The fascinating history of American cars . . .one story at a time.
Author: Deb Tracy
I am a reformed attorney who has returned to my first loves, American history and classic cars. Raised in a family of automobile fanatics, my Dad is one of those guys who can look at a set of tail lights and tell you what car they belong to and follow that with a story about one he owned. Forget the “new car” smell, I love the smell of old cars and old garages. My husband (retired law enforcement and former U.S. Marine) and I turned our hobby into a business a few years ago and now happily deal in classic cars and their various parts. We live in rural Nebraska with our amazing teenage daughter and a houseful of border collies.
I was driving into Minden, Nebraska, the other day when I spotted this little beauty sitting at a local auction house:
This 1976 Mustang Cobra II is part of an online auction that will end June 4th. The Cobra II appearance package featured wide stripes running the length of the car, spoilers in front and rear, non-functional hood scoops, rear quarter window louvers, and cobra emblems in the grille panel and fenders. Its popularity was aided in no small part by the fact that Farrah Fawcett, and later Cheryl Ladd, drove one in that iconic show of the 1970s, Charlie’s Angels. This Mustang has a 302 automatic, and, having owned a ’78 Mustang with the same, I can confirm that they are tons of fun to drive. The sign in the window says this car runs and drives and has an odometer reading of 23,897. For more information see Rhynalds Auction.
Just in time for Memorial Day, this amazing 1922 Dodge Brothers touring car appeared on the streets of downtown Kearney, Nebraska, all decked out in red, white, and blue.
In 1922, Dodge Brothers had two series; the First series were “low hoods,” and the Second series “high hoods” that also featured other changes like outside door handles, lower rooflines, and buttonless upholstery. Both series had the famous Dodge Brothers all-steel body and a 3-speed transmission, and both were powered by an L-head four-cylinder that displaced 212.3 cubic inches and generated around 35hp.
Unfortunately for the car-loving public and the Dodge Brothers company, both of the brothers, Horace and John, had died in 1920. With the company faltering in the wake of their deaths, their widows became among the richest women in the world when they sold the company to New York banking syndicate Dillon, Read & Company in 1925 for $146 million. At the time, this sale was the largest cash transaction in Wall Street history, and the check made out to Dodge Brothers was the largest ever drawn in a commercial transaction. For that reason, it made all the papers:
The company continued to struggle, and the brilliant Walter P. Chrysler, recognizing a win-win proposition when he saw one, purchased the company in 1928 for $170 million, thereby obtaining a ready-made network for distribution of his relatively new and immensely popular Chrysler automobile. The Dodge Brothers name continued to be used into the 1930s as seen in this advertisement from December of 1930.
Original Dodge Brothers parts are hard to come by, but we still purchase them whenever we find them.
Supply is down but so is demand for much of the early stuff as each generation tends to want what its members drove as young people. We appreciate the owner of this gorgeous Dodge Brothers car for preserving it and for keeping history alive in a most laudable fashion.
We attended a live auction over the weekend and have started unpacking just a few of the phenomenal finds. Starting at the lower right and moving clockwise, we have a 1956 Pontiac hood ornament, an early fifties Plymouth trunk ornament/license plate light, a skull and bones license plate frame, an original 1938 Chevy grille emblem, and a radiator cap made with the top of a ceremonial masonic staff. The remaining two items in the upper right corner are my two favorite finds of the day; the first is a piece of advertising for a 1949 Ford:
This mirror features a picture of a ’49 Ford above the words, “IT’S THE CAR OF THE YEAR!” I wondered who named it so since 1949 was the first year Motor Trend issued its Car of the Year award, and that went to the Cadillac. This is what I found:
The Ford was actually named the “Fashion Car of the Year” by the New York Fashion Academy, and the award was presented in conjunction with the Academy’s selection of America’s “Best Dressed Women.” That isn’t quite so impressive, but it’s still a neat mirror, and the subject of design is a good segue way to this hood ornament:
The lower part of the ornament was originally found on that fashion icon, the ’49 Ford. The lucite insert has been replaced by a chrome bird that was manufactured by Ray Russell Industries. Ray Russell was a Detroit industrial designer and engineer who had some far-out ideas and experimented with making cars out of various materials including plywood, plastic and aluminum. Among his best-known designs was an automobile called the Gadabout:
This aerodynamic roadster was made largely of aluminum and magnesium on a welded steel frame that completely encircled the car. Notice how strange a car looks without a grille. It reportedly weighed 1,100 pounds, and designer Russell claimed it would go 40 miles on a gallon of gas. In regard to propulsion:
November 25, 1945, Bristol Herald Courier
Ford may have taken an interest and collaborated with Russell for a time as reported by Newsweek:
Ford officials apparently refused to comment when asked about it:
Appeared in the September 17, 1945, issue of Automotive News
Russell also experimented with hood ornaments and add-ons for hood ornaments like the one we just bought. Below is the design patent for Russell’s bird. Notice the application was file in July of 1948, so perhaps he did have some sort of inside track at Ford.
