Reed Brothers Dodge Yearbook Ads from 1930-1957
Reed Brothers Dodge was always a supporter of local high school yearbooks. The advertising section at the back of high school yearbooks offer a glimpse at the businesses of the town the school is in, which can be particularly useful for small towns that may not have had their own city directories. The listings usually always included addresses for the businesses, and sometimes, photographs of the businesses themselves.
A blurb preceding the 1939 Richard Montgomery High School Rocket Yearbook reads:
The folks who have advertised here have a civic interest in Rockville. They manifest this interest by their advertisement in the ROCKET. Now you ROCKET owners do your part by patronizing those who have an interest in bettering your school and your community!
The following yearbook ads from Richard Montgomery, Gaithersburg, Sherwood, Damascus and Poolesville High Schools are dated from 1930-1957. Not many high school yearbooks are online, but most of the ads below were found on E-Yearbook.com, an online resource for the largest online collection of old and new high school yearbooks on the Internet.
In 1930, Reed Brothers added the Plymouth line. The first Plymouth was built in 1928 and Plymouths were sold at Reed Brothers until 1969, when the brand was given to the Chrysler dealers. The fact that the phone number was just ’67′ in the ad above gives a real feeling of how different life was back then.
Reed Brothers Dodge had a separately maintained glass shop in their service department which was equipped to replace all types of automobile glass. In addition to auto replacements, glass was also cut for mirrors and table tops. Another innovation of the repair department was a separate paint and body shop which was located next to the glass shop. Reed Brothers was capable of repairing all makes and models from all manufacturers with factory-prepared paints available to match any color of car.
The photo in the ad above was taken inside the new car showroom at Reed Brothers original location at the triangle at Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. The people posing in the ad are two Reed Brothers employees: W. Lester Wilson, and Evelyn Beane Norris. Lester Wilson started at Reed Brothers in 1918 as a Mechanic (and first Service Manager) and stayed for 28 years. Evelyn B. Norris joined the business in 1945 and worked as Administrative Secretary.
Source: E-Yearbook.com, the largest online collection of digitized high school yearbooks
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
I would like to take this time to wish all the readers who find time in their hectic schedule to visit this blog a very Happy Holiday Season. Wherever your holiday celebration takes you, I wish all of you a safe, relaxing time spent with family and friends.
Business longevity is something to celebrate and share, and it’s an absolute honor and privilege for me to share the history of Reed Brothers Dodge with all of you!
To all of you who have stopped in to visit , whatever your faith, wherever you live – Happy Holidays,
Jeanne Gartner
Blog Author
Adopt-a-Dodge: Supporting the Preservation of the Dodge Brothers Legacy

Meadow Brook Hall purchased the 1925 Dodge Brothers Depot Hack from a Dodge Brothers Club member in 2014. Photo courtesy of Meadow Brook Hall
To show support to preserving the Dodge legacy, the author of this blog has “adopted” a Dodge car — a 1925 Dodge Brothers Depot Hackney — one of the historic vehicles in the Meadow Brook Hall Dodge Brothers automobile collection.
The inscription on the Adoption Certificate reads:
adopted by Jeanne Gartner in memory of her grandfather, Lewis Reed, who founded Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville, Maryland in October 1915.
Depot Hackneys, later called station wagons, were designed to transport tourists and luggage from train stations to area hotels. Several companies made the wooden bodies, which would be installed on the chassis of different brands of cars. This truck is a very rare piece of Dodge history. Today, we call this type of vehicle a Taxi, which is what the word Hackney means. “Hack” is an abbreviated form of Hackney.
Madelyn Rzadkowolski, Curator at Meadow Brook Hall added, “The 1925 Depot Hack needs some work so your contribution in memory of your grandfather will really make a difference. Among other things, it needs new tires… two of them went flat last weekend when we were winterizing the cars.”
The vehicle was adopted for a period of one year, beginning November 14, 2017 through November 13, 2018 (November 14 is the anniversary of the day John and Horace Dodge revealed their first car in 1914). The adoption will help Meadow Brook make necessary repairs, provide preventative maintenance and pay insurance for the Depot Hack, ensuring it’s there to inspire, educate and “drive” this and future generations. Lewis Reed is a perfect and most fitting parent.
MEADOW BROOK HALL in Rochester Hills, Michigan was the estate of one of the world’s wealthiest and influential women of her time, Matilda Dodge Wilson. Matilda was the wife of John F. Dodge, co-founder of the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company. Named a National Historic Landmark in 2012, MEADOW BROOK HALL strives to preserve and interpret its architecture, landscape, and fine and decorative art so that visitors may be entertained, educated and inspired by history.
47 Years Ago Today: New Facility Grand Opening
Today marks forty seven years since the Grand Opening of Reed Brothers Dodge new showroom and service facility. When the state widened the roads in 1970, Lee Gartner purchased 4.37 acres of land from Eugene Casey and relocated Reed Brothers Dodge to a new state-of-the-art showroom and Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep service complex on Route 355 at 15955 Frederick Road in Rockville Maryland.
Turning out to honor the company were several hundred dignitaries, officials, businessmen and friends. The new building, a complete automotive sales and service facility marked Reed Brothers 55th year of selling Dodge’s. The state-of-the-art dealership contained the newest customer-focused features throughout which combined technology and comfort.
The new dealership provided a modern new vehicle showroom, 30 service bays, a comprehensive detail and car wash area, Parts Department, Body Shop, the newest technologies to service customer’s vehicles and provided customers with a convenient location to purchase and service their vehicle needs.
Design and construction of the new dealership was managed by the Glen Construction Company.
Photos taken at the Grand Opening. (click photos to scroll through gallery)
























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