hddennis Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 Stumbled across this and decided to see if by some miracle the car still existed. If so it's about to have it's 100th birthday! Howard Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icerolyuk Posted September 11, 2016 Share Posted September 11, 2016 Wow - the invoice is 1906 which makes it 110 it it would be really interesting to find out how many maxwells of any era are still around worldwide - not sure how many in the uk but I've only seen two others here in recent years. I was thinking of creating a Maxwell Facebook page if anyone else is interested ? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted September 11, 2016 Author Share Posted September 11, 2016 2 hours ago, icerolyuk said: Wow - the invoice is 1906 which makes it 110 it it would be really interesting to find out how many maxwells of any era are still around worldwide - not sure how many in the uk but I've only seen two others here in recent years. I was thinking of creating a Maxwell Facebook page if anyone else is interested ? Peter Peter, boy I guess I can't do math anymore either! I was thinking of my own car coming up on it's own 100th birthday and just ran with that without realizing this car would have been 100 10 years ago! Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Cerutti Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 Hello Howard You stumbled across this? There must be more to the story given the condition of the document. This invoice/receipt is a fantastic document for a number of reasons. The buyer was Kelsey Motor Car Co. Cadwallader Washburn (known as Carl) Kelsy was an early adopter and supporter of Maxwell. In 1906, Kelsey wrote to Ben Briscoe about buying the rights to sell Maxwell cars in Philadelphia. Briscoe said Kelsey would be welcome to such an agency and it would only cost Kelsey $5,000. Kelsey agreed and immediately bought a small showroom and garage in downtown Philadelphia for the exclusive sale of Maxwell cars. Refer "Maxwell Motor and the Making of the Chrysler Corporation" by Anthony Yanik. This invoice/receipt will be for the purchase of floor stock. Kelsey's impact on the fortunes of Maxwell-Briscoe proved to be enormous in the following years. Kelsey also played a leading part in Alice Ramsay's trip from New York to San Francisco in 1909. Now let's examine the invoice/receipt in more detail. It is dated 19 September 1906, which will make it at the end of the 1906 production year. Production commenced in the Spring of 1905. The Model N is a 1906 model and would have run between September 1905 and August 1906. The Car Number is 10571, so I would expect that the serial numbers for the N model commenced at, perhaps 10500? Comments are invited. The car is invoiced at $1,040. Specifications researched by James Zordich shows the factory price of $1,375. So this, I suspect, shows the dealer's margin. I haven't witnessed the "Tarrytown-on-Hudson" form of address before. This is quite accurate. It doesn't appear on any other documentation that I am aware of. The Invoice number is 12. So is this the 12th automobile sold to dealers from this invoice book? The number 3364 may be some internal accounting reference. Frank Cerutti 1909 LD9024 Townsville, Australia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 5 hours ago, Frank Cerutti said: Hello Howard You stumbled across this? There must be more to the story given the condition of the document. This invoice/receipt is a fantastic document for a number of reasons. The buyer was Kelsey Motor Car Co. Cadwallader Washburn (known as Carl) Kelsy was an early adopter and supporter of Maxwell. In 1906, Kelsey wrote to Ben Briscoe about buying the rights to sell Maxwell cars in Philadelphia. Briscoe said Kelsey would be welcome to such an agency and it would only cost Kelsey $5,000. Kelsey agreed and immediately bought a small showroom and garage in downtown Philadelphia for the exclusive sale of Maxwell cars. Refer "Maxwell Motor and the Making of the Chrysler Corporation" by Anthony Yanik. This invoice/receipt will be for the purchase of floor stock. Kelsey's impact on the fortunes of Maxwell-Briscoe proved to be enormous in the following years. Kelsey also played a leading part in Alice Ramsay's trip from New York to San Francisco in 1909. Now let's examine the invoice/receipt in more detail. It is dated 19 September 1906, which will make it at the end of the 1906 production year. Production commenced in the Spring of 1905. The Model N is a 1906 model and would have run between September 1905 and August 1906. The Car Number is 10571, so I would expect that the serial numbers for the N model commenced at, perhaps 10500? Comments are invited. The car is invoiced at $1,040. Specifications researched by James Zordich shows the factory price of $1,375. So this, I suspect, shows the dealer's margin. I haven't witnessed the "Tarrytown-on-Hudson" form of address before. This is quite accurate. It doesn't appear on any other documentation that I am aware of. The Invoice number is 12. So is this the 12th automobile sold to dealers from this invoice book? The number 3364 may be some internal accounting reference. Frank Cerutti 1909 LD9024 Townsville, Australia Frank, I really did stumble across this on eBay and was the only bidder so it got added to my Maxwell literature and I hadn't looked at it seriously for over a year but knew about Kelsey. This recent re-discovery lead me to search the Maxwell Registry and find there are only 3 known Model N's. I also ran across this great factory photo of a Model N Doctor's Car. Howard Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 Just looked at my last post and thought if I'm going to keep this invoice it should be framed with the best copy of this photo I can get. What do you think? Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Cerutti Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 Hello Howard The original document deserves to be preserved, but I'm not sure about framing. Framing implies being hung on display. I would think it should be preserved in some sort of climate controlled environment, out of the light. The photo can be put on display. Frank Cerutti 1909 LD9024 Townsville, Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share Posted December 9, 2016 Just got this neat card and wondered if anyone can figure out what it says. It appears to be VERY early in Maxwell's history. Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Cerutti Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Howard, This is gem. Thanks for thinking to send it to me. I'll see what I can add to the discussion. Part of the document appears to record an interview between R H and Mr Maxwell on September 2, 2005. Could RH be an associate of J P Morgan, a banker? 3 ..ouple cups - a coffee order? The other note written across the card says: Transferd prices afterwards. Will build 3500 cars. May use ... Runabouts as well That is as much as I can squeeze out of it. What do you think? Frank Cerutti 1909 LD9024 Townsville, Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 3 hours ago, Frank Cerutti said: Howard, This is gem. Thanks for thinking to send it to me. I'll see what I can add to the discussion. Part of the document appears to record an interview between R H and Mr Maxwell on September 2, 2005. Could RH be an associate of J P Morgan, a banker? 3 ..ouple cups - a coffee order? The other note written across the card says: Transferd prices afterwards. Will build 3500 cars. May use ... Runabouts as well That is as much as I can squeeze out of it. What do you think? Frank Cerutti 1909 LD9024 Townsville, Australia Thanks Frank, I was hoping you would chime in. This is another eBay find, can't believe it survived. To my eye it is another really early piece that speaks to the very foundations of what would become Maxwell and later Chrysler Corp. I got the same reading as you except I took it to mean 1905.Just teasing you, I knew that 2005 was a typo. Sure wished Chrysler had a functioning historical dept. When I got this card I thought maybe I would contact the W.P. Chrysler Museum but just read the museum is closing and the collection scattered. Seems like it's up to us collectors to hoard this stuff until the corporation once again decides it's past has some importance. Until then feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested or could add anything to the story these items tell of early Maxwell/Chrysler history. Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Cerutti Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 8 hours ago, hddennis said: Thanks Frank, I was hoping you would chime in. This is another eBay find, can't believe it survived. To my eye it is another really early piece that speaks to the very foundations of what would become Maxwell and later Chrysler Corp. I got the same reading as you except I took it to mean 1905.Just teasing you, I knew that 2005 was a typo. Sure wished Chrysler had a functioning historical dept. When I got this card I thought maybe I would contact the W.P. Chrysler Museum but just read the museum is closing and the collection scattered. Seems like it's up to us collectors to hoard this stuff until the corporation once again decides it's past has some importance. Until then feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested or could add anything to the story these items tell of early Maxwell/Chrysler history. Howard Dennis Howard I have again consulted my only history document "Maxwell Motor and the Making of the Chrysler Corporation" by Anthony Yanik. He says that Briscoe leased a four-storey building in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and transferred the production of the Model L to Pawtucket by 18 December 1905. This lease was enabled by a loan of $150,000 from a Mr W L Hamilton, son-in-law of J P Morgan. It's not too much of a stretch to suppose that the RH on the back of the card is a relative of W L Hamilton, possibly a son or nephew, who went along as a note-taker. This move was to free Tarrytown for the production of 4 cylinder cars. Interestingly Yanik notes that in addition to the interest payments, Hamilton was to receive $5 for every Maxwell car sold until the loan was repaid. The repayment took less than one year showing the profitability of Maxwell. It is disappointing that the WP Chrysler museum is closing and alarming that the collection is being scattered. Do you know if the records are going to one collector? Frank Cerutti 1909 LD9024 Townsville, Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 Frank, I only know the latest (Feb.) edition of Hemmings Classic Car mentioned the museum will close and the building will be used for other purposes and the cars will be moved to various other Chrysler facilities. Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Fraser Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 I was looking at the note and had a thought, I think it might say "3 Sample Cups" Note the S in Sept looks like the first character after the 3 not sure what that could mean, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icerolyuk Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 7 hours ago, Rick Fraser said: I was looking at the note and had a thought, I think it might say "3 Sample Cups" Note the S in Sept looks like the first character after the 3 not sure what that could mean, Hi Rick - yes certainly looks like 3 sample cups. My only observation is that a different pencil - much darker / softer - has been used to write it which suggests written before or after the meeting so it may be unrelated to the meeting? And given that 3 sample cups takes a lot of the space, with the meeting notes squeezed around it, suggests it was written before the meeting. Bit still begs the question "what cups is this bold note about?" Hope I haven't muddied the waters further but it is intriguing and great to see such an old reference document - cheers all and happy motoring Peter 1919 maxwell 25 - London UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Cerutti Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Howard, Rick and Peter "3 sample cups" is plausible but we don't understand the context, so it doesn't make immediate sense. We are unlikely to ever be sure and understand. Frank 1909 LD9024 Townsville, Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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