Above: Asa Candler, Jr., with his driver at the wheel of the Pope Toledo named “The Merry Widow.” 1909, Atlanta Speedway
In 1906 Asa Candler, Jr., relocated from Hartwell, GA, to Atlanta with his wife Helen and children Lucy III and John. They moved temporarily to a house in the Fourth Ward neighborhood at 348 N. Jackson St., between Angier and Pine. The other Candlers had all relocated to the Inman Park neighborhood by this point, and Buddie wasn’t going to be left out any longer. He secured a lot and began building a home just up Euclid Avenue from his father. More about his Fourth Ward and Inman Park homes can be found here.
The first thing he needed after settling in was income. His father gave him a very brief role as a shipping clerk at Coca Cola, so brief that few records exist to prove it happened. Asa, Sr., also arranged for him to join the board of directors of the newly formed Southern States Life Insurance Company in the spring of 1906. A look through the directors list in the Southern States announcement is telling. Every board member was associated with another existing, profitable venture. Buddie was one of only two board members with no business ties and no pedigree to speak of.
Southern States Life Insurance Company board of directors, The Atlanta Constitution, May 4, 1906
So why was he a member? One word: tontine.
In short, a tontine is a group agreement wherein the last surviving member of the group becomes the sole beneficiary. Tontine life insurance was a popular scheme in the 1800s that enabled wealthy men to pool individual investments into an initial payout pool and then sell policies that could never be cashed in. Their initial investment was at very low risk of loss and they made good money off of premiums paid by suckers who didn’t realize the odds were against them ever benefitting from their policies. More on tontine insurance and the role this experience played in his life will be included in a future site update.
Unfortunately, the US government began investigating tontine insurance in the early 1900s and Southern States Life Insurance Company came under investigation. After a round of testifying before the Armstrong Investigation in June of 1906, Southern States appears to have lost steam. In 1907 the state of Louisiana recognized Southern States specifically in legislation barring tontine insurance.
By then Buddie had transitioned into a role with another of his father’s ventures, the Candler Investment Co. This company held real estate and established the Candler Warehouse, Co. Buddie set up his office in the basement of the Candler Building in downtown Atlanta and began managing his father’s properties. This included collecting rent, leasing offices to tenants, and managing maintenance workers.
In 1906 he ran for city council, before withdrawing his candidacy eight days later with curious timing and reasoning. He told the paper that although he appreciated the public’s support, he feared he would embarrass a number of his friends if he stayed in the race. More about his campaign for city council to come in a future site update.
Also in 1906, the Atlanta Race riots broke out, resulting in the death of 25 African American citizens. Read W.E.B. DuBois’ “Litany of Atlanta,” which was published in the riot’s aftermath. After the wave of violence died down, Asa, Sr., stepped forward to broker peace. Of course, his definition of peace included barring saloons from serving alcohol to the very people who had been victimized. Buddie has no direct connection to this event, but it serves to demonstrate his father’s long history as a teetotaler, a man who sincerely believed that drinking alcohol was a sin, but was also a smart enough businessman to know that fewer alcohol sales meant more room for Coca Cola in the marketplace.
In 1907 he participated in a city-wide event in support of four local orphanages that ran Atlanta’s first automobile parade, lining up 103 cars and navigating a route through downtown, north to the Ansley neighborhood, and east out to Ponce de Leon Park. Prominent businessman and auto enthusiast Ed Inman led the parade with a bugler in his car and everyone else followed in a line, each car loaded with orphans. Also in 1907 Asa, Jr., came into a supply of coal and spent a couple of years advertising to homeowners and businesses. He advertised year-round, trying to unload the supply however he could. Looking at the variety of ways he tried to get himself out there in money making ventures, you certainly couldn’t doubt his hustle.
In December of 1907 his second daughter, Laura, was born. In 1908 he moved his family to Inman Park and took a larger role in Candler Investment Co.’s real estate interests. Now granted the authority to purchase new properties, he began formulating an idea, one that would facilitate his favorite hobby and raise his reputation as a businessman. He decided to build a racetrack. More about the Atlanta Speedway will be added in future site updates. In the meantime you can read about one of the most infamous incidents here.
In 1909 the Atlanta Speedway opened to rave reviews and big attendance. Unfortunately it wasn’t able to sustain the hype. By 1910 the racetrack was foundering, and by 1911 it had capsized. Asa, Sr., had financially backed the endeavor, but when he could no longer stand to lose any more money he foreclosed and shut it down. It was the mill all over again. Buddie had the vision but not the business planning skills or financial management chops to keep it afloat.
During the track’s short lifetime Buddie endured several media firestorms, accusing him of Machiavellian scheming behind the scenes, as well as manipulation of investors and the board of directors, of mismanaging funding and abusing his father’s power to get his way. During one of the dust-ups he threatened to move to New York, declared that he was building a $100,000 mansion in Druid Hills, abandoned that plan, purchased a seat on the New York Cotton Exchange, then sold the seat shortly thereafter. And all the while he bought more cars. Six cars in total, including a priceless Fiat driven by famous racer George Robertson.
Also in his collection was his crown jewel: a 1911 Lozier Briarcliff. Billed as the most expensive and finely crafted luxury car available, the Briarcliff drove Buddie to national fame when he participated in the Atlanta to New York Good Roads Tour and arrived at his destination with a perfect score. His performance was reported nationwide and he was featured in advertising campaigns for the car and the tire company that carried him over rough country roads. His Briarcliff became everything to him, a symbol of his greatness as a world-class driver and pathfinder.
The Spring 1910 races weren’t successful on the same scale as the November 1909 races. They fell far short of their ticket sales goals and quickly hit the financial skids. In April of 1910, coinciding with these money woes, Buddie was called to testify before a grand jury about illegal wirehouse activity. Wirehouses were brokerage firms that used telegraphs and telephones (wired communication) to call in stock activities to Wall Street. While wirehouses themselves weren’t necessarily a problem, they became a problem when they were used as bucket shops. Bucket shops were a place where gamblers could wager on stocks like they would a horse race. They placed bets on whether stocks would go up or down, rather than actually investing in the stock opportunities directly. A large investigation indicted a number of people in Atlanta, and several people, including Asa Candler, Jr., was called to testify about his knowledge of these activities.
In May of 1910, potentially to save face following this press and the poor performance of the spring races, he wrote and published an article in the May 1910 issue of The Greater Atlantan that was intended to appear like an editorially independent write-up praising his business acumen. In November of 1910 he bought space in The Atlanta Constitution to re-run it, even though the November race it mentioned was already past. No matter, press is press.
Note the superlatives and the, ahem, creative reframing of his past endeavors. In today’s world we can compile documentation of what transpired and contrast the truth with this write-up. In those days his spin could go unchallenged. For example, he says the Speedway “bids fair to become one of the many great Candler successes,” but the truth was that the track was already insolvent and would close within the next year.
“Asa G. Candler, Jr.: President Atlanta Automobile Association, Owner of World’s Greatest Speedway
Greater Atlanta and her progressive movement among the greater cities of the country could not be better emphasized than in the life of Asa G. Candler, Jr.
Wide awake at all times, progressive in everything he undertakes, with an intuition to seize upon things for their true value and a knowledge of business affairs and financial business that is remarkable, Mr. Candler ranks with the best of the business men of Atlanta today.
Mr. Candler is of the type that always succeeds. He comes from a family of successful men. His father, Asa G. Candler, is one of the city’s leading financiers, bankers and capitalists, and his son inherits all his good qualities.
Mr. Candler is a native Georgian, born in Atlanta and living in Georgia all of his life, with the exception of two years. He is 30 years of age and married.
The Candler residence on Euclid Avenue is one of the most beautiful of the palatial homes in the city today. Mr. Candler is constructing now a handsome home on the Williams Mill road, which will be ready for occupancy by the 1st of next April, his home on Euclid Avenue having been sold.
The two years of Mr. Candler’s life which were not spent in the Empire State of the South were spent on the Pacific Coast, inaugurating the fine Coca-Cola factory that now stands as a monument to his name even in that far away clime. Mr. Candler spent two years in Los Angeles superintending the construction and operation of this factory and getting the business upon a firm, substantial business basis.
Mr. Candler lived in Hartwell, GA, for the best part of six years, managing a cotton mill, and it was due to his excellent management that the mill succeeded. Everything that the young financier seemed to touch about this time succeeding (sic) admirably. While living in Hartwell he married the present Mrs. Candler.
Mr. Candler returned to Atlanta in 1907 and has been a resident of this city ever since.
He is the renting agent of the Candler Building, the Candler Annex, and Commerce Hall. The conducting of these ventures, which are enormous in themselves, require (sic) painstaking study and thorough and most careful management, he has shown himself capable of giving (sic). His main duties in this connection are to collect the rents of the offices in three buildings and to see that everything is kept repaired and in their best condition.
Mr. Candler is the president of the Atlanta Automobile Association. In the organization of this company came the chance for his fine executive ability and financial genius to have full sway and he showed himself capable of handling what has proven at times a weighty problem, though it now bids fair to be one of the many great Candler successes.
