The Forgotten Father Free

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Forgotten Father Free FREE THE FORGOTTEN FATHER PDF Thomas A Smail | none | 01 Jul 2001 | Wipf & Stock Publishers | 9781579105426 | English | Eugene, United States The forgotten father | endeavors His name graces not a single vehicle from Ford, Chrysler, or General Motors, but if one person can be said to have started the domestic American automobile industry, a strong The Forgotten Father could be made for Benjamin Briscoe. He provided the startup funds for the original car companies that, in time, became the basis for two of the Big Three The Forgotten Father, and he almost took control of the third. His father started a successful company, Michigan Nut and Bolt, that produced fasteners for equipment using a machine of his own design. He then sold that business to the American Can Company The Forgotten Father he could form a new enterprise, Detroit Galvanizing and Sheet Metal Works, to exploit a machine he had The Forgotten Father for making corrugated pipe. His product range soon expanded to include sheet-metal parts for stoves and ranges. Two years later, Briscoe was approached by Ransom E. Olds to manufacture an improved cooling system for the original curved-dash Oldsmobile. Briscoe agreed to make radiators, but a year earlier his firm had its own crisis of survival. In desperate need of operating capital and able The Forgotten Father to find a small loan locally, Ben Briscoe took a train to New York City. Not only did Briscoe brashly talk his way into a meeting with financiers at J. That funding allowed his company to make radiators, fenders, and gas tanks for Oldsmobile, and also established a relationship with the Morgan firm that would help Briscoe in his automotive ventures. Making those car parts for Oldsmobile infected Briscoe with automobile fever. It had to run its course. Before the two The Forgotten Father them got The Forgotten Father with motorcars, Briscoe had become acquainted with David Dunbar Buick, another Detroit automotive pioneer. Briscoe, as mentioned, was in the sheet-metal business, and Buick was a successful maker of plumbing fixtures, with 13 patents to his credit. Business took off when Buick perfected a method for bonding porcelain to metal, capitalizing on demand for kitchen sinks, bathtubs, and toilets just as Americans transitioned from privies and outhouses to indoor plumbing. By latethough, he had run out of funds and extended all of his credit from suppliers like Briscoe Manufacturing. The Forgotten Father had made some motorcars, but his shaky financing kept him from making that key demonstration model. By then, Briscoe had become a bit of an automobile enthusiast. According to that deal, Briscoe would then own the completed automobile, though Buick could use it to raise additional funds to start manufacturing. Buick completed the demonstration motorcar in the spring of but pleaded with Briscoe for more financing. That engine would eventually make Buick a success, but at the time Briscoe was not convinced. When he returned from a trip to Europe and found out that the principals of the Flint Wagon Works were looking to get into the automobile business, Briscoe engineered the sale of Buick Motor Company. Less than a year later, William Durant would take control of Buick, making it the foundation of General Motors. InMaxwell-Briscoe sold just 10 cars. Two years later it was the fifth-largest car company in the United States, with three factories The Forgotten Father sales totaling automobiles. Those factories, in Tarrytown, New York; Pawtucket, Rhode Island; and Chicago, had limited capacity, so Maxwell-Briscoe built a large, new factory in New Castle, Indiana which ended The Forgotten Father producing cars and car parts for over a century. ByMaxwell-Briscoe was the third largest car company in America, selling automobiles in that year alone. Despite the promise of the young automobile industry, the early 20th century was not an The Forgotten Father time to start a manufacturing business. Banks were not regulated nor deposits insured and, as The Forgotten Father above, a bank failure could wipe out its depositors. Financial panics were not The Forgotten Father. Briscoe knew how precarious things could be. Briscoe then tried to buy Ford Motor Company. Briscoe had even arranged financing from the backers of the failed Electric Vehicle Company who wanted to get back into the automobile business, this time The Forgotten Father gasoline power. As it turned out, though, Columbia was in poor shape and Dayton, which made the Stoddard-Dayton automobile, was a money pit. Bycreditors took over U. Motor and Ben Briscoe left the company. Maxwell survived under the management of former Ford associate Walter Flanders. Byhowever, Maxwell was in The Forgotten Father again. This time the financial backers picked former Buick president and then-general manager of