Blog Milestone: 300K Page Views
If you ever glance at the blog view counter on the right side of this page, you might have noticed that this blog just went over 300,000 views. After reaching this milestone, I would like to take the time to thank all of you who have visited, followed, shared, or commented on this blog. Visitors to this site on a daily basis continue to grow — we have been visited by folks from all fifty of the United States and 187 different countries world wide.
I have often been asked why I started this blog. For me, it’s because history is important. Sometimes we don’t know we need to do something until it’s handed to us, and once we have it, we suddenly see and feel its value. As we were getting ready to close the doors to the dealership for the last time in May 2012, I was standing in the empty showroom thinking about all the history, past achievements, and hardships the dealership had endured over the years. Few businesses can say they’ve lasted almost a century. It seemed a particularly pertinent time to start thinking about such a project, as it was a time of reminiscence, but also looking forward.
When I stop to think about what Reed Brothers Dodge has experienced over the last century, from World War I, The Great Depression, World War II, to three economic recessions, two energy crises, and numerous Chrysler setbacks — including the first Chrysler Bailout, the sale of Chrysler to Daimler, and the sale to the private equity firm Cerberus — I could not be more proud to be a part of such an amazing story. It takes resilience to weather 97 years in business. The dealership adapted itself multiple times in order to survive. Through the good times and the bad, Reed Brothers Dodge held on and prospered.
I felt it was important to take the time to ensure our history remained accessible for those who read it years from now, or decades from now, when I or other family members who know the story firsthand are no longer around to tell it. How Reed Brothers Dodge came into being, and how the company overcame the inevitable changes and challenges throughout almost a century of being in business — all adds up to a great story.
Creating this blog and sharing our business history has been the most rewarding endeavor of my life. 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.
Thanks for reading!
Jeanne Gartner, Blog Author
4 Years, 135 Posts & Thank You
Today marks the 4-year anniversary of this blog. It’s been an honor to share the history of Reed Brothers Dodge – whether you’ve read our blog, followed us on Twitter, or “liked” us on Facebook. I would like to thank those mentioned below, and many others, for their kind words and the visibility they have provided.
To help review the past year I thought I’d search around on the Internet and see what others have been saying about us.
Included among the posts on our Facebook page:
“I’m the curator of the Dodge Brothers exhibit at Meadow Brook Hall outside of Detroit…. I’ve been following the great history on your Facebook page and blog for a while”
“Want more information. Please post more!”
Online and in print:
- Norris-Banonis.com Three of Reed Brothers Dodge photographs were featured in the month of May 2015 Norris-Banonis Automotive Wall Calendar which features a 1952 Dodge Coronet. The main part of the calendar features a photograph of Lewis Reed and a small snippet of history.
1915: Lewis Reed opened a Dodge Dealership in Rockville, Maryland. When his brother Edgar returns home from WWI, he gives him 1/3 interest. Eventually, the Reed Brothers will carry Hudson, Oldsmobile, Goodyear Tires, and General Electric Appliances. They will also open the first Gulf brand gasoline station in the area.
At the bottom of the calendar, there is a photo of the 1936 Reed Brothers Dodge canopied Gulf Gas Station and Lewis Reed’s original 1915 Rockville Garage.
- Peerless Rockville: As a part of Peerless Rockville’s “On the Go: Rockville Pike and Car Culture” lecture series, Peerless Rockville Historian, Dr Teresa Lachin offered a glimpse into the history of Reed Brothers Dodge as one of the City’s oldest and longest lasting automobile businesses.
- SR/A Interior Architecture + Design and La Collection: With their reputation for the use of historically referenced materials and detailing, SR/A Interior Architecture and Design of Bethesda embarked on a challenge to pay tribute to a century of history at the Bainbridge Shady Grove Metro Apartments.
- Rockville Nights Blog: http://www.rockvillenights.com/2015/12/sculpture-commemorates-rockvilles.html – posted a blog entitled, “Sculpture commemorates Rockville’s legendary Reed Brothers Dodge (Photos)”
Blog Post Snippet
On National Television!
- History Channel’s American Pickers Hit Reed Brothers Dodge Blog! The television show that’s watched by about 2.7 million people on the History Channel each week found a 1927 photo of Reed Brothers Dodge on our blog and asked permission to use it in one of their episodes. The image was used in Season 7, Episode 34: “Can’t Catch a Break” when Mike and Frank find an old Dodge Brothers sign. Mike explains a bit of the history of the company and he used the photograph during his explanation.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank YOU for stopping by. I appreciate your patronage, whether it be via our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or other social media.
New Milestone: 50K Page Views
Just a quick post with an offering of thanks to all of you who have stopped in to visit this blog. In the two and a half years since its creation, this blog has seen more than 50,000 page views, crossing the milestone today. And this milestone is dedicated to all the readers who find time in their hectic schedule to stop by for a look and a read.
Thank you to everyone who visits us from all around the world…we have so far been visited by folks from all fifty of the United States and 139 different countries world wide.
I would also like to take the opportunity of this blog milestone of 50,000 views to ask you to help Reed Brothers Dodge History continue to be more and more read. If you like this site, please share it with your friends and family and anyone you think might enjoy it. You can follow this blog directly if you have a Google account, or you can subscribe to get new post notifications delivered to you by email. If you are on Twitter, please follow us @reedbrothers; if you are on Facebook, please drop by and press the “Like” button on Reed Brothers Facebook page.
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!
Two Years, 77 Posts & Thank You
Today marks the two-year anniversary of this blog. It’s been an honor to share the history of Reed Brothers Dodge – whether you’ve read our blog, followed us on Twitter, or “liked” us on Facebook. I would like to thank those mentioned below, and many others, for their kind words and the visibility they have provided.
To help review the past year I thought I’d search around on the Internet and see what others have been saying about us.
Included among the posts on our Facebook page:
“… you have a lot of Rockville History on that site!!!!”
Other mentions online and in print:
- Hemmings Daily Blog Four-Links – NYC cop car show, Reed Brothers Dodge history, coachbuilder Mark Nugent, microcars in the Pacific Northwest – posted a photo of of Reed Brothers Dodge and blogged about us. Photo caption:
“Reed Brothers Dodge has been in business in Rockville, Maryland, since 1915, almost as long as Dodge has been around. Unlike most new car dealerships, though, Reed Brothers cares enough about its heritage to have put together a nice website with plenty of vintage photos and history of the dealership.”
Responses to “Four-Links – NYC cop car show, Reed Brothers Dodge history, coachbuilder Mark Nugent, microcars in the Pacific Northwest”
“In the same week where we’re all extremely concerned for Detroit’s historic legacy, I can’t be the only one who felt some comfort…. Comfort that the Reed family valued their dodge dealership’s history enough to hang on to the artifacts and share it all with us. I’m long from my Maryland roots, being posted to London (and still here and happy), and so there was an additional wee bit of poignancy for me and the family.”
“With regard to the Dodge dealership and its 90 year history, it’s too bad that an institution like that can be simply erased by the stroke of a pen. The loss to the people who depended on it for their livelihood and the loss to the community itself is so often never recovered.”
“The Reed Brothers site is about 10 times better than many operating car dealer websites-certainly a sad ending.”
- C Bodies Only Forum – the home for C-Body Platform Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth Automobile Owners. – Reed Brothers Dodge, Rockville, Md.
“There is a remarkable webpage devoted to the history of Reed Brothers Dodge, a dealership in Rockville, Md. that was a Dodge dealer from the very early days until 2009. Ultimately it was a sad story, but the former owners maintained an incredible archive of the family business. Click on the links in the right sidebar titled “Site Navigation” for some incredible pictures.”
“That’s a nice story. Thanks for sharing. That place is near Washington D.C., I’ll have to cruise past and take a picture next time I’m in the area.”
“I love the historical history too Bob. Seriously that is some pretty neat history.”
- The Forward Look Network – The World’s Largest Source of 1955 – 1961 Mopar Info – posted two photos of Reed Brothers Dodge dealership from the 1950s under the “Forwardlooks in old pictures/postcards“
- Classic Mopar Forum.com
Classic Mopar Forum.com
- HudsonJet.net History of Hudson Dealerships: The dealership section is not only dedicated to the dealerships of the Jet years, but all known Hudson dealerships. The site posted a photograph of Rockville Garage. “In business from 1915 thru at least 2013, they sold Hudson from 1917 thru 1921.”
- Just A Car Guy Blog “Dodge, it’s history and 100th year anniversary are here… and a family owned dealership, (3rd generation) owner is blogging about it!”
- The Old Motor Car, online vintage automobile magazine featured a 2-Part series covering the history of Reed Brothers Dodge.
The Reed Brothers – Selling Dodge’s for Ninety-Four Years, Part I
The Reed Brothers – Selling Dodge’s for Ninety-Four Years, Part II
- Norris-Banonis.com I was delighted to provide Kevin Banonis of Norris-Banonis Group with two photographs that will go into the month of May 2015 calendar which features a 1952 Dodge Coronet. One photo is of the 1936 Reed Brothers Dodge canopied Gulf Gas Station and the second photo is of the original 1915 Rockville Garage. Below is a rough draft of what the product will look like. It may change a tiny bit between now and press time but this is pretty much how the finished product will look for the month of May 2015. The printed calendar will be high resolution and will be available for purchase on their website.
And then there’s Twitter…
Reed Brothers received numerous re-tweets and mentions on Twitter,
@reedbrothers welcome, fantastic story about your family dealership, thanks for sharing.
@reedbrothers I am sorry the Chrysler Corporation treated your dealership so unfairly in recent years. I am a local resident of Rockville.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank YOU for stopping by. I appreciate your patronage, whether it be via our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or other social media.
New Milestone: 20K Page Views
Just a quick post with an offering of thanks to all of you who have read this blog. This evening it hit 20,000 page views, a little over 12 months into its creation.
I’m extremely proud of what this blog has accomplished thus far, and I hope to continue reaching new people as time goes on.
I would also like to take this opportunity to offer a special thank you to Hemmings Daily blogger Daniel Strohl, who posted a link to our Historic Timeline on their own blog which helped boost our page views – Four-Links – NYC cop car show, Reed Brothers Dodge history, coachbuilder Mark Nugent, microcars in the Pacific Northwest written by Daniel Strohl June 22, 2013.
Thank you to everyone who visits us from all around the world…we have so far been visited by folks from all fifty of the United States and 114 different countries world wide.
I’m seriously blown away by the momentum this blog has carried in the way of page views over the past few months. But this blog wouldn’t exist, no matter how great the ideals behind it and no matter how much drive I had to share them, if it weren’t for our readers.
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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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