Franklin test shed -The Dog House

[Walt G]

In the early 1970s I made and effort to contact as many former Franklin Automobile Oompany employees as possible and was fortunate enough to be able to do so . One of them provided a period photo circa late 1920's  when the down draft ( the direction of the air that was blown to cool the cylinders) was being further developed. The test shed that was at the rear yard of the factory property  south of the main structure / building. It was called the dog house as well as engines under development were run for long periods of time to see how they would hold up under the strain. Here is a photo that I was lent and copied - note that both the people working on it have ties on. This was not unusual to see happen in that era , even for heavy labor situations.

I walked the Franklin factory ( all floors of the main building , the basement as well as the power house and test shed) before they were demolished . the factory buildings were built on swamp land that had to be filled and stabilized. In the basement huge tree trunks were used for main supports of the floors and structure and were still doing their job well in the 1970s.

Edited February 8, 2023 by Walt G (see edit history)

[Terry Harper]

Walt, thank you so much for sharing this. By all accounts Franklin had top notch engineers and a wonderful research and testing program. Thank you for saving their stories.

 

In regards to the ties. My Great Grandfather was a section foreman for the Canadian Pacific. He is shown wearing a tie in every photo I have of him at work. Whether bending rail or setting spikes.

When I work events at the museum I try to dress appropriately for the era. (1920's) A tie in honor of him is often a part of the dress. Its pretty amazing how many of our visitors ask about it.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[Walt G]

I try to give the larger "picture" of what it was like with the design and manufacture of vehicles. It is important to know what the social atmosphere was like at the time. If you were working at a company like Franklin and I am sure others - you didn't talk to your superiors unless they talked to you first. It was a much higher level of deportment then, respect for "elders".  When I had conversations with former employees at Franklin even in the 1970s long after the factory had closed, the former employees still referred to "their superiors" ( bosses)  as Mr. . 

This was true with Edward Marks one of the top engineers there, the employees he saw annually at a picnic always called him Mr. Marks , not Ed. And they didn't feel less for doing so - it was the way things were, wearing a tie and there were work shoes and dress shoes , long before sneakers, flip flops etc. were in vogue. As I have mentioned people were building cars that they could never ever afford to buy new or even used. I try to put things in perspective , so at the present time we can fully appreciate what was going on then. All of this relates to my other hat I wear as a local/state historian. It lets you comprehend that news then traveled a lot slower then it does now , the printed word in newspapers, magazines, telegrams , newsreels at the movies, and radio - if you could afford one then. Advertising was on billboards. In order to understand the past you have to take in a lot of factors, not assume things.

End of rant #768............................ thanks for taking the time to read this.

Walt

PS Oh the stories I could tell about what went on during the time /era Franklin was being built, that I heard first hand , in person. The guys that told me loved to recall their experiences and were pleased someone of my age wanted to really know what happened - all of it.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Walt G
spelling correction (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

Walt I like the story about the ties. My grandfather sold crop insurance to farmers in Iowa and Nebraska Minnesota area. I never saw him without a tie. When he went to the farms he always walked out in the fields to where the farmer was on his tractor. He told me when he is in farm country no tie , wears boots, jeans or kaki pants and a work shirt. He said farmers didn’t want to see a fancy insurance guy they wanted good insurance guys they could talk too. If you wore a suit you weren’t a farmer unless you were going to church. 
dave s 

[keiser31]

If I recall correctly the engine in my 1929 Series 135 sedan had that same engine as in the photo.

[ramair]

SC38dls, your story reminds me of one told by an International truck dealer located near our farm. Pete told me that after World War 2 he came  back to California and borrowed as much money as he could and started a IH truck dealership, he found out that our farm had a long history of buying International trucks so he thought he would come out and meet my family.  On his trip of 30 miles to our property his old Buick had engine trouble and he stopped at the only Buick garage that was also a Cadillac dealership in a nearby town.  The dealer said he could not look at the car until the next day but offered him a new Cadillac to drive.  Old Pete learned a valuable lesson that day when he met my great grandfather and grandfather that day about “perception” and sales tactic ( shiny new Caddy + young whipper snapper) This sales event or lack of one happened in 1947, the year he opened up and old Pete told me about it in 1998, incidentally we did eventually buy a lot of trucks from him as he always, always drove exclusively Buicks after his lesson 

[Walt G]

Anyone else have any period photos of the Franklin factory ( beyond the post card that was issued at the time as a local attraction for Syracuse)?

In that 1970s visit I did we salvaged some porcelain face bricks that came from a wall that was torn down. Brought them to the Franklin Club trek and Bill Harrah got one and it has been on display in the collection in Reno in a beautiful glass case ever since.

Interviews with former employees of any vehicle manufacturer are  true insight into exactly the way life was then when they were building the cars we now cherish. I have so many stories., all of this should be written down.

[53 New Yorker]

Hey Walt,

GREAT photograph... Thank you for posting it.  

I'd love to know how often the H. H. Franklin Company would hire a professional photographer to come into the factory and document the happenings in the building?

 If there were files of pictures left behind in the factory when it closed... I hope someone had the foresight to rescue them.

[Walt G]

The photograph of the test shed I think was the effort of a person who worked there and not a professional photographer. there are a few more around here someplace that I think I used in ACN decades ago. Franklin did have professional photos taken of completed cars , I have a excellent one of a 1932 series 16 Airman 7 passenger sedan taken at the back of the Franklin factory just as it came out after being completed. That is definitely a professional photograph. Others were taken on the west coast for PR purposes and some of these were used in the calendars made to give out as a souvenir/memento for the Westrek last year. I helped add to that project from my archive.