This documentary is about Automobile manufacturers from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century who fell victim to the recession of the 1920’s following the end of WWI and were unable to survive the Great Depression and the results of the economic downturn of the 1930’s. Companies like Auburn, Anderson, Cord, , Chalmers, Duesenberg, Elkhart, Durant, Kissel, Essex, Peerless, Pierce Arrow, Durant, Stanley, Oakland, Lexington, Harroun, Hupp, Lexington, Maxwell, Marmon, Moon, Jackson, Dort, and Franklin, just to name a few.
This video shows photos and video from that time period as well as advertisements from several of these manufactures. I managed to fit many images to create this interesting documentary.
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My 1930 Ford Town Sedan has eyebrow fenders and still has the original interior. It’s certainly worn but it still is functional. I have rebuilt the driveline, suspension, and tie rods, installed a modernized Model A motor with oversized intake valves, insert bearings, and a high compression head. I also have a lightened flywheel and V8 clutch. The car comfortably cruises at 50MPH but I’ve had it up to 60MPH. I have also insulated and installed sound deadener which has made the car enjoyable to be in even at 90 degrees.
#1928 #1929 #1930 #1931 #fordmodela #modelaford #victoria #roadster #phaeton #coupe #sedan #fordor #townsedan #truck #subscribe #subscribetomychannel…(read more)
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Title: Car Manufacturers Who Succumbed to the Recession and Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s
Introduction:
The 1920s and 1930s were tumultuous decades for the global economy. The world experienced the full force of the Great Depression, a severe economic downturn that ravaged industries worldwide. The automotive sector, in particular, experienced tremendous challenges during this era. Numerous car manufacturers, once flourishing giants, fell victim to the financial devastation brought upon by the recession. In this article, we will shed light on a few prominent car manufacturers who could not survive the harsh economic conditions of the time.
1. Studebaker:
Studebaker, an esteemed American car manufacturer, was among the casualties of the Great Depression. Established in 1852, Studebaker had steadily grown into a well-known brand by the early 20th century. However, the economic crisis of ’29, coupled with changing consumer preferences, weakened their position in the market. Despite attempts to diversify product offerings, such as introducing refrigerators and luxury cars, Studebaker was unable to endure the financial strain and ceased production in 1966.
2. Pierce-Arrow:
Pierce-Arrow, another prominent American automaker, faced a similar fate during the depression years. Renowned for producing high-end luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow rode the wave of success until economic conditions took a nosedive. With luxury vehicles becoming an unaffordable luxury for many, the company struggled to retain buyers. Despite efforts to reduce prices and introduce mid-range models, Pierce-Arrow succumbed to financial pressures and filed for bankruptcy in 1938, closing its doors forever.
3. Auburn Automobile Company:
The Auburn Automobile Company thrived throughout the Roaring Twenties but ultimately faltered in the face of the Great Depression. Known for their stylish and affordable cars, Auburn enjoyed moderate success, particularly with their six- and eight-cylinder models. However, the stock market crash of 1929 brought a sudden end to their prosperity. Despite efforts to introduce cost-cutting measures, streamline operations, and develop innovative models, Auburn fell victim to the increasingly unstable market and halted production in 1937.
4. DeSoto:
DeSoto, a brand created by Chrysler in 1928, found itself unable to withstand the economic turmoil of the 1930s. Initially introduced as a mid-priced brand, DeSoto aimed to capture buyers who sought affordability combined with quality. Unfortunately, the Great Depression resulted in a sharp decline in consumer spending and a significant drop in demand for automobiles. Despite numerous attempts to revive the brand, including a partnership with air conditioning manufacturer Airtemp, DeSoto was unable to navigate the challenging economic landscape and was discontinued in 1961.
Conclusion:
The Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s was a time of profound hardship for car manufacturers around the world. Established brands that had successfully weathered economic challenges in the past were unable to survive the economic turmoil and changing consumer landscape. Studebaker, Pierce-Arrow, Auburn Automobile Company, and DeSoto all succumbed to the recession’s devastating effects. While their legacies live on in the annals of automotive history, their downfall serves as a reminder of the unprecedented challenges faced by the industry during the Great Depression era.