In the summer of 1909 the idea struck Mr. Candler that the building of an automobile race track in the city of Atlanta would be the means of a big advertisement to the city of Atlanta at large throughout the entire world.
The building of such a track, which in Mr. Candler’s mind, should be the best in the world, meant a tremendous undertaking, but he was equal to the occasion. He talked the matter over with several of his business associates and called a meeting of over a hundred members of the chamber of commerce. They met in the chamber of commerce room and discussed all the sides of the proposed track from all angles. Mr. Candler had previously taken trips to every big track of note and was well versed on the different points at issue.
He told just how much it would take to build this and that, itemizing each item until he had a total cost figured out. The first move was to choose a suitable tract of ground, which was done. In fact, Mr. Candler had chosen the proposed site before the meeting was even called.
So earnestly and with such an air of knowing just what he was doing did Mr. Candler present the real good to be obtained from a good automobile track, stressing the great advertising that the city of Atlanta would get as the principal feature, that when a subscription list was started half of the required paid-in capital of the company was subscribed to before the meeting adjourned. Mr. Candler and Mr. Candler, Sr., headed the subscription list and they were followed by several others until the amount had run up into the thousands.
From the jump the track was a go. It proved to be not only the fastest but the safest track in the world. The first meet last fall was a huge success, as was the amateur meet this spring.
But the meet this fall.
This meet is going to far surpass anything ever attempted by any track. Not only has the local association through Mr. Candler offered the greatest prizes ever heard of for a splendid card of events, but the entries that have poured into the local association is (sic) indeed wonderful. Fully seventy cars will be on the track when the first races are run on the opening day.
The Atlanta Speedway is a tribute to the untiring energy of a young business man, firm in his convictions that he had a winning proposition, and in years to come will be recognized world-wide even on a more greater scale than it is now.
Young men like Mr. Candler, Jr., are a credit to any community.”
In 1911 he made arrangements to purchase a plot of land on the edge of the Druid Hills subdivision, which his father had heavily invested in. After several financial false starts he suffered a terrible accident on his Inman Park property when an explosion in his six-car garage set fire to his automobile collection and nearly trapped him inside. He lost most of his cars but appears to have salvaged the Lozier. Fortunately, everything was insured and the payout coincided with the completion of his transaction on the Druid Hills property. He recovered from his injuries but cancelled all future automobile pathfinding events and ceased his racing activities. More about Buddie, fire and insurance to come in future site updates.
In June of 1911 he moved Helen—who was pregnant with twins at the time—Lucy III, John, and Laura out to their new home, a farm on Williamsville Road. Shortly thereafter he bestowed the name Briarcliff on the property and the road it abutted. More about Briarcliff Farm and mansion can be found here.
By the close of 1911 the speedway was a goner. It would be abandoned for racing purposes and used by barnstormers and gutsy young air mail pilots until the City of Atlanta leased it to become the area’s first airfield. Today that airfield is known as Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
The Candler Building
In 1903 Asa Candler, Sr., purchased a lot in downtown Atlanta to be the site of what would become the tallest building in the city at the time of completion. He hired architect George Murphy to design the building and they laid the cornerstone in 1905. It opened for business in 1906. Details about its expensive and luxurious amenities may be found at the NPS National Register of Historic Places webpage.
Buddie’s office was located in the basement, or what the NPS site calls the “first basement.” Directly beneath the ground-floor lobby, the white Amicalola marble central staircase wound down to the basement lobby, which featured striated marble ceiling supports with scrolled capitals. A February 9, 1910 article in the Atlanta Georgian notes the location of his office as in the basement. On Nov 27, 1910 a biographical write-up in the Atlanta Constitution (clearly penned by Buddie himself) describes his work as the leasing agent of the Candler Building.
Also in the basement were what was described as “the finest baths in Atlanta,” and a fine dining restaurant. The restaurant was catered by Silverman Catering Company, which was owned and operated by J. Lee Barnes. Barnes would show up again in 1909 as the caterer of a fundraising event for the Atlanta Speedway, and again in the 1930s as one of Buddie’s magic associates. Aside from the Adair family, with whom the Candlers did much business, J. Lee Barnes is the longest documented friendship in Asa, Jr.’s, life.
When Asa, Sr., won the Atlanta mayoral race in 1916, Buddie relocated up a few floors, and continued to use the Candler Building as the headquarters for his various business endeavors until 1931, when he moved his operations from suite 333 in the Candler Building to Briarcliff Hotel and Apartments. View an extensive gallery of interior Candler Building photos here.
For those interested in Atlanta history, a full transcription of the newspaper announcement that described the Candler Building restaurant in detail can be found below.
Young Professional Timeline
Buddie Moves to Atlanta for Good
Buddie, Helen, Lucy III and John move into a house on Jackson St. in Atlanta's Fourth Ward neighborhood.
Southern States Life Insurance Launches
Buddie joins the board of directors of a tontine life insurance company.
Southern States Life Insurance is Investigated
The Hughes investigation, on behalf of the Armstrong Committee, follows its charge to uncover and document the suspect practices of life insurance peddlers. Following the investigation, the State of Louisiana Attorney General's office would prohibit Southern States Life Insurance from doing business within Louisiana.
Asa, Jr., for Office
Buddie announces his candidacy for Atlanta City Council to represent the Fourth Ward neighborhood. A review of the names on the petition reveal some key players in the Atlanta business community at the time, including Joel Hurt and Ernest Woodruff, who would years later engineer the deal that purchased Coca Cola and took the company out of the hands of the Candler family.
Asa, Jr., for Office
Buddie drops out of the race for City Council. He thanks his supporters for believing in him but asserts that his continued candidacy may embarrass a number of his friends. Opposing candidate Edgar E. Pomoroy wins the 2-year seat on election day.
Atlanta Race Riots
Rising tensions fueled by racism and fear of African American progress come to a peak in the state gubernatorial race. Two local newspapers, The Atlanta Evening News and The Atlanta Georgian publish a series of sensational, falsified stories about black men attacking white women in the pursuit of newspaper sales. Tensions explode and the two-day riot sweeps through African American parts of the city, killing at least twenty-five innocent people. In the aftermath Asa Candler, Sr., represents white businessmen in collaboration with black businessmen and community leaders in an effort to address the violence. The resulting decision is to move towards state-wide prohibition, starting with the banning of saloons that serve African Americans. This move benefits Asa, Candler, Sr., and his offspring by increasing the market share of teetotaller-friendly Coca Cola. Read more about the 1906 Atlanta Race Riots here.
Orphan Automobile Parade
104 automobiles, likely mostly steamers at this point in history, line up throughout downtown Atlanta to drive more than 300 children from 4 regional orphanages to Ponce de Leon Park, where they will be treated to a day of amusement. Buddie participates by driving his own personal vehicle. Well known Atlanta names like Ed Inman and Hoke Smith participate.
Walter Marries Eugenia
Howard and Asa's younger brother, Walter, graduates from Emory College and marries his college sweetheart, Eugenia Bigham. Their first son, Walter, Jr., is born five months later.
Laura Candler is Born
Buddie and Helen deliver their second daughter on Christmas Eve. Laura goes on to have a uniquely close relationship with her father, according to her grandson.
Buddie and Family Move to Inman Park
The Atlanta Georgian runs a brief story about Buddie's new Inman Park house, designed by George Murphy, just a block up Euclid Avenue from his father's house. It's a simple, apropos of nothing piece that includes a floor plan and flowery description of the materials used. Buddie and family move in shortly thereafter. The property includes a barn for his horses and a garage. Eventually the garage would house as many as six cars before being destroyed by fire in 1911.
Asa, Sr., buys the Druid Hills Land Development
In what is called the largest land purchase on record in the area, Asa, Sr., buys 1500 acres from Joel Hurt for a half million dollars. The purchase includes a set of linear parks designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead. The purchase is assisted by long-time Candler family friends and business partners, Forrest and George Adair. The Adairs participate in many of the Candlers' real estate transactions over the years, culminating in Buddie's purchase and takeover of West View Cemetery in 1930.
Buddie Rubs Elbows with Politicians
Buddie attends a party in honor of a newly nominated candidate for the office of Governor. He rides in the honorary parade with a man named Edward Durant, who will go on to become his business partner in the Atlanta Speedway venture a year later.
Coal Salesman
Buddie tries his hand at selling coal directly to consumers. His supply is based on coal shipments purchased for the Candler Building. He runs ads in the local papers, promising the best prices around.
Long Distance Driving
Buddie and Walter take to the rural roads and drive from Atlanta up to Hartwell and then on to South Carolina. Buddie drives a Peerless and Walter drives a Franklin, both gasoline-fueled cars. Paved roads are nonexistent, which means the best they can hope for is Belgian block or macadamized surfaces in the city and dirt roads everywhere else. Long-distance driving is enough of a novelty to make this an event worth reporting.
