Guest Rp1967 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 This was in a bag of old coins my son received from his uncle for Christmas. from what little I could find about the F.O. Bailey carriage co. they started building automobiles under the name Maine motor carriage company in 1901 anyone have a picture of a Maine motor carriage, or know how long they were in business? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avantey Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 says this company was incorporated in 1913 but no car was ever built. Nice small collector piece though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curti Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 There are people that collect those good luck charms. I'll bet that is a rare one. Cool !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rp1967 Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Thanks for the info guys since they didn't build any, it explains why I couldn't Google a picture of one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretch cab Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Seems to me the good luck charm didn't help them too much as no cars were built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&J Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 (edited) 5 hours ago, avantey said: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 says this company was incorporated in 1913 but no car was ever built. Nice small collector piece though! My first edition of that book says: Maine Motor Carriage was organized late in 1903 with Capital Stock of $10,000, in Portland Maine. (sounds a bit too sparse for a good start-up) "Manufacture of a car is doubted" (quoted word for word) I suppose there is only a slight chance that there might have been a prototype if they already had carriages to modify...or some scaled model for investors, but that $10K seed money does not sound like a very serious attempt? Some people know how to search newspapers in local libraries, if the newspapers were saved. That may be the only thing to research. Seems to me, that if they had a factory and tooling for building carriages for a long time, is it impossible to think they may have cobbled a motor into one to show the investors? EDIT: If they did get a buggy running, I would think there would be a mention in the Portland Newspaper. (but what year to search?) . Edited December 25, 2016 by F&J (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 (edited) The Maine Motor Carriage Company at Free and South Streets IN 1901, F.O. Bailey even went into the automobile business, selling cars costing from $600 to $6,000, when Bailey and Allen formed the Maine Motor Carriage Company at the corner of Free and South Streets. While business was brisk, with sales of about $200,000 in just three years, they seemed to have misjudged the market for what was then seen as a passing fad. In 1906, young Neal W. Allen wrote as follows about the family automobile business: “In all probability the high water mark of the car business will be reached by about 1908. The market will soon be oversupplied with machines. When the present great demand for automobiles is past, the car business will settle down to somewhat the same basis as carriages and sleds.” Before that they made sleds and horse drawn carriages The Bailey Trotting Sleigh The Bailey Carriage Company c 1900 IN 1867, the year after the Great Fire, Henry Bailey died. Both the city and the Bailey Company would make an astonishing recovery, however. A rebuilding spirit of pride and determination took over as new Victorian business blocks of brick, stone, and cast iron arose Phoenix-like from the ashes. The Bailey Company was carried on in 1867 by Henry’s son, Frederick Orville Bailey, in new premises on Exchange Street. That same year, F.O. Bailey took as a partner a young farm boy from Poland, Maine named Charles W. Allen. A big but now-forgotten enterprise of the F.O. Bailey Company during the nineteenth century was the sleigh and racing sleds business, reputed to be among the best in the nation, and the manufacture of fine horse carriages from the company’s facilities at the corner of Market and Middle Streets. Anything and everything having to do with horses and the carriage trade was manufactured and sold here. Link - http://www.fobaileyrealestate.com/falmouthmainerealestatestory Edited December 26, 2016 by mike6024 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 http://books.google.com/books?id=gFlLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA296&lpg=PA296&dq=F+O+Bailey+Carriage+Company+Portland+Maine&source=bl&ots=y3k7cYDd6e&sig=LXVjkZxQWTbjX4Hv1dYmzf_J7ws&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj4_4251ZDRAhVCz1QKHXoTBq8Q6AEIQzAJ#v=onepage&q=F O Bailey Carriage Company Portland Maine&f=false This book says the Bailey Carriage Company was A Rambler Dealership. I think in my first post I my have misinterpreted. Dealer vs manufacturer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Popadak Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 The F.O Bailey company in Portland Maine is still around in some form. I believe they are into real estate now. The local mom and pop store in my old home town was about a 100 years old when it closed last year. When I was a kid they had old style glass display casses with brass F.O.Bailey tags. I believe the company was very old even when the automobile first started out and they tried to get into the car manufacturing business but quickly became dealers for various brands. Not sure but I think they also opened up a high end garage in the early car days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Mike 6024, That's some very impressive research work that you've done. Thanks for the history lesson. On another subject, that 1901 Indian Head Penny looks pretty good and could be worth as much as $9 - $10; however, as far as I'm concerned, due to its rarity, the "good luck charm" would be worth much more to a collector. Cheers, Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Tierney Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 As Ben P mentioned, Googling Maine Motor Carriage Co does bring up trade magazine ads as both auto dealers and operators of what was clearly an upscale garage/repair service, mid 1900s as I recall...sorry, didn't make notes as I was looking for mention of a prototype... As mentioned, local papers are fertile sources to search. There is an online newspaper archive site but they require a subscription. Local public libraries often retain archives of local papers as well as files of local business brochures and other documents. Local City Directories generally list businesses, their adds and general type of business.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 (edited) Question - Was this associated with the same company? Was it an auto dealership? Did they actually manufacture a car, or at least make a prototype? Answer - Yes, Yes and no. FO Bailey was the first automobile and motorcycle dealership in Maine...It was Ford and Harley FO Bailey Real Estate & Antiquarians @FOBaileyRealEstate Real Estate Agent in Falmouth, Maine Edited November 19, 2017 by mike6024 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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