Happy New Year 2025
Montgomery County Sentinel. December 29, 1949
May the year ahead be all you want it to be
Historic Gem: Drunk Falls Through Plate Glass Window of Reed Brothers Dodge
I encountered this fun and interesting news story among the millions of pages in the Library of Congress’s massive digitized database of historic American newspapers. The database is a superb resource, but it’s also the best kind of Internet rabbit hole: You go in looking for one thing, and encounter a dozen fascinating oddities along the way. This article is one of them:
The Evening Star Washington, D.C., Monday, March 18, 1929
One of the dealership’s large plate glass windows in the photograph below would have been where the young resident may have stumbled through.
Reed Brothers Dodge, 1921
Got Milk? Mrs Phillip Reed Endorses Cream Top Milk in This 1931 Ad
They say that the cream always rises to the top. What rose to the top of my internet search this week was this advertisement of cream top milk endorsed by Mrs Phillip Reed (Mary Zelda Reed) of Rockville. Phillip Reed was a brother of Lewis Reed and a part of the dealership’s first work force. Phillip came to work for the dealership as a mechanic in 1916. Characteristic is this compliment from Mrs. Phillip Reed of Rockville, MD:
I wish to tell you that I like your ‘Cream Top’ Milk better than any I have ever bought in the eleven years that I have been buying milk … The Cream whips wonderfully.
The Sunday Star, Washington D.C. March 8, 1931
The Chevy Chase Dairy resulted from the merger of two companies. Brothers George and Joseph Wise started Chevy Chase Dairy in 1885. The Dairy was utilized to supply milk to the Chevy Chase/Bethesda, Maryland and the Washington DC area with fresh milk. The dairy was started by H. G. Carroll who owned the farm in 1897. Sometime around 1913-1915 he sold the dairy to George, Joseph and Raymond Wise who added the “Wise Brothers” to the Chevy Chase Farm name. There first retail location in the District was at 3306 P Street NW. They later moved to 3206 N Street NW (adjacent to Martin’s Tavern which fronts Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown) where it remained until it was sold to National Dairy Products in January 1931.
Chevy Chase Dairy delivery wagons, circa 1918-28. (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION)
The Chestnut Farms, Chevy Chase Dairy may be gone, but an unexpected descendant remains. Dairies used to sponsor all sorts of extracurricular activities for employees, from baseball teams to orchestras. Chestnut Farms, Chevy Chase Dairy had a brass band. In 1938, the band played in the stands of Griffith Stadium during a football game. The owner of the team liked the idea of entertaining the fans so much that he signed them up to play regularly. The owner was George Preston Marshall, the team was the Redskins and the band became the Redskins Marching Band.
Source: The Washington Post
Vintage Newspaper Ads
These vintage newspaper ads from Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage were found on NewspaperARCHIVE.com, the largest historical newspaper database online. Prior to the advent of television and radio advertising, print media was the most popular form of advertising and most car ads were black and white.
The very 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.
Initially, Reed Brothers sold Oldsmobile and Hudson, along with Dodge. (click on images to enlarge)
Rockville Garage – The Washington Post – Sunday, June 29, 1919, Washington, District Of Columbia
Rockville Garage – Washington Post, The – Sunday, July 11, 1920, Washington, District Of Columbia
Rockville Garage – The Washington Post, Sunday, July 04, 1920, Washington, District Of Columbia
Rockville Garage – The Washington Post Sunday, July 18, 1920, Washington, District Of Columbia
Rockville Garage – The Washington Post Sunday, August 08, 1920, Washington, District Of Columbia
1920 Newspaper Ads
The following advertisements, distributed by the Lambert Automobile Company in the July & August 1920 editions of the Washington Post are among the earliest advertisements in which the Rockville Garage appeared. Initially, Reed Brothers sold Oldsmobile and Hudson, along with Dodge.
Dealers are listed in fine print at the bottom: note Rockville Garage, Rockville, Md, which I have highlighted in yellow.
Rockville Garage – Washington Post, The – Sunday, July 11, 1920, Washington, District Of Columbia
Rockville Garage – Washington Post – Sunday, August 08, 1920, Washington, District Of Columbia
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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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