Wesley Memorial Church Dedication
Asa Candler, Sr., funds the construction of a Methodist church on the corner of Auburn Avenue and Ivy Street. At the laying of the cornerstone ceremony, Buddie plays solo coronet in celebration.
America Takes the Vanderbilt Cup
For the first time since the races began in 1904, an American car and driver win the prestigious Vanderbilt Cup race. George Robertson drives a 2-year old Locomobile called "Old 16" to victory, and the nation goes gaga for automobiles.
Atlanta Gets an Automobile Club
Ed Inman, the same man who drove the lead car in the 1907 orphan parade, starts the Atlanta Automobile Association. It launches with sixty-three members, and Buddie is one of the club's officers. Together they raise $6k (more than $150k in today's money) to build a clubhouse. Their declared mission is to promote legislation that supports motorist activities. This is a rich man's club, since automobiles are still priced far out of reach of the average person's income.
$225k Auto Track to be Built in Atlanta
With his partner Ed Durant, Buddie spends the spring of 1909 secretly buying parcels of land via the Candler Investment Co down in Hapeville, GA, just south of downtown Atlanta. He clears the land of farmers and takes a proposal to Asa, Sr., to build a world-class two-mile race track. Asa, Sr., agrees to partially fund the project and rallies the Chamber of Commerce to lend financial support. Transportation between the city and the track is planned to be provided by trolleys.
The Atlanta Constitution's Pathfinder Tour
The Atlanta Constitution sponsors a pathfinding party with a prize of $5,000 to the participant who finds and maps the best automobile-friendly roads between Atlanta and Macon. Asa, Sr., rides along with Buddie, in appreciation for his son's favorite pasttime. They plan their route to head south via Stewart Avenue, which runs directly to Hapeville, GA, and is determined to be one of the best stretches of road along the way. This becomes key later as the Speedway project nears completion.
Speedway Work Begins
Asas Sr. and Jr. take construction bids and launch the project with the goal of opening the first races in November. This is an extremely ambitious, and therefore extremely expensive endeavor. Prison labor provides much of the manpower, as was common practice at the time. More detail about the events of 1909 leading up to the fall races will be found in future site updates.
Buddie Takes Over the AAA
Asa, Sr., uses his financial leverage to seize control of the Atlanta Automobile Association on behalf of his son. Buddie is installed as Association president. Club founder Ed Inman quits and starts the Fulton County Automobile Club. Although Buddie joins the new club, the tension between the two organizations is no secret. Rumors of the two groups merging swirl in the local community, to Buddie's dismay.
The Track Needs a Road
The AAA throws a barbecue—catered by J. Lee Barnes—at the nearly-completed track with 500 guests. All are asked to pledge money to build a worthy roadway from downtown Atlanta to the Speedway. The road in question is Stuart Avenue. The money raised widens and resurfaces the road so that attendees of the races can comfortably travel to and from the track in their own automobiles. This road is now Metropolitan Blvd. Later the Candlers would build the Candler Warehouses on this route and petition to have it included in the interstate Dixie Highway project.
Atlanta's First Race
Far over budget and plagued by rumors of terrible working conditions and club strife, the Atlanta Speedway opens its races during a city-wide celebration called Auto Week. Automobile related activities are planned throughout downtown and at least forty-thousand attendees fill the raceway stands. The star-studded lineup of drivers provide a tremendous show, and Buddie's prized Pope-Toledo named "The Merry Widow," crashes and burns in an exicting moment mid-week. Although the event is a success, the endeavor ends with its financials still in the red.
Drama at the Auto Club
Buddie and his business partner Ed Durant have a serious falling out and part ways with much drama and gossip following. Ed Durant gives tell-all interviews to every publication in the city, and Buddie's responses both substantiate his claims and make perception of his business acumen worse, not better. Buddie declares that he will move to New York permanently, and in an odd regressive moment he buys a seat on the New York Cotton Exchange. He sells it again a few months later when he needs the money.
Drama? What Drama?
Determined to move on from the bad reputation that follows him, Buddie hires a new track manager to replace those he canned during the drama. He travels around the country trying to recruit drivers for the fall races. He also takes time to support his father, who is facing legal push-back against Coca Cola.
Buddie Testifies on the Stand
Buddie is called to testify in front of a grand jury about bucket shops and the illegal stock market gambling activities associated with them. Given the severity of the track's financial state, it is unsurprising that he would have participated in money making schemes to help offset losses.
The Spring Races Fizzle
Attendance at the May races yields a fraction of the previous fall's numbers. Buddie fails to recruit big name participants, possibly owing to some of the management drama during the 1909 inaugural races. Instead, the line-up is dominated by amateur drivers. Additional motorcycle races and airplane exhibitions are intended to drum up excitement but the event falls short of the ticket sales it needs to make a profit. To combat his ongoing bad press, Buddie writes a full page article about himself, praising his own business skills and the potential of the track. The article is published as though it were penned by a 3rd party journalist. Lastly, he announces that he will buy a Lozier Briarcliff, one of the most expensive luxury cars on the market.
Atlanta to New York Good Roads Tour
With Mack McGill as his driver, Buddie heads north from Atlanta to New York in his new Lozier Briarcliff. He makes the trip with a perfect score, which earns him some much-needed good publicity. His name is featured in national ad campaigns for Lozier automobiles and Diamond tires, and his prowess as an amateur driver earns him status as a low-level celebrity.
More Amateur Races
Buddie uses his new celebrity to promote the upcoming July races, but once again he is only able to book amateurs. His friends, such as Bill Stoddard and "Mack" McGill, participate. These names do not draw crowds.
Buddie Sues a Child
Buddie sues a small boy in court for striking a match on the hood of his car. He claims the striking of matches is a huge nuisance to local drivers and that the damage costs car owners significantly to repair. The child is found guilty and fined.
'Round the State Tour
Buddie, along with friends Frank Weldon, J.S. Cleghorn, Frank Flemming and Mack McGill drive around the state of Georgia as a one-car pathfinding tour. It's claimed that they come home as "bronzed as their khakis," with lots of colorful stories about the kind rural people they encountered along the way. They take 6 days to drive nearly a thousand miles, averaging 23 mph. They don't stop to eat during the day, but instead take their lunch onboard and eat in the car. One night they find themselves far from a hotel so they wake up the owner of a turpentine distillery to ask for shelter. He feeds them canned goods for free. So go the stories Buddie tells after his return.
Fall 1910 Races are Set Up for Failure
Word is getting around that the Atlanta Speedway manager has failed to recruit enough drivers for the fall race, but it will be held anyway. The promoters start throwing sensationalist ideas at the event to try to boost its appeal, including letting an actress and motor enthusiast named Florence Webber drive in an exhibition race. Permitting a woman to drive a race car is unusual enough to warrant a headline. Buddie also arranges for Nap Rucker, a nationally known baseball player, to race against another Georgia-born baseball celebrity, Ty Cobb. The Rucker/Cobb matchup actually stirs interest in the event until Cobb's manager forbids him to participate and the baseball players' race is called off.
Fall 1910 Races
The Atlanta Speedway is proving more and more to be a playground for a select group of automobile enthusiasts, and the events held there are for their gratification, not for the public's interest. Buddie races with his friends, and the only people approaching celebrity who show up are business connections or associated with their social circle. Word is starting to spread in trade press such as Horseless Age that the financial picture is dire.
Puff Piece Boosts Buddie's Image
Buddie republishes his self-aggrandizing puff piece in the Atlanta Constitution to promote the idea that he's a success and his speedway is an unsinkable idea.
The PR Gets Weird
In yet another desperate attempt to drum up interest in the track, Buddie invents a story about his young son, John, driving his Lozier Briarcliff around the Atlanta Speedway. The story appears in newspapers across the country, with more preposterous details emerging over time. It's difficult to write it off as humor, given its emphasis on witnesses who could swear to its veracity.
Buddie's Garage Explodes
In a dramatic turn of events, Buddie's six-car garage in Inman Park erupts in flame as the gas tank of his Pope Toledo explodes. Flames spread throughout the structure, trapping him inside. He attempts to escape via one of the roll-up doors but a spring mechanism keeps it latched in place. He manages to jump through the fire and break down a door in time to save himself, but his collection of cars is lost. He loses the Pope Toledo, his famous Renault, and the infamous red Fiat that George Robertson drove in the 1909 Atlanta Speedway races. His limousine is parked at the house and thus spared. His Lozier Briarcliff is not mentioned in any of the coverage.
Automobiles Mean Business
Buddie is appointed to the Chamber of Commerce Automobile Committee.
The Coca Cola Defense
Buddie, Howard, and their cousin Asa W. Candler spend much of the spring of 1911 up in Chattanooga, where their father is in court, battling accusations that Coca Cola is made of dangerous, addictive ingredients. This is in reference to caffiene, not narcotics. Buddie rounds up a herd of character witnesses and sends them up to Chattanooga via private rail car and puts them up in hotels for the night.
More Races? Maybe.
In what now appears to be a cooling of Buddie's interest in racing, he responds with disinterest when the Atlanta Automobile Association files for permits for October races. He gives a cryptic statement, saying it might happen or not, but nothing more can be said without working out a lot of details.