Willys- Overland, Walter P. Chrysler, to save the company. Chrysler, perhaps the most competent automobile executive ever, was wanted so badly that the financiers allowed him to keep his job at Willy-Overland, running both companies at the same time. Chrysler used Maxwell to develop a new The Forgotten Father, the first Chrysler-branded automobile, even before launching the Chrysler Corporation. He then founded the Briscoe Motor Corporation, with a factory in Jackson, Michigan, eventually making it one of the 20 largest car companies in the The Forgotten Father States. He sold his interest in Briscoe Motor Corporation and permanently left the automobile industry. He started a Canadian company refining crude oil with a process he invented, and mined gold and other minerals in Colorado. Briscoe eventually retired to a acre estate in Florida where he experimented with tung trees. He can very well be credited with founding two of the Big Three, even apart from almost owning Ford. Few individuals have made a more lasting impact on the automobile industry, but who today remembers Benjamin Briscoe? A Story About. Your weekly dose of car news from Hagerty in your inbox. See more newsletters Thanks for signing up. Sign up. More on this topic. Hagerty Community Sam, a year-old car enthusiast, seeks your advice Sajeev Mehta. Magazine Features Can this man save Pininfarina? Brett Berk. Magazine Features How an eclectic restoration shop became the Miller authority overnight Cameron Neveu. Read next Up next: The Forgotten Father dreamed of owning a concept? The Forgotten Prayer of the Father | The Catholic Gentleman The men pulled her away and started loading boxes. Then, with about a third of the files gone, they began to relax their guard. She seized a moment when The Forgotten Father all were outside the office to slam the door and lock it. More time gained. It was Decemberand the woman The Forgotten Father had been reduced to playing cat and mouse with the movers was the wife of the man who had discovered how to broadcast words. His name was Reginald Fessenden, and he deserves, as much as anyone else, to The Forgotten Father called the father of radio. For all the tumult of his later years, Fessenden enjoyed a peaceful middle-class upbringing after his birth in East Bolton, Quebec, in The Forgotten Father completing his degree, Fessenden took a job as headmaster and only teacher at a small private school in Bermuda. Helen Trott went everywhere with the The Forgotten Father Canadian, even when he floated on his back in the sea, working out mathematical problems about electricity. His family hoped he would enter the church, like his father, an Anglican minister. Instead he decided to go to New York City, armed with a few introductions, and try to either find a job with the great Thomas Edison or make a living writing for magazines. He was not yet married; Thaddeus Trott did not want a sonin-law who admitted to holding the extraordinary notion that voices could be sent great distances without wires. The Forgotten Father York was a disappointment. Fessenden sold only a few magazine articles and repeatedly failed to get a job with Edison. During his lunch hours he studied electrical theory and analytical mechanics and worked out ways to do the testing faster. Before long he rose to inspecting engineer. After a few weeks he asked Edison about his future. I have had a lot of chemists. But none of them got results. I want you to take it up. He had been substituting chlorine for hydrogen in natural materials to reduce their flammability. Whenever a project reached a critical phase, Edison and his assistants worked around the clock, catnapping on laboratory tables whenever they could snatch a few minutes. And while such crises were The Forgotten Father unusual, for Fessenden even normal times were strenuous enough. A The Forgotten Father workday started at A. Then he The Forgotten Father work until five, when he joined Kennelly again, this time for a fifteen-minute workout at a nearby gymnasium before going to their boardinghouse for supper. At P. The Forgotten Father next year,Edison ran into deep financial trouble and laid off most of his laboratory assistants, including Fessenden, who nevertheless decided to marry. She had prudently brought her own savings with her, though, so they were able to travel to Canada to visit his family. Shortly after leaving Edison, he took a job with the United States Electric Lighting Company, a Westinghouse subsidiary in Newark, New Jersey, where he perfected a method of sealing incandescent lamps. A year later, he was hired by the Stanley Company, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and was sent to England to learn about the technology of electrical generation there. He and Helen spent all their savings on that trip, which he found greatly interesting, but when they returned, the beginning of a deep economic depression had hobbled the Stanley Company.
