Studebaker Trivia

[Sam Talley]

When was the first Studebaker made??

Ans: 1852 - Thats right 1852. They were farm wagons.

[Gay Mathis]

Sam, you might enjoy this video, as well.."Wheels That Won The West"..Nice old images..

[Stan H]

Gay

 

that was great!

 

 

[Sam Talley]

This is the business car of Jack Cotton.

Over 45 yrs. ago I visited this very old man named Jack Cotton who's family had been making wagons and carriages in Montana since the 1800s. He had made many stagecoaches and covered wagons for movie makers and had their's and movie star's pictures on his small shop wall

. When I was there he was steaming wood parts for a very expensive wheel. His steam chamber was an old hot water tank.

He told me there was a great need for good wheels which were time consuming and costly, but few people were making them and he could not find someone to train to keep his business going. I presume the Cotton Carriage Works is now long gone.

[Sue Cauhape]

Gay, that was a great video. I especially liked the photo of the covered wagons - Conestogas? - coming down that steep mountain highway with the wooden guardrails. Made me wonder if that was the precursor to Hwys 40/80 over Donner Pass.

[flboots]

Sam good question.  Gay.  Great video, Now that's what I would like to see more of on this site.