Fisk Tires
Reed Brothers was founded and franchised as a Dodge dealership in 1915; only one year after the first Dodge automobile was made. Initially, Reed Brothers sold Oldsmobile and Hudson, along with Dodge. Reed Brothers was a successful company, combining car sales, auto accessories and repair service. They also sold Fisk Tires which were made in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts.
After seeing the Fisk Tire signs in the photos below, I was curious to learn more about the company and the tires that they made. The history of the Fisk Tire Company is relatively obscure, but as far as is known, Noyes W. Fisk purchased a failing rubber manufacturing company in 1898. Fisk continued the company under his own name and branched out to sell automobile tires. By 1904, most of the country’s major car manufacturers were buying Fisk tires. The tire business, along with many other businesses, fell upon hard times during the great depression. Despite all the country’s hardships, Fisk survived and introduced its new Safti-Flight tire in 1930, and it proved to be an impressive success. (click images to enlarge)
This photo was taken by Lewis Reed across from Reed Brothers Dodge, circa 1915. Old St Mary’s Church is in the background.
Original 1915 Rockville Garage located at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. The small sign on the right side of the Garage advertises Gasoline, Fisk Tires and Supplies.
Below is an ad I found in the September 18, 1915 edition of Automobile Topics that gives you an idea of the cost of tires at the time, which was considerable.
Source: Chicopee (Google eBook)
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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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