Recommended publications
  • The Tupelo Automobile Museum Auction Tupelo, Mississippi | April 26 & 27, 2019
    The Tupelo Automobile Museum Auction Tupelo, Mississippi | April 26 & 27, 2019 The Tupelo Automobile Museum Auction Tupelo, Mississippi | Friday April 26 and Saturday April 27, 2019 10am BONHAMS INQUIRIES BIDS 580 Madison Avenue Rupert Banner +1 (212) 644 9001 New York, New York 10022 +1 (917) 340 9652 +1 (212) 644 9009 (fax) [email protected] [email protected] 7601 W. Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90046 Evan Ide From April 23 to 29, to reach us at +1 (917) 340 4657 the Tupelo Automobile Museum: 220 San Bruno Avenue [email protected] +1 (212) 461 6514 San Francisco, California 94103 +1 (212) 644 9009 John Neville +1 (917) 206 1625 bonhams.com/tupelo To bid via the internet please visit [email protected] bonhams.com/tupelo PREVIEW & AUCTION LOCATION Eric Minoff The Tupelo Automobile Museum +1 (917) 206-1630 Please see pages 4 to 5 and 223 to 225 for 1 Otis Boulevard [email protected] bidder information including Conditions Tupelo, Mississippi 38804 of Sale, after-sale collection and shipment. Automobilia PREVIEW Toby Wilson AUTOMATED RESULTS SERVICE Thursday April 25 9am - 5pm +44 (0) 8700 273 619 +1 (800) 223 2854 Friday April 26 [email protected] Automobilia 9am - 10am FRONT COVER Motorcars 9am - 6pm General Information Lot 450 Saturday April 27 Gregory Coe Motorcars 9am - 10am +1 (212) 461 6514 BACK COVER [email protected] Lot 465 AUCTION TIMES Friday April 26 Automobilia 10am Gordan Mandich +1 (323) 436 5412 Saturday April 27 Motorcars 10am [email protected] 25593 AUCTION NUMBER: Vehicle Documents Automobilia Lots 1 – 331 Stanley Tam Motorcars Lots 401 – 573 +1 (415) 503 3322 +1 (415) 391 4040 Fax ADMISSION TO PREVIEW AND AUCTION [email protected] Bonhams’ admission fees are listed in the Buyer information section of this catalog on pages 4 and 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Michigan Imprints, 1851-1876
    Michigan Imprints, 1851-1876 Volume 4: 1875-1876 • Entries 5007-6201 and Name Index Prepared by LeRoy Barnett from data compiled by the Michigan staff and other members of the American Imprints Inventory, 1938-1942 Michigan State University Libraries East Lansing, Michigan 2013 Michigan State University Libraries 366 West Circle Drive East Lansing, Michigan 48824 ©2013 by Michigan State University Libraries. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America, on acid-free, SFI-certified paper (Sustainable Forestry Initiative, www.sfiprogram.org) ISBN-13: 978-1-62610-022-0 (paper, 4-volume set) ISBN-10: 1-62610-022-5 (paper, 4-volume set) Replacement copies of individual volumes of Michigan Imprints, 1851-1876 may be purchased from the Michigan State University Libraries at $19.95 per volume, plus $5 shipping and handling. To order, contact the Espresso Book Machine Coordinator, Michigan State University Libraries, 366 West Circle Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824. Email: [email protected]. Sales through bookstores, Amazon.com and other retail outlets are for the 4-volume set only. Dedicated to the Michigan staff of the American Imprints Inventory, 1938-1942 Contents 1875 ................................................... 1 1876 ................................................ 40 Name Index .................................... 97 1875 5013 Albion College (Albion, Mich.). Catalogue of Albion College for 1874-75, Albion, Michigan. Published by Albion College. Albion: 5007 Abbot, Theophilus Capen, 1826-1892. Frank F. Cole, 1875. 48 p. MWA, MiAlbC, MiD-B Agricultural education: an address by President Abbot, of the Michigan State Agricultural College 5014 Alden, Joseph, 1807-1885. [given March 4, 1875]. [Lansing?]: [s.n.], 1875. The science of government in connection with 24 p.
    [Show full text]
  • SAH Journal 243B Reader
    The Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. JournalIssue 243 Electronic Edition January-February 2010 Railway Inspection Car Photos These images are two of a series sent by SAH President Susan Davis. It is hard to imagine modern railroads using luxury marques for the purpose today. www.autohistory.org Inside Letters 3 Obituaries 5 Adrian Ryan Mystery Image Frederick D. Roe Albert Mroz sent in this image to place before the members, with virtually no information available. The caption reads “Rose’s Auto, Rose City, Mich.” with William B. Close no date and no photographer’s name visible. Rose City is located south of the Grace R. Brigham Huron National Forest boundary and west of Rifl e River State Recreation Area at the crossroads of County Road 22 and M33 in Ogemaw County. What is known about the town is that it was founded in 1875 by Allen S. Rose, and the original Book Reviews 8 name was Churchill. When the railroad arrived in 1892, the name changed to Maxwell Motor and the Making “Rose City” but incorporation did not occur until 1905. This would place the of the Chrysler Corporation date of the photo at 1892 or later. As for the image, it is heavily retouched by hand, a relatively common practice for the time. If the image shows an The Eight-Cylinder DuPont authentic motorized vehicle, the construction appears artisanal at best, or an Ford in the Service of America optimistic jumble of parts at worst. Commentary is invited. Editorial 10 Date Reminders March 24 - 27, 2010 SAH Spring Board Meeting and Eighth Automotive History Conference Tupelo, MS Jan - Feb 2010 1 ight years in the making, The Greatest Auto Race Eon Earth is now available on DVD, telling the story of the 1908 New York to Paris auto race.
