Graham Brothers Trucks
In the 1920s Reed Brothers sold Dodge Brothers Motor Cars and Graham Brothers Trucks
History fascinates me, and something about the development of the Dodge pickup truck fascinates me even more. It’s a story inextricably linked to our country’s history like baseball and apple pie.
After the introduction of mass-produced automobiles, people started to modify their vehicles for enhanced utility. These people stripped off the rear bodywork and mounted open-topped boxes that resembled the first step towards the modern pickup truck.
Dodge trucks actually began with three brothers named Graham. In reality, it is the story of two companies – the Dodge Brothers Company and the Graham Brothers Company. In 1916, seeing the need for a good, dependable truck to serve people such as themselves, the Graham brothers entered the truck body business. By 1919, they had produced the “Truck-builder,” which is a basic platform from which a customer could spec a truck according to his or her needs. The Truck Builder was essentially a truck conversion that began with a passenger car. The Truck Builder worked this way: The new-car dealer would sell a new car to a customer, then suggest to the buyer that his old car could be converted into a truck.
In 1921, Dodge Brothers began to market Graham Brothers medium-duty trucks through its dealerships; in turn, every Graham vehicle utilized a Dodge engine. This partnership provided Dodge dealers with a full line of trucks to sell in addition to the highly regarded Dodge passenger cars, and the resulting sales increases prompted Dodge to buy the Graham Brothers Company.
The Dodge trucks would carry the Graham Brothers nameplate until 1928 with a few of the designs lasting as long as the 1930s.
Rockville Garage, 1918 – Hudson Super Six, Oldsmobile, and Dodge Brothers Motor Cars on display at Rockville Fairgrounds. Lewis Reed is seated in the drivers seat of the Rockville Garage Graham Brothers Service Truck.
Source: Allpar
Silver Anniversary (1915-1940)
In 1940, Reed Brothers Dodge celebrated its 25th Anniversary.
1940 – Lewis Reed (2nd from right) receives Dodge Silver Anniversary Award
The inscription on the plaque below reads as follows:
Know All Men By These Presents That
Reed Brothers
has, for 25 years remained in continuous business association with Dodge, in recognition whereof we have caused to be issued this 25th Anniversary token.
Signed by Forest H. Akers, Vice President & Director of Sales. The seal on the bottom is the Dodge Brothers Motor Cars logo. The top of the plaque displays a vertical panel bearing a male figure facing rear with a hammer cutting the word “Dependability” across; below the arm, A Word, A Fact, A Tradition. In the background is an image of the Dodge Brothers Hamtramck factory.
Plaque is a silver scroll mounted on highly polished wood
Feature – “On the Go: Rockville Pike and Car Culture” by Peerless Rockville
It was 100 years ago that Lewis Reed signed a franchise agreement with brothers Horace and John Dodge in Detroit. Since then, the business that Lewis Reed founded grew and transformed into Rockville’s oldest family-owned and operated Dodge dealership.
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. Reed Brothers Dodge operated from two locations on Rockville Pike for 97 years.
Pictured below is the brochure of the “On the Go: Rockville Pike and Car Culture” lecture series. (click images to enlarge)
44 Years Ago Today: New Facility Grand Opening
Today marks forty four years since the Grand Opening of Reed Brothers Dodge new showroom and service facility.
When the state widened the roads in 1970, Reed Brothers Dodge relocated from its original 1800 square foot facility at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike to a state-of-the-art 26,000 square foot showroom and Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep service complex on Route 355 at 15955 Frederick Road Rockville, Maryland. The new building, a complete automotive sales and service facility also marked their 55th year of selling Dodge’s.
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.
Winner – 1931 Reed Brothers Third Annual Goodyear Dealers Zeppelin Race
MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE, 1931 REED BROTHERS THIRD ANNUAL GOODYEAR DEALERS ZEPPELIN RACE WINNER
In the early 1930’s, the Goodyear Zeppelin Company produced a series of framed prints as rewards for Goodyear dealers as prizes for high sales. Sales was based on a two months quota, and participated in by thousands of dealers all over the country. The print shows USS Akron on a mobile mast, leaving her hanger. The frame is made of the sheet metal and rivets used in dirigible construction, and each frame has an engraved duralumin plaque at bottom center of the frame.
The inscription plaque reads:
-WINNER-
Reed Brothers
Third Annual Goodyear Dealers Zeppelin Race
July-August 1931
THIS FRAME IS MADE OF DURALUMIN USED IN THE GIRDER CONSTRUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES AIRSHIP “AKRON” BUILT BY THE GOODYEAR ZEPPELIN CORPORATION
Inscription plaque
This original Margaret Bourke-White photograph of the United States Airship “Akron” is SIGNED in the lower right hand corner by the famed 20th Century photographer.
Photo is signed by the photographer, Margaret Bourke White
The USS Akron, first of a class of two 6,500,000 cubic foot rigid airships, was built at Akron, Ohio. Commissioned in late October 1931, she spent virtually all of her short career on technical and operational development tasks, exploring the potential of the rigid airship as an Naval weapons system. During the remainder of 1931 and the early part of 1932, the Akron made flights around the eastern United States and over the western Atlantic, including one trial of her capabilities as a scouting unit of the fleet. While beginning a trip to the New England area, Akron encountered a violent storm over the New Jersey coast and, shortly after midnight on 4 April 1933, crashed tail-first into the sea. Only three of the seventy-six men on board survived this tragic accident. During the search for other possible survivors, the Navy non-rigid airship J-3 also crashed, killing two more men.
Note: Margaret Bourke-White (1904 1971) is best known as the first foreign correspondent to be permitted to take photographs of Soviet industry, the first female war correspondent, and the first female correspondent permitted to work in war zones.
40th Anniversary with Goodyear
Lewis Reed was recognized by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for reaching his 40th year as a Goodyear dealer. Reed Brothers Dodge began selling Goodyear tires in the 1920s. Below is a letter from Russell DeYoung thanking Lewis Reed for his 40 years “in business together”.
Please see Margaret Bourke-White: The Photography of Design, 1927 – 1936 for more information
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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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