Judge’s Commentary, Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards
I entered the 5th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Contest, exclusively for self-published e-books. I didn’t win an award, but all entries received a review from a publishing professional which I am proud to share below:
Entry Title: Portrait Of An Automobile Dealer Third Edition
Author: Jeanne T. Gartner
Entry Category: Life Stories
Judge’s Commentary:
Portrait of an Automobile Dealer Third Edition is a loving tribute, told with pictures and documents, of a family automobile business that almost made it to 100 years. It is obvious author Jeanne T. Gartner spent much time and effort on this encyclopedic history of Reed Brothers Dodge in Rockville, Maryland. Spanning nearly a century, she chronicles their humble beginnings in 1915 until their forced closure in 2012. An historic timeline, family photos, clippings and more provide extensive documentation. It is well-organized and each photo is carefully labeled. The granddaughter of the original founder Lewis Reed, the author also seems to have a grasp of the basics of nonfiction writing. Family members, locals and friends may find something of interest here, although casual readers may pass it by. Fans of corporate or company histories might also find it to be of interest.
Thank you for the privilege of reading your book! And bravo on all your hard work!
The book “Portrait Of An Automobile Dealer, Third Edition” is available through Blurb.com print-on-demand bookstore. If you would like to check out the hard copy book or purchase a copy, please visit: http://www.blurb.com/b/8514165-portrait-of-an-automobile-dealer-third-edition
As a special thank you to all the readers of this blog, this book has been placed online for everyone to enjoy for free. A complimentary eBook available for Amazon Kindle Fire, Apple iPad, Android devices, and Mac or PC computers is also available through Blurb: http://www.blurb.com/b/8514165-portrait-of-an-automobile-dealer-third-edition?ebook=653481
Note: It’s worth noting that Print-On-Demand (POD) books, are usually more expensive per copy than a book printed via offset printing. That’s because offset printing (the method used for most mass-produced books found in bookstores) requires a minimum order of 500-1,000 copies. Print on demand, on the other hand, needs only a minimum order of one copy. The smaller scale and different workflow results in a higher cost per book, since books are only printed when they are ordered. This book is not marked up for profit; but sold at base price.
“In My Merry Oldsmobile” …100 Years Ago
Come away with me, Lucille: In my merry Oldsmobile: Down the road of life we’ll fly: Automo-bubbling, you and I….
Ethelene Thomas Reed, who married Lewis Reed in 1921, is sitting in passenger seat of a circa 1918 Oldsmobile Club Roadster and her sister, Celeste Thomas Brown, is sitting behind her in the back seat. Photo by Lewis Reed
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. I came across these two photographs and recognized the passengers, so thought it would be fun to try and identify the car, so I went on a quest. After spending some time viewing images of four brands of cars of the period with a similar appearance, I found it looks a lot like the two-door, four-passenger 1918 Oldsmobile Club Roadster pictured below. Looks the same to me. What do you think?
Fully restored 1918 Oldsmobile Model 45A Club Roadster – Reference Vehicle
Back in the early part of the last century when the automobile was still new and a novelty, it was often used for Kodak moments. Both old photographs show the same two young women posing in them – one is my grandmother, Ethelene Reed, who married Lewis Reed in June 1921, and the other is her sister, Celeste Thomas Brown.
Vehicles from that era are fascinating and are often photographed with equally fascinating surroundings. I wonder what the two dapper young men were repairing on the car in the top photo?
1918 Oldsmobile Roadster shown with Ethelene and her sister Celeste behind the wheel. Photo taken by Lewis Reed at the Clinton Clay Thomas family farm which was located on Butterfly Lane in Braddock, Maryland.
Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage sold more than just Dodges. During the early years, Reed Brothers represented several franchise nameplates along with Dodge, including Oldsmobile, Hudson and Essex. The Hudson and Oldsmobile were sold at Reed Brothers from roughly 1917 through 1923.
The first advertisement below, distributed by the Oldsmobile Sales Company in the Sunday, June 29, 1919 edition of The Washington Post is the very first ad in which the Rockville Garage appeared. Dealers are listed in fine print at the bottom: note “Rockville Garage, Rockville, Md” which is highlighted in yellow.
1919 Oldsmobile Model 45-B Rockville Garage Ad – The Washington Post – Sunday, June 29, 1919, Washington, District Of Columbia
This is a fun little song recorded in 1909. An Oldsmobile must have been quite the toy when this was recorded. From an old single sided VICTOR RECORD COMPANY 78 rpm record. Enjoy!
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.
1930 Richard Montgomery High School “Rocket” Yearbook Ad (Rockville, MD)
1934 Richard Montgomery High School “Rocket” Yearbook Ad (Rockville, MD)
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.
1935 Richard Montgomery High School “Rocket” Yearbook Ad (Rockville, MD)
1951 Sherwood High School “Leaves” Yearbook Ad (Sandy Spring, MD)
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.
1951 Poolesville High School “Sugar Loaf Echo” Yearbook Ad (Poolesville, MD)
1954 Damascus High School “Scimitar” Yearbook Ad (Damascus, MD)
1955 Richard Montgomery High School “Rocket” Yearbook Ad (Rockville, MD)
1956 Richard Montgomery High School “Rocket” Yearbook Ad (Rockville, MD)
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.
1956 Gaithersburg High School “Sail On” Yearbook Ad (Gaithersburg, MD)
1957 Gaithersburg High School “Sail On” Yearbook (Gaithersburg, MD)
Source: E-Yearbook.com, the largest online collection of digitized high school yearbooks
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.
1925 Dodge Brothers Depot Hack. Photo courtesy Meadow Brook Hall
Meadow Brook Magazine, Fall 2017
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)
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 
Recent Comments