    [Show full text]
  • November, 2020 November, 2020
    NOVEMBER,NOVEMBER, 2020NOVEMBER, 2020 2020 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF RICHMOND REGION ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA. It’s Not a Dodge, It’s a Dodge Brothers .............................. Inside Front Cover, pg. 8-9 From the President, Debbie Nolen .............................................................................. 3 Upcoming 2021 National Activities ............................................................................. 4 Best In Show, 1933 LaSalle owned by Jim Wilson ....................................................... 5 ODMA Show and Tour Schedule Moves Forward to 2021 .......................................... 5 A World of Rumble Seats, Carburetors & Pin Stripping ............................................ 6-7 See a small Beautiful Old Gas Stations Were A Neighborhood Gathering Point..................... 10-11 sample of Reggie Nash’s The Automotive Gold Rush ................................................................................... 12-13 Auto Picture Card Collection from Minutes of October Meeting ..................................................................................... 14 1950’s bubble gum packets. Pg. 16 Cars and Corks at Maymont ...................................................................................... 15 - NOVEMBER, 2020 - OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF RICHMOND REGION, AACA It’s a Dodge Brothers, page 8-9 Raylene & Mike Harton 2 - NOVEMBER, 2020 Halloween will of these being DPC vehicles. I am sure this will be a probably have come very successful event and National AACA deserves
    [Show full text]
  • Finding Aid for the In-House Subject and Name Filing System Series, January
    Finding Aid for IN-HOUSE SUBJECT AND NAME FILING SYSTEM SERIES, JANUARY- JUNE, 1921 Accession 285 (Section 1 of 4) Finding Aid Published: December 2013 Electronic conversion of this finding aid was funded by a grant from the Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET) http://www.dalnet.lib.mi.us Benson Ford Research Center, The Henry Ford 20900 Oakwood Boulevard ∙ Dearborn, MI 48124-5029 USA [email protected] ∙ www.thehenryford.org Henry Ford Office records Engineering Laboratory Office records subgroup In-house Subject and Name Filing System series Accession 285 OVERVIEW REPOSITORY: Benson Ford Research Center The Henry Ford 20900 Oakwood Blvd Dearborn, MI 48124-5029 www.thehenryford.org [email protected] ACCESSION NUMBER: 285 CREATOR: Ford, Henry, 1863-1947 TITLE: In-house Subject and Name Filing System series INCLUSIVE DATES: January - June, 1921 QUANTITY: 7.6 cubic ft. LANGUAGE: The materials are in English. ABSTRACT: This series contains correspondence from Henry Ford's office at the Dearborn Engineering Laboratory from 1921. The correspondence covers both business and personal interests and is organized alphabetically. Page 2 of 16 Henry Ford Office records Engineering Laboratory Office records subgroup In-house Subject and Name Filing System series Accession 285 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: The series is open for research. COPYRIGHT: Copyright has been transferred to The Henry Ford by the donor. Copyright for some items in the collection may still be held by their respective creator(s).
