Title
Weekly News March 11, 2013Description
Stanley Owners/Operators in the Early 1940s: When my father bought his 1913 Model 76 in 1940, he did not know others were running Stanleys on a regular basis in many parts of the U.S. and Canada. He did know Fred Marriott was in business at his garage in Watertown, Massachusetts, and soon found out that Fred was still selling and servicing used Stanley cars. Hyde Ballard, a young patent attorney in Philadelphia, had been one of the very early members of AACA in the late 1930s, and his favorite cars were Packards and steamers. Hyde traveled frequently from his wife’s home in Merion, where they lived, to her family’s summer place at Chambers Rock on the White Clay Creek north of Newark, Delaware. He heard my father had acquired a Stanley and was fixing it up, and the latter was thus introduced to the small but growing antique car hobby and its pioneers around Philadelphia.
Through Fred Marriott, my father learned of Thomas S. Derr, who was building water-tube boilers and other components for Stanley cars and, like most steam people of that time, was intent on “improving” them, with hopes of building a practical modern steamer. He also learned of Brooks Jones, a country schoolteacher of Glens Falls and Corinth, New York, who claimed to be driving his Model 740 roadster all winter while publishing a crude little newsletter called Steamobile and Ye Olde Time Car. Other steam people from all over would contribute to this publication, and in some ways it was like an early version of e-mail, precipitating letters back and forth and then further acquaintance. One of the correspondents was a man from Lashburn, Saskatchewan (between Saskatoon and Edmonton), who was running a Stanley in this far-north farming community.
Some of those with whom my father struck up a relationship, either by numerous letters or by actual acquaintance, were Earle S. Eckel (Washington, New Jersey), The Rev. Stanley W. Ellis (Waban, Mass.), Brooks A. Jones (mentioned above), Byron C. Spence (Little Falls, New York), Robert B. Chase (Earlville, New York), George J. Monreau (Cochituate, Mass.), Walt Lewis (Scotia, New York), Joseph B. Van Sciver Jr. (Philadelphia), the Maddox brothers (Archer, Fla.), Mervin Allatt (Three Bridges, New Jersey), Ralph G. Van Dine (Cambridge, Mass.), Donald H. Randall (Randolph, Mass.), Paul A. Bourdon (Woodstock, Vermont), Edwin A. Battison (Windsor, Vermont), Murray M. Brown (Athol, Mass.), and Stanley Allred (Huntington, Indiana). These were all people who were operating or restoring Stanleys in the early 1940s, and there were others.
Of the above, Allatt, Van Dine and Randall were “dealers” who knew where to find long-neglected Stanleys in barns and similar places. Mervin Allatt seemed to devote full time to this endeavor, while Van Dine worked for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, and Randall was a schoolteacher, nicknamed “Mr. Coates” in George Woodbury’s 1950 The Story of a Stanley Steamer. Mrs. Randall drove our Model 607 during the war; I bought it from her husband in 1946 and drove it home from Randolph in December that year. Allatt was a frequent visitor to Auburn Heights, as was Van Dine, who stopped in his 1926 Elcar en-route to visiting his mother, who lived in Washington, D.C.
Earle Eckel, a former Stanley dealer, drove his 1914 Stanley roadster more than the others, putting 125,000 miles on this car that he had taken in trade for a new car about 1919. Murray Brown drove a Model 740 roadster, then he restored a Model O White, and finally was working on a 1908 Model H-5 Stanley at the time his new wife forbade his steam car activity. Byron Spence, Brooks Jones, Walt Lewis, Joe Van Sciver, Stanley Allred, and Bob Chase were running Stanley condensing cars, and Paul Bourdon and Ed Battison liked Stanleys of the non-condensing period. George Monreau and Ralph Van Dine, both with direct connections to the Stanley factory when it closed, each had a 1913 10-H.P. Stanley. Monreau’s was a Model 65 named “McGee,” and Van Dine’s a Model 64 now owned by Don Davidson. George Monreau, from whom my father bought our Mountain Wagon in 1946, worked for Fred Marriott and was the grandfather of Brent Campbell. This was the corps of Stanley people in the 1940s.
Work Report: On Tuesday, March 5, 15 volunteers were on hand as follows: Jerry Lucas (in charge), Jerry Koss, Chuck Erikson, Tim Ward, Mac Taylor, Jay Williams, Steve Bryce, Bob Jordan, Ted Kamen, Bob Stransky, Mark Russell, Emil Christofano, Jeff Pollock, Anne Cleary, and Tom Marshall. The following was accomplished: Tim, Mac, and Jay began installing the sound-dampening material on the Lionel railroad, Bob Stransky checked all the tires in the museum and helped with 607 work, Anne wet sanded the primer on the “shelf” under the 735’s condenser, Jerry Koss sanded the inside front of the 607’s body (dash) in preparation for final painting, Chuck continued work in shop organization, Mark and Jerry L. cut gaskets for the 735 condenser, Jeff checked over the steering joints and knuckles on the 607, Steve cleaned the hardware for the 735 condenser, Bob Jordan polished the newly repainted steering column on the 607 and completed other jobs on this car, ably assisted by Ted, who also saved the brass flare nuts before scrapping a lot of the old copper and brass tubing from the 607. Emil cleaned and sanded the ’37 Packard’s vacuum tank, and Jerry L. riveted the leather boots to the copper covers that surround the 607’s pump drive rocker, and made a new gasket for the 735 condenser’s inlet fitting.
On Thursday, March 7, 10 volunteers were on hand, viz: Steve Bryce, Eugene Maute, Gerhard Maute, Jerry Novak, Tim Nolan, Lou Mandich, Bob Jordan, Robert Hopkins, Paul Kratunis, and Tom Marshall (in charge). Steve, Jerry, and Lou, with help from Robert Hopkins and Tim, fastened the headers onto the condenser core for the 735, and it is ready to go in the car. Bob Jordan, Tom, and Paul reworked the bonnet on the 607, and Bob wired it in place. It is now ready for Diplag to cover the insulation already in place. Bob relocated the speedometer cable, and Robert and Paul aligned the drive gear for it at the front wheel. The Maute brothers, usually working in our tiny library on the second floor of the carriage house (also Jesse Gagnon’s office), were at it again, and they have really done a great job in organizing, labeling, and filing our photos, magazines and special articles.