Out with Racing, in with Sports
Early June, 1911 marks the first occasion when Buddie's name is associated with the possibility of acquiring a sports team. In the months following this story Buddie shows interest in a few teams and makes a serious bid to acquire the Atlanta Crackers baseball team with New Orleans Pelicans' manager Charlie Frank. The deal falls through.
Buddie Leaves Inman Park and Racing Behind
The financial dust clears and Buddie packs up and leaves Inman Park. He moves to a plot of land on the edge of Druid Hills and takes up residence in a farmhouse. At this time the road is called Williamsville Road. His Inman Park home sells to William P. Walthall. Shortly after this move Asa, Sr., forecloses on the track and it shuts down permanently. Asa, Jr.'s racing career is over.
Young Professional Gallery
1906 Atlanta City Directory. Asa, Jr., lived on N. Jackson St. and was listed as a shipping clerk for Coca Cola. Howard is listed as secretary of the Candler Investment Company and his home address is at the Glenn House with his in-laws in Inman Park.
1907 Atlanta City Director. Asa, Jr., is listed at the Euclid address but may not have moved in yet. He was employed as a secretary of the Candler Investment Company, the position occupied by his older brother the previous year, with an office at the Candler Building. Howard is listed as vice-president of Coca Cola and still lived with his in-laws.
1908 Atlanta City Directory. Asa, Jr., is listed as secretary-treasurer of the Atlanta Investment Company, the same title as the one he held at Witham Cotton Mill.
Candler Building foundation excavation, 1905.
1906 view of the Candler Building, on Pryor and Peachtree Steet. Asa, Sr., had an office on the top floor. Buddie’s office as building manager was in the basement by the restaurant and baths. Visible in this photo is a line of acroteria that is not seen in later photos.
Present day Candler Building basement, featuring what is likely the approximate location of Asa Candler, Jr.,’s office during his time as building manager and leasing agent. Source: Meyler and Company, Atlanta. View more interior photos here.
Young Professional Resources
The House of Candler, Greg Bluestein, J. Scott Trubey, The Atlanta Constitution, 2012
Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia
Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of People and Events, 1880s-1930s, Franklin M. Garrett, 2011
Opinions and Reports of the Attorney General, Louisana Attorney General’s Office, 1908
Atlanta Speedway History:
Before NASCAR:The Corporate and Civic Promotion of Automobile Racing in the American South, 1903-1927, Randall L. Hall, 2002
Atlanta Speedway 1909 and 1910 Race Photoset, Detroit Public Library Digital Collections
Automotive Industries, Vol XXI, 1909
Mad for Speed,x the Racing Live of Joan Newton Cuneo, Elsa A. Nystrom, 2013
Motor Age, Vol XVI, 1909
Motor Age, Vol XVII, 1910
The Motor World, Vol XXIII, 1910
The Horseless Age, Vol XXVI, 1910
The Candler Building Restaurant Write-Up
“Paradise for Epicures is the Beautiful Candler Restaurant
Popular Prices, Perfect Service
Furnishings in Keeping With Those of the Great Building in Which It Is Located.
”Established for reputation” the Silverman Catering Company has just opened in the Candler Building the most hygienically perfect restaurant to be found in the south.
Located as it is in the most beautiful of all Atlanta’s tall skyscrapers its appointments are in perfect keeping with its surroundings and it is sure to prove a mecca for those in search of pure foods, cooked by gas and electricity, the modern way, and at the most moderate prices.
Popular prices, perfect service and pare foods are the prime requisites of this restaurant.
When the Candler Building was completed it was found to lack only one essential detail—a fine restaurant. When the skyscraper was put up this contingency was prepared for and one of the best arranged restaurants in the south was planned. When it was decided that the time had come for opening it, the lease on this large airy room, which is located on the floor directly beneath the bank, it was turned over to the Silverman Catering Company, which has met with such wonderful success in operating the Etowah Restaurant, at the corner of Whitehall and Alabama streets and the Etowah Dalry Kitchen on Alabama street.
This catering company, with its years of experience and its perfectly appointed service, soon transformed the large restaurant room into a bower of loveliness and made it one of the most attractive dining rooms and lunch counters In the south.
In the heart of the hotel and apartment house district this restaurant attracts patrons from all sides. The popular priced “club meals,” which are served three times daily, will be sure to prove a boon to those in search of seasonable foods at moderate prices.