The Pierce-Arrow was considered the Rolls-Royce of America
I was in Reno Nevada in 1986 at the Harrah's collection before they actually built the museum and I stood in front of a Pierce-Arrow for nearly 15 minutes hypnotized by its beauty
I find life mucho nicer when things are made. Simple I miss eye glass cases vertical open tops just put your glasses drop in someone gave me a pair of pants you put on as is same for women’s panties just 1000x only material two front or two rear pockets big ones these pants are never too tight or loose with belt holders never zippers buttone metal clips plastic all material nothing else I would love to get mucho more of them but where from all I find on I pad lap top screens is string ties stretch waist sweat pants or awful ugly ones yes we used to have nicer things tho yes improvements we have tho the more simple made the better do we really need all power gadgets government regulations for cleaner air our health less polution that cause thieves to steal for valuable metals or automobile recalls when not working as it is there for in the first place we need mucho simplicity less to go wrong volks these days are too mucho simple minded lazy donot want to do real work as I do or migrants coming here true electric automobiles now a big push what happens when batteries go bad can not be recharged true we live in a mucho sick society of throw it away buy new how mucho items are no longer fixed when I first purchased my own car it was paid in full yes loans then tho rarely done no one ever leased a car rarel financed them or credit cards back then we’re almost unknown or heard of volks these days can hardly do their own car repairs or a simple five minute change of a front headlight bulb now 500dollars bulb alone 100 labor plus a half hour work total six hundred dollars map atlas books I loved pullover to roadside read maps for directions gps dashboards mucho to go wrong electric gadgets bring back semaphore turn signals that blink can be seen not where on our bumpers I can not see them if they are even used at all bigger mirrors windows bumpers are a joke like our USA president both donot work properly bumpers donot bump or protect our automobiles why their in the 1st place our roads are overcrowded with big tank sized automobiles less room to drive safer motors are too powerful usa has laws against speeding or driving with drugs drunk yet our politicians government leaders allow auto maker drug dealers to sell drugs to cause these problems that are illegal to do we should start with our country leaders then strictly enforce our laws made things harder to do I do things nice and easy in business love relations with senorita daily life just doing it easy does it done properly makes a big difference the right way first time properly we live in mucho wasteful society disposable obsolete who remembers when work was done properly a bit slower less hours mucho time for enjoying family life amigos neighbors helping neighbors mucho time for families beaches get together bar b ques sundays day of rest church mucho businesses closed volks joined local organizations fire department ems medics polize auxiliary neighbor hood watch service groups lions kwanis rotary they do nice things for us all even children Halloween fun help out in communities volunteer fire dept fund raising for help supporting different things sick children fire ems community goings on even myself when I did my business in any where picking scavenger hunting to sell I would see crime fire whatever just make quick calls to proper volks crime they went to jail there was no quick catch release next day back then what I find annoying at times is items are made simple mucho nice then no longer made if it works is not broken why fix it on automobiles I never liked automatic brake systems abs just use your foot on brake pedal mucho costly to fix abs two whole days in the shop why do todays cars cost mucho dinero than homes use to are mucho complicated to work on longer hours to fix special tools needed no more simplicity or respect for each other who these days enjoys life any more
LaSalle? or do you consider that a Cadillac?
Never understood why Chevrolet was such a good seller when they stayed with poured babbit bearings until 1953….Ford left that behind in 1936….
Steam and electric cars could not compete with gasoline cars,,, has anything really changed??
It must have really been embarrassing for those FORMER car manufacturer owners to have to drive vehicles made by their former competition after THEIR companies went out of business
You missed the other P – Packard which out produced all other luxury car manufacturers combined. Ask the man who owns one.
My brother inlaw inhearited a packard 12 cylinder convertible sedan from his mothers estate it had been garaged on blocks for 30 years he cleaned it up replaced some upholstery with pro help had 8t ribbed out and polished and it looked brand new ! I think its one of 12 still in existence and last sold for one hundred and six thousand if im not mistaken it was beauitifull to behold !!!
Has a weird "alternative facts" slant on auto history. Speaks of Cadillac and Lincoln as the top luxury cars in the 20's and 30's when Packard dominated the decades. Doesn't even mention the combo of Auburn Cord Duesenberg when speaking of them as individual companies, ditto Studebaker Pierce Arrow, but quickly breaks down anything to do with General Motors or Chrysler.
From 1915 until the mid-1930s, America’s auto industry was in its wildcat nascent stage. With it came a torrent of fresh ideas from innumerable independent engine and carriage manufacturers. And while many of their engineering designs proved prescient, their financial decisions often did not. Most succumbed to the Great Depression of 1929. A comprehensive list of failed U.S. automakers can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_automobile_manufacturers_of_the_United_States
As early as 1927, the Stutz Motor Company was building smooth, powerful and efficient 6- and 8-cylinder overhead-cam (OHC) engines. An anomaly in 1927, the overhead cam design is the one most commonly used in passenger cars and trucks today. It is an elegant design that locates both the valve and camshaft assemblies in the engine’s head, allowing for reduced friction, higher compression ratios, more power and greater fuel efficiency. This, at a time when most manufacturers used a rudimentary, low-powered flat-head engine design. Yet the Stutz Motor Company was gone by 1935 and the flat-head design persisted in automotive applications into the 1960s.
Likewise, the Cord Motor Company in 1929 anticipated the ubiquitous front-wheel-drive systems of today. The 1936 and ‘37 models used Cord’s proprietary front-wheel-drive design coupled to a supercharged Lycoming V-8 engine and an electric semi-automatic transmission. Yet Cord, too, was gone by the end of 1937.
