Photo's and documents from a Barn Find in 1941

[kfle]

I was looking through my Cole history materials and I ran across this 'Barn Find' in 1941.  JJ Cole Jr., son of the founder of the Cole Motor Car Company, was trying to find Cole Motor Cars that were surviving in the early 1940's.  Here is a letter from someone who was searching for these cars on behalf of JJ Cole Jr. showing a find of a 1914 Cole Series 10.  Included is also a picture of the Cole in the barn as well as the owner of the Cole.  The third document is a follow up letter to JJ Cole Jr. with more information and a blow up of the small picture.  

 

It is really interesting history about searching for old cars back then, especially during WW II.  A.H. Deeken seemed like an early Wayne Carini!

 

[edinmass]

$125.00 was a HUGE number for that car in 1941. We had family members buying running Stanley's for 15 bucks, and a fantastic 1913 Cadillac for 25 dollars. Whoever paid the 125?...........please tell them I will give them ten times their investment today........in cash!

[kfle]

8 minutes ago, edinmass said:

$125.00 was a HUGE number for that car in 1941. We had family members buying running Stanley's for 15 bucks, and a fantastic 1913 Cadillac for 25 dollars. Whoever paid the 125?...........please tell them I will give them ten times their investment today........in cash!

 

That was a huge price for sure and probably why it wasnt purchased.  There is no record of the Cole family buying this car at the time.  I imagine they guy who found it was playing up the price based on trying to sell it to the Cole family thinking they would pay more with an auto with from their namesake.  

[edinmass]

The question is......is the car in your roster? Or was it shot out of a cannon during WWII? 

 

 

My father would buy Ford T's in the mid 30's for 2 dollars if they ran and had good tires........otherwise only a dollar if they ran and had flat tires. That is what things were worth when no one was working. 

Edited October 22, 2020 by edinmass (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

Here's a better look into that long-gone era:

[edinmass]

The long gone era......where a farmer was retired when he “bought the farm” and never had a day off in his life. No welfare, no crop insurance, no whining or crying..........just lots of god damm hard work for little results. Character and integrity were the lifestyle of the day, and a handshake was better than a 100 page contract drawn up by lawyers. That gentleman was of same stock as the true Americans that built the USA......like Harry Truman. People and ethics that are very long gone.......and have given us this sorry state of affairs we now live in.

[JACK M]

2 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Here's a better look into that long-gone era:

 

I have a brother in law that looks just like this guy right down to the dirty coveralls and funny hat.

But the bil is a bit shady so probably no relation here.

[SC38dls]

Aren’t all brothers-in-law a bit shady? 

[kfle]

4 hours ago, edinmass said:

The question is......is the car in your roster? Or was it shot out of a cannon during WWII? 

 

 

My father would buy Ford T's in the mid 30's for 2 dollars if they ran and had good tires........otherwise only a dollar if they ran and had flat tires. That is what things were worth when no one was working. 

There are only two Cole Series 10's that are known to survive today and they are both in the state of Washington.  They cannot be traced to this car based on what is known by the current owners but who knows.  

[edinmass]

51 minutes ago, kfle said:

There are only two Cole Series 10's that are known to survive today and they are both in the state of Washington.  They cannot be traced to this car based on what is known by the current owners but who knows.  

 

Just a fun question to ask....and ponder it's fate.

[Graham Man]

1913-14 Cole?  Hope it was saved

 

 

A guy by me had a steam engine collection they wanted them for the "war scrap drive" he took out a loan on the engines.  When the scrap guys showed up he told them they could have them, if they paid off the loan, needless to say they left without the steam engines.  This was the auction about 15 years ago.

 

[kfle]

1 hour ago, Graham Man said:

1913-14 Cole?  Hope it was saved

 

 

A guy by me had a steam engine collection they wanted them for the "war scrap drive" he took out a loan on the engines.  When the scrap guys showed up he told them they could have them, if they paid off the loan, needless to say they left without the steam engines.  This was the auction about 15 years ago.

 

That is a 1913 Series 9 Cole and it is still around, though buried deep in a large collection so not seen in years by the public.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Thank you for sharing this interesting look into history.

 

I see from the letters that they were addressed

to Mr. Cole at Cole Incorporated.  That tells us

that the company, or a similar one, still existed in 1941,

long after Cole stopped making cars.  

 

What was the company doing in 1941?

How long did it last?  Was it eventually subsumed

into another company?

Edited October 23, 2020 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[kfle]

13 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

Thank you for sharing this interesting look into history.

 

I see from the letters that they were addressed

to Mr. Cole at Cole Incorporated.  That tells us

that the company, or a similar one, still existed in 1941,

long after Cole stopped making cars.  

 

What was the company doing in 1941?

How long did it last?  Was it eventually subsumed

into another company?

There is a lot of history here that is not really out there in the public domain.  JJ Cole died in 1925 of heart disease shortly after he liquidated the company.  The Cole Motor Car company was still profitable when it was liquidated in late 1924.  JJ Cole Jr. started a new Cole incorporated and sold parts and service until about 1932.  He retained ownership of the Cole factory building and real estate.  They almost revived the Cole Motor Car company in the 1930's but decided against it for various reasons.  JJ Cole Jr. passed away in the early 1950's from heart disease as well and Joe Cole took over the real estate, collection, etc.   The Cole family rented out the factory building and their real estate to other companies until about 1990 when it was sold off to the county in Indiana and became the county jail annex.  So essentially, the Cole incorporated was a company that was primarily real estate.  They still did have quite a bit of left over Cole parts and archives as well, however in the early 1970's there was a big flood of the river by the factory and the basement was flooded ruining all of the parts and documents so they were destroyed.  The Cole family had six Cole Motor Cars in the basement of the factory that they maintained and kept in good condition.  They started selling them off in the late 1980's when they left the factory building.  

Edited October 23, 2020 by kfle (see edit history)