Merry Christmas & Best Wishes for 2019!
Reed Brothers Dodge Showroom, 2007
I would like to wish everyone who finds time in their hectic schedule to visit this blog a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year in 2019. I appreciate all of you for your continued support and making Reed Brothers Dodge History one of the places you visit during the course of your day.
Wherever your holiday celebration takes you, I wish all of you a safe, relaxing time spent with family and friends.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
~Jeanne Gartner
Blog Author
Meet George Waters, One of Reed Brothers’ Longest Tenured Employees
George Raymond Waters holds the distinction of being among one of the longest tenured employees in Reed Brothers Dodge history.
George Raymond Waters worked as a mechanic and auto body repair specialist at Reed Brothers for over 30 years. I do not know the exact dates of his employment, but George’s 30+ years of tenure which started sometime in the early-mid 1940’s, puts him among a handful of employees who worked at both Reed Brothers locations, at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike and at the new location at 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville.
George did auto body work and all of the radiator rebuilds (acid dip, pressure wash, repaint and seal). George also drove the Reed Brothers company tow truck. He was on 24-hour call and his personal phone number was listed with the local police departments. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, day or night, George was available 24-7 and always made sure that when people were in need, they were taken care of.
This personnel picture was taken January 15,1946 when Reed Brothers held its annual dinner at the Hungerford Tavern. George Waters, third row, far left.
George’s three-plus decades at Reed Brothers spanned some major and minor bumps in the road for the business. He was with Reed Brothers through three renovations and expansions, including demolition of the 1953 service station to make room for a new free standing Gulf Service Station and a new car showroom.
This 1950 employee group photo was taken inside the new car showroom at its original location in Old Rockville at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. George Waters, second row, 2nd from right
When the state widened the roads in 1970, George relocated with Reed Brothers to its new location at 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville. Turning out to honor the company at their Grand Opening were several hundred dignitaries, officials, businessmen, and friends. The new building marked Reed Brothers 55th year of selling Dodge’s. The gentleman in the hat in the picture below is George Waters.
This photo was taken during the 1970 Grand Opening of Reed Brothers new location at 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville. George Waters is third from right in the hat.
Reed Brothers didn’t just slip and fall into success over the course of almost a century of being in business. We were propelled there by the hard work of our employees. For us to be able to say that we’ve had anyone work for our company for more than 30 years is a milestone that is unsurpassed. We should all aspire to do what we love in our work, and I think George’s long history with Reed Brothers is a testament to that.
Lewis Reed Photo Featured on Maryland Public Television
Lewis Reed’s aerial photograph of entire original Reed Brothers Dodge dealership at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike was used in Maryland Farm & Harvest Season 6, Episode 606, which was aired on December 18, 2018 at 7:00 pm on MPT. The photo illustrates what Rockville Pike looked like at the time, during a segment about 97-year-old farmer Charles Koiner who grew up in the Rockville area. At 97, Charles still farms full time, with the help of his 72-year-old daughter, Lynn Koiner.
Lewis Reed’s photo extracted from the Maryland Farm & Harvest MPT video.
Screen shot of credits from Maryland Farm & Harvest video on MPT
About the Show
Maryland Public Television (MPT) in partnership with the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has created Maryland Farm & Harvest, a multimedia series that puts a human face on farming. Hosted by Joanne Clendining, Maryland Farm & Harvest takes viewers around the state to see and experience what it’s like to run a 21st century farm – from technological advances and conservation challenges to age-old complications such as weather hardships. Maryland Farm & Harvest also captures the number one reason why planters and growers dedicate themselves to it all: their simple love of farming.
UPDATE: Lewis Reed Photos to Appear on Science Channel ‘Impossible Engineering’
I just got word from the Production Assistant at Discovery that the new season of Impossible Engineering Series 4 is about to start airing in the US. Lewis Reed’s race car photographs will be a part of the “London Array Wind Farm” episode which is the second episode of the series. The show is scheduled to be broadcast on Thursday, January 10, 2019 on Discovery’s Science Channel.
The following 1923 dirt track race shots taken by Lewis Reed at the Rockville Fair will be used on the program that will feature a segment on the development of the race car.
Photo by Lewis Reed
Photo by Lewis Reed
About Impossible Engineering
Behind every seemingly impossible marvel of modern engineering is a cast of historic trailblazers who designed new building techniques, took risks on untested materials and revolutionized their field. Brand new series, ‘Impossible Engineering’, is a tribute to their achievements. Each episode details how giant structures, record-beating buildings, war ships and space crafts are built and work. As the show revels in these modern day creations, it also leaps back in time to recount the stories of the exceptional engineers whose technological advances made it all possible. How would they have ever existed without the historical work of their ancestors? Interviews with their great advocates bring engineering history to life and retell how these incredible accomplishments shaped the modern world.
“Impossible Engineering” is produced for Science Channel by Twofour Broadcast.
A Glimpse of Christmas Past in the Reed Family Home
Lewis Reed’s craftsman-style home, looking rather solitary on a snowy day. Photo by Lewis Reed.
I am flooded today with memories of my grandparents’ house. As a kid, it was a magical place. It was not a huge house, a modest Sears and Roebuck craftsman-style home built in 1926. Some of my earliest memories are visits to this home as I spent a lot of time there during my childhood. While looking through my grandfathers Christmas photographs, I started making some notes about some of the arbitrary things I could remember about them. And eventually some of that turned into this blog post.
Snow on the ground means it’s time for building a (presidential) snowman. This photo is Lewis Reed and the snowman he built of George Washington.
The following photos from Lewis Reed’s collection are a fabulous glimpse into Christmas inside the Reed family home at 301 North Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A lot of people assume that the traditions we follow have looked pretty much the same since their inception but, in most cases, like everything else in life, Christmas has definitely changed over the years.
The trees were big back then and always fresh. They went right to the ceiling and were very wide. Early Christmas trees were generally fastened onto a flat board surrounded with fence-rails, snow villages and carpeted with cotton blankets of snow. Lots of tinsel and strings of popcorn garnish the trees.
A small snow scene with what appears to be a miniature church is arranged at the foot of the Christmas tree. A popcorn garland adorns the tree. Photo by Lewis Reed
No room for a star on the top of this tree! And just look at those big Santa and Angel dolls. A miniature church with picket fence is arranged at the base of the tree. Photo by Lewis Reed
Below are photos of Lewis Reed’s snow village set up under the Christmas tree decorated with vintage ornaments, tinsel, and lights. I used to have a ton of fun helping my grandfather set up the miniature landscapes with the varied figures, little houses, and trees at Christmastime each year. It seemed like a holiday village right out of a storybook.
A rustic picket fence is used to set off the village display. Photo by Lewis Reed
The snow villages were set up in Lewis Reed’s basement on top of a big table beneath a small Christmas tree. He made the snow scenes entirely by hand using wire-covered cardboard and balled up paper to make hills and pathways. The little houses and figurines would fit into the landscape with cotton ‘snow’ all around; and lights would be wired underneath. It was just amazing to me.
Little houses, churches, fences, trees, and pathways were added to the scene. Some of the houses have charming light effects in the windows. Photo by Lewis Reed
These Christmas villages were precursors of the Holiday Villages that were made popular by Dept. 56 that you see today.
Old-fashioned lights can be seen on the tree, along with lit windows in the houses. Photo by Lewis Reed
Looking back on these memories now in my adult mind is like watching my favorite Christmas movie. They are memories of my grandparents house at Christmastime, and are ones I will always treasure.
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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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