E. Hewlitt. He competed in many of the West Coast races, endurance runs and city to city races. He managed to survive his auto racing and became a respected businessman as well as an offical with Mobil. By all accounts, Frank Verbeck was the source of the kidnapping story.

Even so, it still does not ring true. Tatzlaff was supposed to go to Tacoma to help boost sales of FIATs in the Northwest. The kidnapping was said to have taken place a week before the Tacoma races which were July 5&6, 1912. Verbeck was sent after Tetzlaff, by Hewlitt, to pay the ransom and spring Teddy from his captors. Yet a search through the Tacoma Times records Verbeck arriving in town before Tetzlaff. Once he got there, Teddy was a busy boy, tending to the cars at a downtown garage, taking a local newspaper reporter on a hair-raising 90 mph drive in his FIAT up the main thoroughfare of Tacoma, practicing on the course, working all night to help correct bad spots on the same course and shaking down his car by making a couple of fast runs to Seattle and back. In the evenings, he was entertained, with his fellow drivers at dinners and shows hosted by the local auto dealers association. Doesn't seem like there would be much time for a kidnapping.

Perhaps this story came to life after Frank Verbeck retired many years later. It just might be based on some real misadventure he and Tetzlaff had as teammates, and young hotheads, early in their careers. Over time it became a little saltier and a little more burnished as Verbeck retold it and other stories about the glory days. Verbeck was an offical for the Mobil Economy Run. Don't know when that occurred. Perhaps there is a story published about it in a magazine and about Frank Verbeck.

Also, thaks for the links. I have seen them before, but I pulled them up again and listened to Dr. Herstad talk about Tacoma
Bob.

[Jim Thurman]

Robert Rampton. If you are out there, please check your PM box or contact me.  Thank you!

[Dutchy]

There is a short article on Tetzlaff in this month's Automobile magazine written by David Burgess-Wise

[3039869]

To Jim Thurman:

Not sure what has happened.  This is Robert Rampton, here.  Saw your post yesterday, but when I went to sign in, my password was not accepted.  Looked it up in my rolodex to make sure I hadn't garbled it or something , but no go.  Used the "forgot my password" link to have it sent to my email, but again, nothing has arrived in my inbox.  So my workaround was to just create another account with another email.  Seems to be working.  I will send the forum admins a lote today about thisd and see if I can get my original name and pasword reestablished.  In the meantime, I will try and PM you.

To Dutchy

Thanks for the heads-up about the Tetzlaff article.  I will look for it.

Bob