Historical society needs help identifying antique vehicles

[Guest Bookworm45]

The Historical Society of West Caldwell recently acquired a glass negative with the image of an old canon and several antique vehicles. We have lots of information about the canon, but nothing on the vehicles. Identifying them is the key to dating the picture and we would be grateful for your help.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

We would love to try if you could post the picture

[1937hd45]

Yes, hope you post a photo, it isn't the easiest Forun to post on with the last upgrades. Bob

[Guest Bookworm45]

I uploaded the pictures and created an album for them, but could not figure out how to link them- Bev

[Guest Bookworm45]

I posted them in an album, but can't figure out how to link them- also could not figure out how to upload a picture to my original message. Bev

[keiser31]

Send it to me and I can post it for you. John

keiser31@charter.net

[Guest Bookworm45]

How do I do that? I couldn't figure out what to do, but did upload them into an album- Bev

[keiser31]

Send me an email. In the email you can click on "attach" and go to the file where the photo is loaded. Click on the photo that you want to send. Send and there you go.

[Guest Bookworm45]

These are not my pictures. This is increasingly confusing. I usually have no difficulty attaching photos to email and sent two earlier today. I have no idea where these came from. Bev

[Guest Rob McDonald]

Here are the pics. I really wondered about colour prints from a glass negative. These look more like it. Nice big files, too. Happy hunting, you brass-era experts.

[Chris Paulsen]

Great photos. The first is an Oldsmobile. Probably a 1909 or 1910 Limited. In the other photo, I am not sure what the delivery is, but the car in front of it is a Model T Ford; difficult to tell the year, but it looks like mid-teens.

[Guest Rob McDonald]

Minus the spare tire and windshield, this photo supports Chris' ID of a 1910 Olds Limited.

Now, about that cab-over (forward control) delivery truck - 1911 Buick Standard Express, maybe? However, the rear of the roof looks different and the West Caldwell vehicle is not fitted with balloon tires. I'll try this over on the AACA Commercial vehicle Forum and will report back.

Edited December 13, 2012 by Rob McDonald (see edit history)

[Guest Bookworm45]

Thanks so much- those times are consistent with what we know thus far- the negatives were published in a 1927 history book, so we thought they were earlier than that- also, glass negatives were being replaced by then, so some time after 1910 (e.g., mid teens) and before 1927 is certainly possible.

Regards- Bev

[Guest Bookworm45]

Thanks for this! The vehicles are parked in the town's "business district", so a delivery vehicle makes sense. There was a drug store in that part of town- also a funeral home that rented furniture as a side line. I will see if I can find out more about those and other businesses.

Regards- Bev

[Rusty_OToole]

The second picture looks like a delivery wagon but the high wheels and overall configuration suggest an electric.

[junkyardjeff]

I think International made a delivery vehicle like that too.

[Guest Rob McDonald]

I've looked at International, Case, and REO. They all made light-duty high-wheeler delivery trucks like this during that period. I haven't run across any photos yet that present a good match.

An electric vehicle seems like a good possibility. Here's one, of which a photo print is available on eBay right now:

"Pictured is a Guedelhoefer electric delivery truck for City Baking Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, "Direct from our ovens to your home". This great looking truck was one of many that supplied bread, cakes, pies and pastry to the Indianapolis community. Each night the electric trucks were parked in the garage and charged up for the next day. The John Guedelhoefer Wagon Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, specialized in delivery wagons for bakery products like the one shown for City Baking Co."

This truck also has balloon tires and the body is a different configuration. The use of solid tires and larger-diameter wheels on the West Caldwell vehicle could be a condition of where it was used and how old it was at the time of the photograph.

BEV, regarding the undertaker who also rented out furniture, that's not such a stretch. Early cabinet- and furniture-makers also built coffins and many got into the mortuary business. It would ensure a steady stream of buyers for their coffins, I suppose.

[Guest Bookworm45]

I wonder if utility vehicles of that period were ordered with modifications or later modified as happens today. I will check the city directories for that period and see if there are any clues there- Bev

[Guest Rob McDonald]

From the earliest days of motoring, wagon- and carriage-makers in many major cities built commercial bodies on bare truck chassis, in limited production runs and to custom orders. As a part of General Motors since 1908, Buick was unusual in being vertically-integrated, manufacturing both chassis and bodies, although many components were (and still are) supplied by outside contractors.

I'm not an expert on truck history but it's my impression that there were hundreds of commercial vehicles manufacturers operating before WWI. Most automakers also tried building light trucks, although only a handful remained in that market past about 1930.

It seems likely to me that fabricating special truck bodies would have been somewhat localized, just as it is today. Googling "West Caldwell Wagon Maker", I found an article about the local volunteer fire department, founded in 1912. Mentioned are horse-drawn apparatus built in nearby Dover and by the Newark Tea Tray Company (talk about product diversification!). In 1918, the brigade got its first motorized vehicle, a Brockway chain-driven hook and ladder truck, made in Cortland NY.

I'm afraid finding the exact make of that delivery truck may prove to be a needle in a fascinating historical haystack.