    [Show full text]
  • The Automotive Industry, General Motors, and Genesee County The
    The Automotive Industry, General Motors, and Genesee County A Report Prepared For The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Flint, Michigan The Office for the Study of The Industrial Technology Institute Automotive Transportation, Ann Arbor, Michigan The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute Ann Arbor, Michigan The Automotive Industry, General Motors, and Genesee County December, 1987 A Report Prepared For The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Flint, Michigan David E. Cole Michael S, Flynn Project Director Principle Investigator Director, Senior Researcher, Office for the Study Industrial Technology Institute of .4utomotive TI-ansportation Sean P. McAlinden David Andrea Researcher, Research Associate, Industrial Technology Institute Office for the Study of Autolnotive TI-ansportation The Automotive Industry, General Motors, and Genesee County Executive Summary The past two decades have seen major shifts in the patterns of domestic industrial production. Manufacturing has declined as a percentage of our GNP, and our needs for manufactured goods are increasingly met by offshore production. The midwest region of the United States relies heavily on manufacturing for its jobs and economic activity, and Genesee County, with its central city of Flint, ranks as one of the middle-sized metropolitan areas of the United States most dependent on the manufacturing sector for its local economy. The midwest manufacturing base is heavily concentrated in automotive production, and Genesee County's manufacturing base is almost exclusively automotive. The automotive activities of the Genesee economy are virtually all concentrated in and supportive of one company, General Motors, and GM activity in Genesee represents almost the entire span of automotive manufacturing activities that the corporation pursues throughout the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Automobile Quarterly Index
    Automobile Quarterly Index Number Year Contents Date No. DocumentID Vol. 1 No. 1 1962 Phil Hill, Pininfarina's Ferraris, Luigi Chinetti, Barney Oldfield, Lincoln Continental, Duesenberg, Leslie 1962:03:01 1 1962.03.01 Saalburg art, 1750 Alfa, motoring thoroughbreds and art in advertising. 108 pages. Vol. 1 No. 2 1962 Sebring, Ormond Beach, luxury motorcars, Lord Montagu's museum at Beaulieu, early French motorcars, New 1962:06:01 2 1962.06.01 York to Paris races and Montaut. 108 pages. Vol. 1 No. 3 1962 Packard history and advertising, Abarth, GM's Firebird III, dream cars, 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, 1904 Franklin 1962:09:01 3 1962.09.01 race, Cord and Harrah's Museum with art portfolio. 108 pages. Vol. 1 No. 4 1962 Renault; Painter Roy Nockolds; Front Wheel Drive; Pininfarina; Henry Ford Museum; Old 999; Aston Martin; 1962:12:01 4 1962.12.01 fiction by Ken Purdy: the "Green Pill" mystery. 108 pages. Vol. 2 No. 1 1963 LeMans, Ford Racing, Stutz, Char-Volant, Clarence P. Hornburg, three-wheelers and Rolls-Royce. 116 pages. 1963:03:01 5 1963.03.01 Vol. 2 No. 2 1963 Stanley Steamer, steam cars, Hershey swap meet, the Duesenberg Special, the GT Car, Walter Gotschke art 1963:06:01 6 1963.06.01 portfolio, duPont and tire technology. 126 pages. Vol. 2 No. 3 1963 Lincoln, Ralph De Palma, Indianapolis racing, photo gallery of Indy racers, Lancaster, Haynes-Apperson, the 1963:09:01 7 1963.09.01 Jack Frost collection, Fiat, Ford, turbine cars and the London to Brighton 120 pages.
    [Show full text]
  • August, 1967 ^ ^ Preface
    THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - A STUDY OF ITS GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BY CHIH-KANG PENG SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ATLANTA, GEORGIA •->-.■ 11 AUGUST, 1967 ^ ^ PREFACE This thesis was undertaken as a result of my interest in the automobile industry in the United States. My attention, along with the interest of many others, was attracted by the brief history of the industry, and the dif ficulties of survival of the small firms which form an oli gopolistic model of the industry. My interest in this thesis was encouraged by Dr. K. K. Das, Professor of Management and Economics in the School of Business Administration, Atlanta University, who gave me precious guidance and project questions to work. I appre ciate very much Dr. Das' help. I also wish to express my appreciation to Dr. N. F. Davis, Professor of Business at Atlanta University, who gave me the benefit of his criticism and suggestions. I also appreciate the automobile firms and associations who related automobile industry information and who sent published materials and books for my reference. I made a trip to Detroit, Michigan, an automobile industry city, and got lots of help from the Automobile Division, Detroit Public Library. G. K. P. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE ii LIST OF TABLES iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1 The Automobile General Influence Purposes of the Study- Procedure of the Study II. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Two – Corporate Origins
    Chapter Two – Corporate Origins . I believe that (Walter P.) Chrysler is conceded to be the best automobile manufacturer in the industry; at least, that is the reputation he bears everywhere . — Hugh Chalmers, September 30, 1916 Walter Chrysler’s career at Buick greatly enhanced the reputation he had earned since his railroad days for taking troubled companies and whipping them into shape. By the time he retired from General Motors, he was widely renowned as the greatest turnaround man in the auto industry. When Ralph Van Vechten and the other bankers who controlled Willys-Overland began looking for a miracle worker to save the nearly bankrupt company, Chrysler was a logical choice. But the GM years also made Chrysler rich beyond his expectations, perhaps even his imagining. At 44, he no longer had to work for his living or for the support of his family. He certainly did not need the Willys-Overland job, and given the determined way he left GM, he would have shocked no one by turning down a new position in the car business. In fact, the announcement of Chrysler’s association with Willys-Overland on January 6, 1920, at least according to the Detroit press, caught the auto industry by surprise. Maybe he took the offer, as he claimed, because he was restless in retirement and driving Della crazy at home. If so, he also came to the job with dreams of accomplishing something beyond another turnaround of another faltering operation. Walter Chrysler and John North Willys together, predicted one Detroit newspaper, would “make a bid for what will be practically world supremacy in motor car manufacture.” More tellingly, the two men quickly came to an understanding that Chrysler could develop a new car bearing his own name.
    [Show full text]
  • General Motors and the Development of New Industrial Models
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1992 General Motors and the Development of New Industrial Models Clifford B. Fleet College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, and the Economic History Commons Recommended Citation Fleet, Clifford B., "General Motors and the Development of New Industrial Models" (1992). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625760. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-fvjq-9934 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. General Motors and the Development of New Industrial Models A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts By Clifford B. Fleet III < 1992 Approval Sheet This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Clifford B. Fleet, III Approved, December 1992. hilip Funigiello Edward Grapol Richard Sherman DEDICATION There are many people to whom I would like to dedicate this work, but one man originally inspired my love of history with his seemingly endless stories about the past. Clifford Bridges Fleet, Sr. brought the past to life, making it a living, breathing entity.
    [Show full text]
  • A Financial History American Automobile Industry
    A FINANCIAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY A STUDY OF THE WAYS IN WHICH THE LEADING AMERICAN PRODUCERS OF AUTOMOBILES HAVE MET THEIR CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS BY LAWRENCE H. SELTZER, PH.D. Associate Professor of Economics and Sociology in the College of the City of Detroit BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY irbeitiberfsibeVraz Cambribge 1928 COPYRIGHT, 1928, BY HART, SCHAFFNER & MARX TO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FRED M. TAYLOR THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED I the Ribersabe Press CAMBRIDGE • MASSACHUSETTS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. PREFACE THIS series of books owes its existence to the generosity of Messrs. Hart, Schaffner & Marx, of Chicago, who have shown a special interest in trying to draw the attention of American youth to the study of economic and commercial subjects. For this purpose they have delegated to the un- dersigned committee the task of selecting or approving of topics, making announcements, and awarding prizes an- nually for those who wish to compete. For the year 1926 there were offered: In Class A, which included any American without re- striction, a first prize of $1000, and a second prize of $500. In Class B, which included any who were at the time undergraduates of an American college, a first prize of $3oo, and a second prize of $200. Any essay submitted in Class B, if deemed of sufficient merit, could receive a prize in Class A. The present volume, submitted in Class A, was awarded First Prize. J. LAURENCE LAUGHLIN, Chairman University of Chicago JOHN B. CLARK Columbia University EDWIN F. GAY Harvard University THEODORE E.
    [Show full text]
  • The Stoddard-Dayton Story
    Stoddard-Dayton Company The Stoddard-Dayton Company produced automobiles from 1905 through 1913. The Dayton Ohio based company was formed by John W. Stoddard and his Son Charles G. Stoddard. John had made his fortune in the agricultural business but by 1904 he decided to move into the ever evolving automobile manufacturing business. Charles was sent to Europe to learn their techniques, designs, and production methods. He returned to America convinced that the gasoline combustion engine was the choice of the future and that the steam and electric vehicles were on the verge of becoming obsolete. The early Stoddard-Dayton cars were outfitted with Rutenber engines. The Rutenber Motor Company was based in Chicago, Illinois and produced four- cylinder engines that had been designed by Edwin Rutenber. His first engine was a single-cylinder version introduced around 1892. A four-cylinder version was created by 1898. In 1902 the Rutenber Company was relocated to Logansport. The Auburn Company also outfitted their cars with Rutenber engines until 1923. By 1907 the Stoddard-Dayton vehicles were being powered by modern six- cylinder engines. This amplified the companies' position of creating quality cars with powerful engines. The entry level vehicles were given 15 to 18 coast of paint while the limousine models featured nearly 30 coast of paint. Each coat of paint was meticulously hand sanded. After the painting process and the car were complete, the cars were driven 150 to 400 miles to verify quality. After this the engines were disassembled and they were re-cleaned and inspected. Then it was re-assembled and another road-test ensued.
    [Show full text]