A Tale of Two Employees
Francis O. Day, Salesman (I Lost) paying off a local election bet to Guy Murray, Shop Foreman (I Won) in downtown Rockville circa 1940
One of the things I enjoy doing is looking through all of the old photographs in my grandfather’s albums and trying to figure out who and what they are. Some of the photos are more than 100 years old! Anyway, I can easily identify most of the Reed family, but who in the world are some of these other people? It’s like some reverse version of “Where’s Waldo”.
This time it was my mom (Lewis Reed’s daughter) who wanted to show me this old photo and tell me the story behind it. So here it is…
The story of two Reed Brothers employees (Francis O. Day, Salesman and Guy Murray, Shop Foreman) who made a bet on who would win a local election. It’s pretty obvious that Guy Murray won the bet, because he is being pulled by Francis Day through downtown Rockville in a horse cart. I thought only horses could pull those things, but I see grown men can, too!
Gaithersburg: Then & Now
The website “Gaithersburg: Then & Now” authored by local historian Shaun Curtis has placed a link to “Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915-2012” blog under the Local Historic Sites & Information section of their website. Reed Brothers would like to acknowledge and thank “Gaithersburg: Then & Now” for sharing the link to our blog on their website.
The book, “Gaithersburg” by Shaun Curtis, is part of Arcadia’s popular Then & Now series which offers a special view of American life, placing historical images side by side with contemporary photographs to chronicle the area’s past.
Highlights of Gaithersburg:
• What started as a small website (www.shauncurtis.com) has resulted in the publication of this book
• Includes many old popular Gaithersburg landmarks – the Shady Grove Music Fair, the Gaither Theater and the Washingtonian Motel
• Illustrates how Gaithersburg has developed from an agricultural powerhouse into a science and technology powerhouse
The book is available at area bookstores or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com.
1st Dodge TV Commercial
Here`s the very first 1955 Dodge commercial video presented by Lou Crosby from the Lawrence Welk premiere show!
Reed Brothers Can Now Be Found On Montgomery County Historical Society’s Website
The Montgomery County Historical Society (Maryland) has just added a new page to the History & Resources section of their website, entitled “Other Local History on the Web“. Reed Brothers would like to acknowledge with much appreciation, the Montgomery County Historical Society for placing a link to our history blog on their new page, so we may now be able to preserve and share our heritage with future generations.
You can find us here: Other Local History on the Web
Also, please take some time to explore the official blog of the Montgomery County Historical Society. Their artifacts blog, “A Fine Collection” contains an incredibly wide variety of objects representing 300-some years of Montgomery County.
Glass Plate Negatives Donation
Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative, showing the Reed Brothers dealership in 1922.
The following is an excerpt taken from the Summer 2011 edition of the Montgomery County Historical Society Newsletter.
“The Sween Library was recently given a collection of 280 glass plate negatives, showing Montgomery County in the early 20th century. Lewis Reed was a well-known photographer in the county as well as owner (along with his brother Edgar) of Reed Brothers, the Rockville automobile dealership. The collection was donated to the Society by Mr. Reed’s daughter, Mary Jane Reed Gartner.
There are scenes of different areas of the county, buildings, events such as the county fair, and local people. These are a welcomed addition to our growing graphics collection.”
Books
Related Resources
Copyright Notice
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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