Need help in identifying Old Radio Delivery truck

[WIRELESS]

Hi Everyone, you have helped me in the past & I hope you can help me again. We are writing an article on the history of Stromberg-Carlson Radio Co. and I came across this image - I believe it was taken around 1933, but I wonder what make & year the truck is ?

 

Thank you in advance for any help! 

Regards, Jim Kreuzer       AWA Museum        (Antique Wireless Association)

[30sclassics]

Dodge Brothers or Graham Brothers.

[TerryB]

Sorry I can’t help you with the id but you might enjoy this photo of my wife’s great uncle and his truck.

 

[jukejunkie1015]

1926 Semmes Motor Truck

[jukejunkie1015]

[keiser31]

5 hours ago, jukejunkie1015 said:

1926 Semmes Motor Truck

Dodge Brothers or Graham Brothers truck.

[keiser31]

6 hours ago, TerryB said:

Sorry I can’t help you with the id but you might enjoy this photo of my wife’s great uncle and his truck.

 

1928-29 Ford.

[WIRELESS]

Hi Guys, Thank you for your help.... I would like to get this right, so is this a Dodge Bros. DH6 or a 1926 Semmes Motor truck?

 

Thank you for your help!   Jim

[jukejunkie1015]

1 hour ago, WIRELESS said:

Hi Guys, Thank you for your help.... I would like to get this right, so is this a Dodge Bros. DH6 or a 1926 Semmes Motor truck?

 

Thank you for your help!   Jim

 Semmes Motor Company was a distributor of panel trucks.

They sold Dodge & Hudson. The one shown is a Dodge of 1926

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by jukejunkie1015
Correction (see edit history)

[WIRELESS]

Thanks JukeJunkie.... I used to collect & restore early juke boxes!

 

Happy Holidays!

 

Jim

[West Peterson]

I'm curious and a little confused. A couple of the above trucks have been identified as Dodge or Graham. Were any of the early Dodge trucks actually sold as Grahams? I understand that all of the early Dodge trucks were built by Graham. 

[30DodgePanel]

23 hours ago, West Peterson said:

I'm curious and a little confused. A couple of the above trucks have been identified as Dodge or Graham. Were any of the early Dodge trucks actually sold as Grahams? I understand that all of the early Dodge trucks were built by Graham. 

Not sure you wanna open that can. I opened it and have been lost for the better part of the last decade because of it.

To answer your question and simply put, yes, while using over 50 different drive lines depending on who the manufacturer of the drive line was.

In todays discussions Dodge and Graham are often referred to in the same sentence because of a confusing past during the "transition years"

 

Graham Genealogy:

As I mentioned, the early Graham Truck-Builders were fitted to quite a few drive lines from many manufacturers (see the bottom left paragraph in this ad for a partial list of familiar names) then later used Dodge Brothers running gear exclusively after signing a contract with Dodge Brothers. During it's time under the Dodge Brothers canopy, then later the Chrysler canopy, the Graham name continued being used. Later the Graham emblems were removed for good in Jan/Feb 1929. From Feb 1929 on they were labeled Dodge Brothers up until 1938 a division of Chrysler. 
Clear as mud?

 

 

 

 

A look at the different ID tags from 1927-32

 

 

Here's a 1934/35 KC model truck with the Graham name still on the plate even into the mid 1930s even though all Graham emblems had been completely removed. 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[wayne sheldon]

The Graham brothers were an American success story! They made a sizeable fortune in glassware manufacturing very early in the twentieth century. They developed an improved automated glass blowing process that made the modern soda pop bottle possible, and made millions making the bottles for numerous soda pop companies. Among those companies, was Coke Cola and their famous hourglass bottle that was nearly unbreakable, and revolutionized the soda pop industry! That famous hourglass shaped bottle debuted late in calendar year 1915, and early versions with the 1915 date on the bottle are prized collectables. I have a couple of them because I have had a few 1915 automobiles over the years.

Right about that time (off the top of my head?), the Graham brothers sold the process to (if I recall correctly?) Corning Glass. Looking for new opportunities, they wanted to manufacture automobiles. They had quite a bit of money, however, smarter than most people in their position, decided against going all-in to manufacture automobiles on a grand scale. They saw that a lot of automobile manufacturers starting out were under-funded, and lost more money than they made.

They saw a need for more affordable trucks, and designed a "Form-a-Truck" kit that could be adapted easily to fit many available automobiles, offered heavy duty rear axles and wheels, gear reduction, and added chassis framing to accommodate almost any load requirements. 

Their kits were among the first, and best of such truck conversion kits. While several others targeted the model T Ford almost exclusively, the Graham truck conversions were offered to fit almost any car available. After a couple years, they began selling their trucks completely assembled and ready to go. As 30DodgePanel mentions, they offered trucks on several common automobile chassis.

After another short while, The Dodge family saw a benefit to having the Graham Brothers build their trucks using mostly Dodge parts, and sold directly through Dodge dealerships. Now, a lot of this was happening after John and Horace Dodge had passed away. The rest of the Dodge family frankly wasn't all that interested in running an automobile manufacturing company. And, frankly, I suspect they didn't have the knowledge required to do it properly.

 

I am not an expert on this rather convoluted bit of automobile history (30DodgePanel's "can of worms"?). The Dodge family began trying to sell off the Dodge Brothers company. At least one supposed sale fell through after months of working out details. A bit later, Walter P Chrysler came along and worked out a purchase to add Dodge to his Chrysler Corporation.

I don't know the details, but I do know that the Graham Brothers had contracts with the Dodge family, and I suspect the Graham Brothers likely had a considerable amount of stock in the company. Whatever the details, the Graham Brothers received a large cash settlement from the Chrysler/Dodge buyout. In 1927, the Graham Brothers bought the Paige Detroit automobile company. They finally had their own automobile manufacturing company! Two and a half years later, the stock market crash.

But that is another story.

[30DodgePanel]

You nailed it Wayne, it is a great American success story 100%.

 

Here's another interesting tidbit if anyone is interested.

The First Graham Tractor - Farm Collector

 

 

More in depth article of above in a November 1919 Tractor World describing the Hinkley engine that was used:

#361 - Tractor world. v.2(1919). - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

 

 

Here's another good read of the exact timeline

Graham - Historic Vehicles

 

Finding a Graham Brothers truck or bus with a Weideley engine would also be a very rare and interesting find, but that's a completely different rabbit hole...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)