This object has been deaccessioned and is no longer in the GRPM's collection
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Transportation
Motor Vehicles ➔ Automobile, Chicago Motor Wagon
Identifier:
176436Description:
This Chicago Motor Wagon Co. truck dates to around c. 1910. The company was located at 1224-1244 East 46th St, Chicago and operated between 1910-1912. They built one model of a one-ton open express body truck that sold for $1,000. A July 16,1910 advertisement in The Reform Advocate described it as "meeting the demands of all kinds of business and does the work of three single horse rigs. Fifty miles average run per day costs about $3.50 per week for operation."According to the Grand Rapids Press, the owner of this vehicle John "Jack" Stiles enjoyed riding this (by then antique) vehicle around the streets of East Grand Rapids in the 1950s. One society page described a day he was riding it through East Grand Rapids picking up friends and giving them rides. Photographs from the October 30, 1954, Grand Rapids Public Museum Centennial Parade show Gerald Ford riding on this vehicle for the event. Grand Rapids Public Museum acquired this vehicle from the estate of John R. Stiles after he in died in 1976.Stiles and his wife also donated the Calkins Law Office historic building to the Grand Rapids Public Museum Collection.
Date:
1910 – 1912Dimensions:
77" h 72" w 156" dCurrent Location Status:
DeaccessionedCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Gift Of Estate Of John R. StilesRelated Entity:
Estate of John R. Stiles (donor)John R. Stiles was a Grand Rapids, Michigan, businessman and Republican campaign official. He was known for his work as a consultant and long-time friend and fellow University of Michigan alumni with Gerald R. Ford. He was also the author of the book, Portrait of the Assassin with Gerald R. Ford. He tragically died in a car accident in April 1976 in Grand Rapids at age 59.