Neat Old Haulers, Part II

Another tip of the hat to “Popcorn” and “Dr. Mc” for supplying the images.

We begin today with an update to last Tuesday’s post:

First,  in the event you missed it in last week’s comments, “Gordon K.” advises us that the Coca-Cola truck “is owned by Jerry Kurtz of Dover, PA. He restored it himself to the high level seen. I think the picture you shared was taken when the truck was on display at the AACA museum in Hershey, PA.“

Gordon is a member of the Keystone Region of the Studebaker Drivers Club. Each year the Keystone Region raffles a car. For 2017, the prize will be a ’57 Studebaker Golden Hawk. You can get information on ordering tickets HERE . No, it’s not too early to order tickets for the 2017 drawing!

Second, In the photo below, I was unable to read enough of the sign on the side of the truck to know what kind of business Castlebank was. “Ol’ Petrol Head” in the U.K. supplied the answer: the sign reads “Dyeworks,” and Castlebank was a cleaning establishment in Glasgow, Scotland.

Now, more Neat Old Haulers:

Beer Haulers

First up, we have a 1936 Chevrolet pick up full of kegs of beer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Milwaukee, with its large population of German immigrants became one of the “brewing capitals” of the U.S. Here are three Wisconsin brewers’ trucks:

The German affinity for beer, combined with the fact that many German immigrants to the U.S. were also Lutherans is the genesis of this little aside:

Here is a drawing of a hauler used by Schlitz, another Milwaukee brewer with German roots.

Schlitz was once one of the major brewers in the U.S. For many years, it’s slogan was “the Beer that made Milwaukee famous.” The slogan had its origin in the fact that Schlitz beer was hauled from Milwaukee to Chicago to help quench the thirst of Chicagoans who had lost most of their breweries in the great fire of 8 October, 1871. There is a related, but apocryphal, story that the Schlitz slogan came about because Schlitz beer was hauled to Chicago to actually help put out the fire. Given the dry weather Chicago was experiencing at the time of the fire, the need for anything liquid to help extinguish the fire, and Milwaukee’s proximity to Chicago, the apocryphal story has lingered because of its plausibility.

Even though it would have been far ahead of its time, no doubt the sleek fire brigade truck shown below would have been most welcome in Chicago that fateful night in 1871:

One of the largest and most famous Canadian brewers is Labatt. Here are some stylish Labatt haulers. The first two images are different views of the same truck. Stylistically, it is very similar to the Schlitz truck shown above.

Another liquid that needs to be delivered is milk and here we see several ways that was done, but we mustn’t cry over it if we spill it:

The truck pictured above was owned by Southern California’s Adohr Farms. Here is a snapshot of Adohr, extracted from a 1998 article in the Los Angeles Times:

In 1916, Merritt Huntley Adamson Sr. and his heiress wife, Rhoda Rindge Adamson, whose parents were the last owners of the vast Spanish land grant in Malibu, founded a state-of-the-art dairy in Tarzana called Adohr Farms; Adohr was Rhoda spelled backward.

A decade later, when Adohr’s famous reddish-golden brown Guernseys were known worldwide for their quality, size and productive capacity, the family opened a subsidiary–Adohr Creamery Co.–on a 20-acre parcel in what was then the country. The new plant processed and distributed the dairy products produced on the Tarzana farm. 

Much of Adohr’s milk was delivered in DIVCO milk trucks. DIVCO is an acronym which stands for Detroit Industrial Vehicles COmpany. Founded in 1926, DIVCO was well known for its pioneering delivery vehicles, especially the home delivery milk trucks. From 1926 until 1986, DIVCO produced multi-stop delivery trucks unlike any others. Only the VW Beetle stayed in production with the same basic model for a longer period of time. DIVCO trucks are popular collectible vehicles today.

Similar in appearance to the DIVCO is this milchwagen:

Below we have a rolling milk bottle – and it proves that more was bottled in Milwaukee than beer!

The International Harvester Company was at one time a major producer of trucks. They offered pickup trucks, delivery vehicles as well as medium and heavy duty over-the-road trucks. Here is an International truck configured for milk delivery:

Another precious liquid, usually delivered in ground bean form, is coffee, and International was up to this task, too:

Note the lettering on the side, “2 Harrison St., San Francisco, California.” Hills Bros. was founded in San Francisco in 1878, twenty-eight years after Folger’s was founded in San Francisco.  Unlike Folgers,  the Hills Bros. company still operates from San Francisco.

Next up, we have a right hand drive version of the International truck we saw Santa Claus using in last week’s post, a most handsome hauler even today:

Bakers need to haul their goods to market, too. Here are some ways that happened:

Pictured above is a Helms Bakery truck. Helms operated in Southern California from 1931 until 1969. Their baked goods were never sold in stores. “Daily at your Door” was Helms’ motto, their DIVCO-built trucks delivering every week day to homes. Note the “Olympic Bread” sign on the side of the truck. Helms had supplied bread to the 1932 Summer Olympics and capitalized on this in marketing their bread to customers in the Los Angeles basin.

Our friend Jack and his bride Sherry tour the U.S. in a motor home. Jack and Sherry might envy these sleek people haulers, motor home or not, from the past:

… we will now (ahem) wing it for our closing: