TSGS Cruiser Blog

Friday, February 20, 2009

"Evansville's Graham Page Automobile"

Graham Page automobile began manufacturing in Evansville, Indiana between 1916 & 1920. History of the Graham brothers and their glass company and then the trucking industry: http://members.shaw.ca/rjsill/justwhat.htm

There was plenty of skilled labor for body building since wagon making was an important Indiana business and across the country more and more firms were discarding the horse and wagon in favor of the motor truck. Selling their interest in the glass business to Owens, Joseph and Robert joined Ray in establishing a factory in Evansville, Indiana, to build truck bodies for mounting on passenger car chassis. By 1920 an expanded line of Graham Brothers trucks and buses were being manufactured, using Continental, Weideley and Dodge engines. A customer, the Grahams felt, should not have to go elsewhere for his truck's body, so they built complete vehicles, offering a variety of bodies designed to meet the specialized needs of various industries.

These two photos come from the Photo Gallery: http://www.graham-paige.com/pics.htm This site is loaded with photos of junked cars and then how they were restored like these photos.

Former TSGS President, Don Counts, says that...
"My Grandfather Eugene Rough (photo above) was very proud of his Graham Page auto. In the winter he used to put a coal-oil lamp in the car for heat, there was no heater. The car had a crank, but was only used when it didn't want to start. When they would go our for a drive in the winter they would all have blankets on their laps to keep warm. His daughter, my aunt Ruth Rough remembers the car well." (The photo below is of Ruth Rough at her 80th. birthday party.) [Ruth Rough is a very sweet lady... I used to visit her every three months through my job. - JGWest]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your web site is great! Here is a blog post about a garage that used to service REO Speed Wagons:

http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/2009/03/ogontz-garage.html

Anonymous said...

Great blog, thanks! I really love it!