Beyond the Family Car
Between 1919 and 1959, Reed Brothers Dodge sold more than just cars. In addition to automobiles, the dealership also sold a wide variety of vehicles outfitted with the equipment necessary for various trades, such as farm tractors, delivery trucks, firetrucks, and school buses.
Bates Steel Mule Tractor, 1919
In the early 1900s, mechanization profoundly changed farming methods. Tractors revolutionized the agriculture industry, eventually freeing farmers from using oxen, horses, and manpower. In addition to automobiles, Rockville Garage was an agent for the Bates Steel Mule Tractor. As sold in 1919, the “Steel Mule” was designed to replace horses or oxen for every farm operation from plowing to harvesting. Its development in the first half of the 20th century fundamentally changed the nature of farm work, rivaling the automobile and the truck in its economic impact. Rockville Garage had a tractor expert on hand to give demonstrations of the Bates Steel Mule Tractor right at a prospect’s property or job site.
The Steel Mule was a product of the Joliet Oil Tractor Company of Joliet, Illinois. First produced about 1913, the Bates Steel Mule was an odd-looking tractor with two wheels set wide in front but only a single, low, crawler track centered under the rear. Joliet was one of dozens of small companies vying for a spot in the lucrative small tractor market between 1910 and 1920. One of its key selling features was that a farmer could use it to more efficiently pull his formerly-horse-drawn equipment. The Bates Steel Mule originally sold for $1,500, the equivalent of more than $27,000 today.
Montgomery County Sentinel. June 20, 1919
Dodge Brothers Screenside Business Car, 1919
Dodge’s first venture into commercial vehicles consisted of light truck-type delivery bodies mounted on slightly modified Dodge passenger car chassis. The resulting vehicles were referred to as Commercial Cars or Business Cars.
Dodge Brothers did not yet have a truck line, though Dodge would later be known for their trucks. Horace and John Dodge reluctantly agreed to develop a commercial vehicle in 1917 after their sales associates lobbied for a work vehicle that could be sold to small businesses that delivered fruit, beer, and other goods. This design eventually evolved into the screen-side Dodge Business Car, with a thousand-pound payload, selling for $885.
Dodge car chassis on display outside Reed Brothers, 1922.
One of the earliest known trucks sold by Reed Brothers was one of the 1919 Dodge Brothers Screenside Business Cars, purchased by Offutt’s General Store in Rockville and pictured below (notice the screens on the side with roll up canvas covers). Commercial users of these units preferred Dodges because they had an all-steel body. The Offutt store’s Class D beer and wine license, numbered 001, was the first issued in Montgomery County, Maryland after the end of Prohibition.
Offutt’s General Store, with a 1919 Dodge delivery truck purchased from Reed Brothers Dodge parked in front. Photo courtesy of Mary Offutt Stubbs, Edward Offutt’s daughter.
Offutt’s General Store and filling station was originally located in the building that is now called Hank Dietle’s Tavern on Rockville Pike. Edward Offutt first constructed the building in 1916, where he ran a general store selling groceries, animal feed, penny candy, food and drinks, and later (as pictured above) Gulf gas.
First School Buses in Montgomery County, 1922
Many of the first school buses used around Montgomery County were furnished by Reed Brothers Dodge. Initially, student transportation was facilitated by horse-drawn wagons known as “kid hacks.” These rudimentary vehicles served rural children who lived far from schools. These rickety rides went on for decades until 1892 when Wayne Works produced its first “school car.” This vehicle was essentially a horse-drawn wagon with wooden bench seats and a roof, but still lacked the features we associate with modern buses.
As automobiles became more prevalent in the early 1900s, there was a gradual shift from horse-drawn vehicles to the first motorized school buses. The real turning point came in the 1920s when manufacturers started producing purpose-built school buses on car chassis. The first school buses used throughout Montgomery County were provided by Reed Brothers Dodge, a local dealership that played a pivotal role in this transition. By the time Reed Brothers Dodge began providing school buses in 1922, they were being manufactured on Dodge motor car chassis (below left). Below right, is an ad from the May 21, 1959 edition of The Montgomery County Sentinel.
Below, is a 1931 photo of the Montgomery High School’s “Travel Club,” pictured with an early Montgomery County school bus that may have been provided by Reed Brothers. This picture is interesting because the tires on this bus look very modern for the era and must have been useful on the rutted, rural dirt roads of Montgomery County at the time.
From the MCHS’s 1931 yearbook “The Rocket” (Montgomery History)
Kensington’s First Fire Engine: Dodge-Graham Fire Truck, 1925
Delivery photo from US Fire Apparatus Co in Wilmington, DE. The fire body for the truck was built by the US Fire Apparatus Company of Wilmington, Delaware, and was mounted on the Graham chassis delivered through Reed Brothers Dodge. Photo Courtesy of Kensington Volunteer Fire Department.
In 1925, the town of Kensington purchased its very first fire engine–a Dodge-Graham combination chemical and hose truck supplied by Reed Brothers Dodge. Built on a Dodge-Graham Brothers passenger-car chassis, the truck’s fire body was constructed by the U.S. Fire Apparatus Company of Wilmington, Delaware, and mounted on the Graham Brothers chassis delivered through Reed Brothers. This innovative design allowed customers to build trucks to suit their needs, a concept pioneered by the Graham Brothers and marketed by Dodge.
When delivered in mid-1925, the new Dodge-Graham pumper was considered one of the finest in Montgomery County. Capable of speeds between 40 and 50 miles per hour, it was painted a rich battleship gray with gold striping and proudly bore the name “Kensington Volunteer Fire Department.” Reed Brothers even waived their sales commission to help the department afford the apparatus; a gesture of community spirit that allowed Kensington to acquire a first-rate fire engine at a considerably lower cost.
This remarkable vehicle not only represents an important milestone in the history of the KVFD but also reflects the early collaboration between local businesses and civic organizations that helped shape public safety across Montgomery County.
Funded by donations, carnivals, and community support, it gave Kensington a modern firefighting tool and marked a turning point in local public safety. Reed Brothers Dodge, already well known for putting cars on Montgomery County’s roads, now helped put its very first fire truck into service.
Reed Brothers Dodge Connection
As the regional Dodge Brothers dealer, Reed Brothers played a pivotal role in securing the new truck for Kensington. Correspondence between Reed Brothers and the fire department in early 1925 confirms their involvement in coordinating the order through the U.S. Fire Apparatus Company of Wilmington, Delaware, which built the fire body on the Dodge-Graham chassis.
A surviving letter dated January 20, 1925, from Edgar Reed to Assistant Chief Eugene J. C. Raney, reflects the close relationship between the dealership and the community. While the letter notes a cancellation of an earlier order, it also underscores Reed Brothers’ ongoing commitment to working with the department whenever future needs arose. When approval was later granted to proceed with the purchase, the department re-ordered the same apparatus configuration originally specified.
Courtesy of the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department Archives
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Reed Brothers Dodge History (1915-2012) by Jeanne Gartner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915 – 2012 
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