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
Not Just a Dodge Dealer
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 1921.
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.
This photograph of the original 1916 Rockville Garage shows a 1916 model 44 Oldsmobile with V8 and sedan body parked in front. The original owners of Rockville Garage are standing in front. From left: Roy Warfield – Lewis Reed – Griffith Warfield.
Below is new car showtime as fair-goers get their first glimpse at the latest models that Rockville Garage had to offer. Identified by the triangle logo on the grill and the number of passengers seated in it, the car below appears to be a 1918 Hudson Super Six Seven Passenger Touring.
Anybody for a demonstration drive? 1918 Hudson Super Six Seven Passenger Touring
Hudson Super Six, Oldsmobile, and Dodge Brothers Motor Cars on display
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 Service Truck.
1918 Rocvkille Fair Grounds
The first advertisement below, distributed by the Oldsmobile Sales Company in the Sunday, June 29, 1919 edition of The Washington Post is probably one of the first ads in which the Rockville Garage appeared. Dealers are listed in fine print at the bottom: note Rockville Garage, Rockville, Md, highlighted in yellow. (click on image to enlarge)
Washington Post 1919
Original Employees
This circa 1920s image shows some of the original sales and service staff of Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage. Note that in the photo some of the men are wearing Gulf Gasoline attendant uniforms. The photo was taken in front of the vehicle entrance that led to the service department at the original Rockville Garage. (click on image to enlarge)
Rockville Garage Sales & Service Staff circa 1920s. Back Row, standing left to right: name unknown, Charles Case Merry, Lester Wilson, Leonard Beall, John William Norris, name unknown, Leo C. Murray. Second Row: name unknown, name unknown, Otis Beall (Leonard’s brother), Philip Reed, Clyde Souders, Arthur Souders. Front row: middle. Walter (Bud) Beall. Lewis Reed’s brother, Philip, came to work for Reed Brothers as a mechanic in 1916. The men dressed in uniforms were Gulf gas station attendants. The identities of the other people in the photo are unknown.
Other Original Employees
Raleigh S. Chinn, Rockville, started as Salesman with Reed Brothers in 1920
Evelyn Beane, Administrative Secretary
Paul F. Wire, Bookkeeper
W. Lester Wilson, Rockville, started in 1918 as Shop Foreman and stayed for 28 years
Alfred Fraley, Redland, started in 1917 as a mechanic and stayed for more than 30+ years
Benjamin J. Thompson, Colesville, started in 1917 as Salesman and stayed for 30+ years
Phillip Reed (a brother), started in 1916 as a mechanic. Phillip was a part of the first shop force and stayed with the company until 1944
Grafton Reed (a brother), worked as a mechanic in 1921
Leo (Pat) Murray started in 1925 and was the Parts Department Manager. Pat worked at Reed Brothers for more than 21 years
Richard C. Burdette, Rockville, mechanic
John Burdette, Gaithersburg, Gas Station Attendant
Marvin Riggs Shultz Sr, Gulf Gas Station Manager, started in 1941. In 1965, he became a new car salesman. He stayed with Reed Brothers for 43 years and holds the distinction of being the company’s longest-tenured employee.
Mary Ann (Slater) Beall, Rockville, Bookkeeper
Guy Merry
Aubrey Souders
Featured Photos: 1917 Texaco Tanker Trucks
A Texaco Petroleum tanker is delivering its load of fuel to Reed Brothers Dodge in this circa 1917 photo. The delivery driver seems to be wearing his best suit on this job, something that you don’t see these days at all.
A circa 1917 Texaco Petroleum Truck sits in front of Reed Brothers Dodge after delivering its load of fuel.
The most essential vehicle of the early 20th century (and today) had to have been the tanker truck. In the pioneering period of tanker trucks, 1910 to 1920, The Texas Company was among many that were fitted with tanks to carry refined products such as gasoline, kerosene and fuel oil.
All that remains of some models are vintage photographs in an archive somewhere. A few restored tank trucks are in transportation museums.
Fisk Tires
Reed Brothers was founded and franchised as a Dodge dealership in 1915; only one year after the first Dodge automobile was made. Initially, Reed Brothers sold Oldsmobile and Hudson, along with Dodge. Reed Brothers was a successful company, combining car sales, auto accessories and repair service. They also sold Fisk Tires which were made in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts.
After seeing the Fisk Tire signs in the photos below, I was curious to learn more about the company and the tires that they made. The history of the Fisk Tire Company is relatively obscure, but as far as is known, Noyes W. Fisk purchased a failing rubber manufacturing company in 1898. Fisk continued the company under his own name and branched out to sell automobile tires. By 1904, most of the country’s major car manufacturers were buying Fisk tires. The tire business, along with many other businesses, fell upon hard times during the great depression. Despite all the country’s hardships, Fisk survived and introduced its new Safti-Flight tire in 1930, and it proved to be an impressive success. (click images to enlarge)
This photo was taken by Lewis Reed across from Reed Brothers Dodge, circa 1915. Old St Mary’s Church is in the background.
Original 1915 Rockville Garage located at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. The small sign on the right side of the Garage advertises Gasoline, Fisk Tires and Supplies.
Below is an ad I found in the September 18, 1915 edition of Automobile Topics that gives you an idea of the cost of tires at the time, which was considerable.
Source: Chicopee (Google eBook)
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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.
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