For comparison, here is a stock ’49 Ford hood ornament, which resembles the top of a Roman centurion’s helmet, above the Ray Russell version.
Of course, you could always make the decision to go with no hood ornament at all (but do keep the grille)!
There are many famous “talking” cars such as KITT, Herbie, and Mater. One you may not have heard of, however, and likely the first of its kind, was a Chevrolet named Chevee.
Chevee appeared in salesrooms across the United States and Canada from 1924 to 1927. It was sometimes referred to as “Blue Chevee,” so it was likely a Chevrolet Deluxe Touring which was introduced mid-year 1924 and was gray-blue in color with cardinal striping. The gray-blue color scheme was carried out in both the upholstery and the steel disc wheels with which the car came equipped. This beautiful 1924 Chevrolet Deluxe Superior Touring located at the Museum of Automobiles in Morilton, Arkansas, provides a good idea of what Chevee looked like.
Chevee could talk, sing, laugh, and whistle. It called people by name and said, “How d’ya do?” when meeting someone new. It could answer questions asked at random about anyone or anything and could identify items pulled from the pockets of spectators. Chevee even told fortunes.
Chevee would light its lights upon request and would wink flirtatiously at the women in the audience by blinking its lights. Chevee played music in a phonographic voice even though there was no phonograph to be found, and people did try to find one. In fact, they were encouraged to try. The car was mounted on four wooden jacks so that skeptics could crawl under the car looking for answers. Truth seekers were allowed to look under the hood and floorboards and even remove the seats.
The Shreveport Journal reported that the voice sounded like it was coming from under the motor, but no one inspecting it could locate any connecting wires or other apparatus there, under the seats, or anywhere else on the car. There were also no wires connecting the automobile to anything else.
Chevee was wildly popular and often had to be held over to accommodate the sizeable crowds it drew. In Kenosha, it reportedly drew such large crowds that police had difficulty keeping South Street clear in front of the Chevrolet dealership.
Everyone detests an unsolved mystery, but I could find no subsequent explanation of how Chevee functioned. The answer clearly lies with the man conducting the shows, a vaudeville comedian by the name of Billy Van Duzer, as he miraculously appeared with a talking Essex, a talking Dodge, and even a talking Durant the following year. The Chevrolet was the first, however, and the only one graced with a name. The act was apparently played out by the end of 1928, because there were no more appearances made by Van Duzer with Chevee or any other communicative automobile.
Sources:
Advertisement. J. V. Baldwin. Los Angeles Evening Express, 10 Feb 1926, p. 27.
Advertisement. Robertson Motor Co. Imperial Valley Press, 15 July 1924, p. 2.
Advertisement. Roberts Motor Co. Valdosta Daily Times, 17 Feb 1925, p. 2.
Advertisement. S-W-S Chevrolet Co. Dayton Daily News, 29 Mar 1925, p. 54.
Advertisement. The White Chevrolet Co. The Times Recorder [Zanesville], 15 April 1925, p. 2.
“Big Crowds Hear Talking ‘Chevee’.” The Flint Journal, 19 Dec 1924, p. 3.
“‘Chevee’ Stays Here Three More Days.” Kenosha News, 13 Oct 1924, p. 7.
“‘Chevee’ Talks at Roberts Motor Co.” The Valdosta Daily Times, 18 Feb 1925, p. 3.
This 1930 photo shows famed heavyweight wrestler John Pesek, known as the Nebraska Tiger Man, purchasing a new car in Grand Island, Nebraska. Even though the publication was titled “Automobile Topics,” the editor committed the grievous error of failing to note the type of car being purchased. Luckily, those distinctive triangle shapes to the Tiger Man’s right make this car easily identifiable.
The triangles are actually pennon louvers, named as such because they are pennant shaped, and they graced the early 1930 models of the Chrysler Series 70 and 77.
In addition to the pennon louvers, Chrysler proudly introduced a whole slew of innovations with descriptive terms to the motoring public in 1930. One interview with Chrysler distributor Carl H. Wallerich began with Wallerich quoting the philosopher Diogenes (who was quoting Myson): “Things are not made for the sake of words, but words for things.”
Wallerich explained that when a new thing comes into existence, it demands a new label. He then proceeded to give many examples of words associated with the First World War, words like dud, barrage, tank, flying pig, camouflage, dug out, whizz bang, and zero hour, that had been previously unknown, or at least unfamiliar, but quickly became part of the popular lexicon. Similarly, Chrysler’s mechanical innovations required new terms such as “multirange gear shift,” explained this way:
“It renders control of the car far more simple, more effective and safer than ever before. Starting Range has a top speed of more than 40 miles an hour. Acceleration Range has a pick-up at all speeds up to 60. A floating Speed Range is used for driving. In addition there is a Heavy Duty Range for deep mud, and sand or steep hill-climbing. Shifting back and forth between Acceleration and Speed ranges is accomplished without clashing or grinding of gears. Reverse Range is in the conventional position.”
Another feature, “down-draft carburetion,” took its name from the fact that the gas was drawn down into the carburetor, aided by the force of gravity, rather than sucked up. The carburetor was mounted above the intake manifold instead of below it, and both a carburetor with a larger throat and larger intake passages were used, giving the engine greatly increased breathing capacity and increasing the volumetric efficiency of the engine.
“Architonic body” was used by Chrysler to describe the car that was “the essence of master craftsmanship,” and the term “chromium architraves” was borrowed from architectural phraseology to describe the molding around the windows. “Synchronized power” was used to tell the story of the new Chrysler power plant, engineered as a single unit, not a group of connected parts but one smoothly operating and carefully synchronized whole, and the parking lights were called “sconce-type” due to their similarity to a bracket candlestick attached to a wall. Finally, “paraflex spring suspension” was used to refer to springs mounted parallel to the wheels to eliminate side sway, absorb tortional strains and stresses, and control rebounds by checking the impulses and shocks. Many of these new descriptors are found in this advertisement:
Maybe the pennant-shaped louvers made the car popular with figures of the sports world, because Pesek was not the only one seen driving the new Chrysler. Pictured below is Coach Ralph Coleman, the “Silver Fox” who led the Oregon State University baseball team for 35 years.
Interestingly, the Nebraska Tiger Man, John Pesek, was also known for raising greyhounds, which is why dogs of that breed are included in this sculpture of Pesek located in Ravenna, Nebraska.
Considering his penchant for greyhounds, one does have to wonder if Pesek switched his automobile allegiance to Ford a couple of years down the road.
Prior to the automobile, this horse-drawn hearse was the type of conveyance that carried people to their final resting places. The automobile hearse came into existence during the first decade of the 1900s, but trying to pin down when the first one appeared, or at least when the first American one appeared, is somewhat tricky.
As of 1906, there were not yet any automobile hearses in existence, at least according to this quote from the February 18th issue of the Kansas City Journal.
Eleven months later, in January of 1907, this short story announcing that the automobile hearse had arrived appeared in the Yonkers Statesman.
Unfortunately, this story does not tell us what hearse, or where it had arrived. This is a New York paper, so it could be describing events in that state, or it could have been a reference to an automobile hearse in Berlin, which many papers reported as being the first ever. This story appeared in April of 1907:
The Berlin hearse was an electric automobile, and this illustration of it appeared in the Scranton Truth, also in April of 1907:
Speaking of New York, the following story about an electric hearse created for Leonard Ruoff Jr. of Richmond Hill appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Times in June of 1907, and this marks one of the first, if not the first, appearance of an automobile hearse in the United States. Unfortunately, the accompanying photo is particularly poor.
This blurb appeared in the Freeport Journal in January of 1908, and it indicates that an Italian undertaker in New York had also purchased an automobile hearse during the summer of 1907, around the same time that Ruoff’s hearse was built. It is difficult to read, but it does say that the Italian man is the first undertaker to try an automobile hearse. Again, more detail would have been helpful here.
According to the following story in the Buffalo News, by January of 1909 many undertakers were using automobiles, and “a few” were using automobile hearses. The News was reporting on a 16-foot-long funeral automobile designed by a New York undertaker to carry both the casket and up to twelve mourners. Hilariously, note that it also says that the use of automobiles will cut down on funeral costs.
The funeral of Wilford Pruyn of Chicago was reported as being the “first automobile funeral” when it took place in January of 1909. However, since automobile hearses had been in use since the summer of 1907 in New York, this does not seem likely. Perhaps they meant the first to use a gasoline-powered hearse, which could be a possibility, or maybe they meant it was the first using all automobiles as the hearse carrying Mr. Pruyn was followed by eighteen other cars carrying the mourners.
Of course, it is also possible that they were just wrong. Regardless, this is the hearse that Pruyn made his last trip in:
This photo appeared in a February 1909 issue of the Los Angeles Evening Express about the funeral and that latest innovation in automobile rigs, the hearse. The article said that the hearse, built by Charles A. Coey, was made by replacing the tonneau of a large seven-passenger touring car with the body of a regular horse-drawn hearse. There are always those that resist innovation, so it was also noted that there was a certain class of Americans that would refuse anything but a horse-drawn hearse for their own funerals. The article also states that several of the large eastern auto manufacturers were taking up the “hearse problem,” and that it was expected that hearses would be listed in the next season’s automobile catalogues.
Over the next couple of years, use of the automobile hearse continued to increase as manufacturers designed and produced funeral cars like the 1911 Studebaker version pictured above. This particular car was finished in black satin enamel with silver trim, and hand-carved woodwork on the outside of the body gave the appearance of heavy, plush draperies. The interior was veneered with Birdseye maple, and it was all mounted on a Studebaker 40 chassis, the frame being slightly longer than that of the touring car frame. With offerings like this, the automobile hearse was definitely here to stay, and one paper summed it up this way:
1962 Cadillac Hearse sitting on a street corner in a Kansas ghost town
It is well documented that the Vanderbilt Cup Races were dangerous for both drivers and spectators, but this photo that appeared in the December 24, 1914, issue of the Los Angeles Times illustrates another risk that was specific to the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup Race. That race was held in conjunction with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, a world’s fair held to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, and the race took place on the Exposition grounds. The caption to this photo explained that this was the most dangerous point on the course where cars going in opposite directions, as indicated by the white arrows, passed so close to each other that a blown tire or mechanical failure at this point could result in a head-on collision. Here is a bird’s eye view of the course:
This map appeared in the February 21, 1915, issue of the San Francisco Chronicle
Thankfully, there were no head-on collisions or deaths in this race, although there were some injuries as described in the article below that begins with “Resta Wins.” In reference to the original photo, the caption also indicated that the driver pictured was Billy Carlson in a Maxwell 25. Carlson also piloted a Maxwell in the race and, although it had a leaky radiator, he still managed a fifth-place finish. Tragically, there were not many more races in Carlson’s future as he was fatally injured racing in Tacoma the following July. His mechanic, Paul Franzen, was also killed in the accident.
This photo appeared in the July 5, 1915, issue of The Oregonian
Finally, here are a few more newspaper clippings related to the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup Race including the race results, another view of “the dangerous curve,” and an awesome photo of legendary driver Barney Oldfield, chomping on his signature cigar:
Write-up from the March 7, 1915, issue of the Indianapolis Star
This photo appeared in the March 6, 1915, issue of The Santa Barbara Daily NewsPhoto taken from the March 6, 1915, issue of The Evansville Journal
This small gadget called “The Stromberg Condenser” was patented in 1934 by inventor Henry Oestricher, and it has an interesting back story that is positively steeped in deception:
The Stromberg Condenser, manufactured by the Stromberg Ignition Company of Detroit, was a spark intensifier meant for use on any gasoline engine. It was promoted as something of a miracle product with the capability to increase power, eliminate spark plug trouble, save oil and gasoline, reduce carbon, and make starting easier.
The company also claimed that the Stromberg Condenser was endorsed and approved by the Automotive Engineers Association of America. Unfortunately, the FTC did not agree with any of these claims and charged the company with unfair and deceptive acts and practices in 1940. The FTC also frowned upon Striker’s use of an exaggerated fictitious price:
In addition to the deceptive acts cited above, the FTC also took issue with the name of the company. There was another company called the Stromberg Carburetor Company, later the Bendix-Stromberg Carburetor Company, which had built up valuable good will during its decades in business, so the use of the Stromberg tradename was apt to confuse, mislead and deceive purchasers. The FTC ordered Henry Oestricher, now going by Henry O. Striker, to cease both the making of false representations and the use of the Stromberg name.
It might be tempting to give Striker the benefit of the doubt on the use of the Stromberg moniker were it not for a 1937 case that seems to establish a pattern. In that instance, Henry O. Striker and six other officers and shareholders of a Michigan corporation were charged with fraud. The indictment charged, among other things, that the men had misrepresented their concern, called R. Cummins & Co., as being related to an old Kentucky distillery with the identical name of R. Cummins & Co.