The restaurant is reached through either entrance to the Candler building, on Peachtree or Houston street, by passing down the broad marble . winding stairway which leads from the main floor to the one below. It is located in the large room directly beneath the bank. Lighted by daylight from the sidewalk lights above and this intensified by two score of handsome brass mounted chusters of electric lights, dropped artistically over each table.
The dining room is spacious, measuring 40x80 feet. The walls are paneled in gray Georgia marble to a distance of two-thirds the height of the ceiling. The floor is laid with handsome marble squares, giving the room a cool elegance which is delightful in the hot summer season.
Above the marble panels the walls are tinted a cool and inviting green, finished off in a soft and pleasing tone of yellow. This color scheme is carried out in the ceiling, which is artistically frescoed and painted.
All of the woodwork finishing, and this includes the window frames, moulding and dining room furniture, is of solid mahogany, which gives that warm, rich elegance so often desired and so seldom found.
This spacious dining room is divided into two parts. The Peachtree side is set apart for the ladies’ and gentlemen’s dining room and down its long aisles are set handsome mahogany damask-covered tables, with chairs to match, placed artistically about, and the glass, silver and china gleaming from its snowy whiteness. Separated by a hedge of growing ferns the gentlemen’s quick bunch counter is located on the Houston street side of the restaurant.
This long, dairy table is made of handsome mahogany and facing it in a sentinel-like row are the stools of the same handsome wood. The surfaces of each are highly polished and there is given an air of elegance which robs it of any detracting appearance.
Both dining rooms are served by waitresses who are trained in the art of sanitary service. They see to it that all of the silver, linen, cut glass and china is absolutely aseptic. Attired in their natty uniforms of blue linen, trimmed with white, they form a pleasing picture against the dining room woodwork of red mahogany.
In order to make this dining room one of the coolest and most attractive in the city there has been installed, perhaps, the most perfect system of ventilation and filtered air in the South. There are located at regular intervals throughout the dining room tall columns of mahogany.
These are hollow and open at the top and reach nearly to the ceiling. Encased within are suction tanks, which draw from close to the ceiling, the impure air which has risen. This is sucked down and drawn out of the room. From apertures near the floor, air, which has been drawn in from without, passes through a refrigerating and filtration process which makes it as pure and as cool as a mountain breeze, is pumped into this dining room. Electric fans buzz noiselessly throughout the day. causing a complete change of the air in the dining room every two minutes during the day, from 6 a.m. to 8 p. m.
Care is not only taken in the brilliantly lighted and handsomely appointed dining room, but also in the lange refrigerators and kitchens necessary to operate this model establishment.
The first refrigerator is made of solid mahogany and is located in the very front of the restaurant. It is panelled with plate glass and exposes each side to view. This refrigerator is connected with the restaurant and keeps at a temperature below freezing the atmosphere encased. In this ice box there is exposed to view juicy and luscious steaks, fowl in season, delicacies of all seasons, which can be ordered by the customer in passing. This will be a great exponent of the pure food law to whose dictates the Silverman Catering Company lives up to implicitly.
The other large refrigerators, each attached to the refrigerating plant of the building are located near the kitchens. In one of these the vegetables are kept at a cold temperature, while in another the game, fowl and meats are kept at a point below freezing to insure perfect sweetness.
This same system of refrigeration extends behind the lunch room counter and boxes, in the milk stands, the ice creams and other delicacies being so much better for being cold.
It is the cleanliness of the kitchen which would appeal most to the housewife and to all those who love clean and careful cooking. To rob all food of the absence of smoke, coke, coal or other disagreeable odors this catering company has installed a complete kitchen range furnished with gas and electricity, exclusively.
The cooking by electricity is quite a novelty, and is proving a boon for the quick order customer.
The same system of ventilation and refrigeration, which marked the dining room and store room, is to be found in the kitchens. The steam table is furnished with the antithesis of the ice cream chests being coiled about with hot water tubes, which keeps all of the ready prepared dishes at an equable temperature and ready for instant service.
In order that there might not be a chance for dust and dirt to accumulate in any crack or crevice, when the restaurant and kitchens were built, all were floored with marble and tile and all furniture was elevated from the floor, so that it could be flooded daily and in this way be kept perfectly clean.
The restaurant has been fitted out with Rogers’ silver for the table and Reed & Barton’s silver tops for the dishes and soup tureens and platters by the same firm. The linen is of the finest damask and the china and glassware have been selected with care to be in harmony with the rich atmosphere, which permeates the entire establishment. Marketing in such large quantities this restaurant is able to serve positive delicacies at moderate cost. To live up to the name of a refined restaurant serving with care and dispatch at popular prices will be aim of the Silverman Catering Company in the Candler Building.”