Another gadget, this one called the “Coilmaster,” surfaced in 1948 when two men selling them for $3 each were arrested in Indianapolis for obtaining money under false pretenses. The device was worthless, but the salesman claimed it increased power and decreased gas consumption. It was demonstrated on a rigged automobile that gave a convincing sales demonstration through the use of two distributors, one of which was a dummy. The other was fixed so that two cylinders were shorted out until the gadget was used. According to a technician with the Indianapolis Police Department, the device had a long shaft which tripped a switch built into the distributor. This must have been an effective dog and pony show, because the salesmen had racked up $1,245 in sales in St. Louis before moving on to Indianapolis. They had probably been trained by the best, though, because they were working for Electronics Research of Detroit, a company owned by none other than Henry O. Striker.
I found no other stories involving Striker, so maybe he went straight after the Indianapolis incident, or maybe he changed his name again, or maybe he just didn’t get caught. Regardless, rest assured there was never a shortage of snake oil salesmen ready and willing to take his place.
If you enjoy watching old movies, you have likely heard the word “flivver” tossed around on occasion, usually in reference to a Model T. I wondered about the origins of the term and decided to see what evidence could be found in old newspapers.
The earliest reference to the word “flivver” that I could find was 1907, and it was used as a synonym for failure. This slang term was said to have originated in the theater, and a 1909 newspaper story explained it this way: “A flivver is a fizzle. The term was coined by the profession to denote a part that falls flat because there is nothing to it, or even a player who makes a failure because he hasn’t got it in him.” Here is another explanation from a different paper: “A flivver is something that is not a success, perhaps not an outright, hideous failure, but certainly a long way from the top. Even the actor himself, when he fails, may be described as a flivver.”
It may have originated in the theater, but it was also used when discussing 1909 sporting events such as this poetic start to a story about a boxing match: “The Ketchel-Langford flivver has done two things to the pugilistic calendar, besides piercing the tender hearts of the students of the Queensberry game.” Even more colorful was this piece of reporting on baseball’s American League: “The crucial game proved a flivver; the Athletics fell and have been getting the wadding beaten out of them ever since, while Detroit is now serenely sailing with nobody rocking the boat.”
I do not know who first applied the derogatory term to the Model T, but it must have happened quickly because this headline also appeared in 1909:
The story underneath this banner was about a Ford hitting a truck that was heavily laden with nitroglycerine, but, because it was a flivver, it did not hit hard enough to cause an explosion.
The name stuck, and within a few years the newspapers were full of references to the Ford Flivver. This one was about Brooklyn car thieves preferring more expensive cars like Packards.
Finally, this political cartoon from 1916 includes a bottle labeled, “Ford’s Flivver Cure.” This was a reference to Henry Ford’s attempt to end the First World War by sending a “peace ship” full of peace advocates to Europe to exert moral and diplomatic pressure to end the war. Ford paid all the expenses for this trip, but it was widely ridiculed in the press. Theodore Roosevelt condemned it as a “ridiculous and mischievous jitney peace junket!” and the war raged on, so I guess you could say the trip itself was something of a flivver.
Sources:
“Chat and Comment.” Fall River Daily Evening News, 10 Feb 1910, p. 6.
Hobart, George. “New Year Dinkelspielers.” Ledger-Star [Norfolk, Virginia], 11 January 1907, p. 13.
“Good thing It Was a Flivver.” The Chronicle Telegram [Elyria, Ohio], 31 Mar 1909, p. 4.
Greene, Sid. “War Grip.” The Daily Gleaner [Fredericton, York, New Brunswick, Canada], 20 Jan 1916, p. 5.
“Know About the ‘Flivver’ Thing?” The Kansas City Times, 9 Feb 1910, p. 8.
“Langford Has Had Hard Luck.” The Butte Daily Post, 27 Sept 1909, p. 6.
“Roosevelt Urges Unity in Defense.” The New York Times, 6 Dec 1915, p. 3.
“Three Clubs Now in Pennant Fight.” The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer, 20 Jul 1909, p. 4.
“Want an Auto? Just Take One.” The Brooklyn Daily Times, 22 Jul 1915, p. 12.
We found this rare Lincoln accessory in a tiny antique store in a tiny town. It is clearly a speaker, and the emblem gives away its origins as a Lincoln product, but why does it have such a long cord attached to it?
The answer can be found in the 1950 Lincoln “Styled Accessories” brochure which features this speaker on page five. It is a detachable rear seat speaker, and it came equipped with a 20-foot extension cord so that it could be taken outside of the car and used while camping or enjoying a picnic. It also has a volume control, which is the knob on top of the speaker housing. Just imagine cranking up the tunes while picnicking next to your new 1950 Lincoln!