Timing was everything and the winnowing effect of the Great Depression eliminated most automakers by mid-century. Until the industry reached a measure of equilibrium by the late 1950s, it was by turns cutthroat and incestuous. Surviving brands clotted into what became known as the Big Three – Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. Shifting alliances and shared resources allowed a handful of outliers to survive into the 1950s, 60s and 70s, names like Packard, Hudson, Studebaker and Rambler.
Great ideas, no matter how well conceived and executed have no guarantee of success; and bad ideas have no guarantee of failure.
https://www.olsonsgaskets.com/products/
buenisimo habian marcas que yo nunca habia oido nombra tales como Moon.pero dejastes para atras Austin autobugy Autocar ,Clevenland , Bailey Jordan , Erskine, Marquette
Stutz?
Just look at some of the crap they make now and call it 'innovative' and fuel efficient.
They want us cattle all on a bus/ or tethered to a job in some mindless city factory.
Do we still make anything here? Not much. We had it all. And ' they took it away from us' with promises they didn't keep, and lies.
I had forgotten how great we were as a North American Nation.
Chandler by Cleveland Motor Company is missing
Was hoping you would mention Baker.
I love old cars so the video was very interesting. Many of the car brands I had never heard of. All the old adverts and sales brochures were entertaining to look at and gave a good insight into the time they were made in. Unfortunately the sound on your speak is really bad but simple things can make a big improvement, most importantly a much shorter distance to the microphone and a little damping, a blanket or similar will help.
My great uncle had a Hupmobile that was his daily driver. When the local garages would no longer work on it he bought 2 LaSalles I think they were 1939 or 40 models. One was a 4 door sedan but the other was a convertible. He lived 1000+ miles from us but once on vacation we went to his house and he gave me rides in both. That was about 1970. I have no idea what happened to them when he passed.
What a great video.
The worst thing to come out of the 20's is GM idea to change car design for the Jones and increases car price..
Funny how you are adding 'Recession' to what has been described for 90 years as a 'Depression'.
I am a docent at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. A few notes on the makes I know.
4:55
Auburn Automobile was sold in 1919.
5:10
That is Gary Cooper with is Duesenberg J, not an Auburn.
5:26
Auburns last year was 1936.
I won't go into the Duesenberg and Cord discrepancies. Sorry, I am a stickler for accuracy.
There's an Anderson in the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. Our second family car was a 1928 Essex. Instead of a thermostat to regulate engine temperature it featured a venetian blind set-up in front of the radiator: close it when you started up and gradually open it as the engine coolant got hotter. Unfortunately, that Essex had a mind of its own, often changing gears while in motion. (We had better luck with Essex's descendant, a Hudson Terraplane.) My father traded it for a 1931 Dodge. Its passenger door window shattered when my father slammed the door too hard, but at least it didn't shift gears on the fly. (Daddy replaced the window with a sheet of isinglass.) My father in law possessed a Franklin sedan at one time. He should have hung on to it. It would have become valuable. In 1941 my wife's maternal grandfather drove his 1928 Oakland two door coupe from California to New Jersey to attend his 50th reunion at Rutgers. My maternal grandmother's cousin's husband totaled his Moon when he drove it into a drainage ditch while chasing a motorist who had cut him off at an intersection. When I was little boy I drove a Dort that was rusting away in an auto graveyard in Iowa Park , Texas to victory in the Indianapolis 500. And I still consider the 1939 Hupmobile one of the most beautiful cars ever made.
Hi, I'm Ken Smith, as well as my father and son
The first winner of the Indy 500 was Ray Harroun, not Harmon.
Not very interesting if you live in Yurp, which I do. The death of Barges.
Duesenberg made the best cars in the world. Better and more advanced than anything in Europe at the time. Jay Leno says it was the best car ever made
I had an Uncle who as an owner of a small machine shop in Cokato, MN loved to collect and restore unusual vehicles. He had a 1903 Oldsmobile, a Kissel Goldbug Speedster, a Chalmers, a Rickenbacker, a bullet nosed Henry J. Kaiser, and a sixteen cylinder Marmon. Unfortunately when he went bankrupt, due to failing to incorporate his business, Lundeen Tractor Company; when the local Banker died and his son (the replacement) decided to call the note due; he lost his entire collection. These were just a few of his cars, as he had several more that I can't remember. I believe the Kissel Goldbug Speedster, now resides in the Harrah's Car Museum in Reno Nevada. The boat tail of the Kissel, he fabricated out of metal from an original blueprint of the vehicle.
What a time to have lived being a young entrepreneur ,a risk taker not a chancer,but someone who had complete faith in one's own ability to succeed, Thanyou great video .
LOVE ALL THE AMERICAN MADE QUALITY CARS THAT ARE NO MORE!!!!!
Any chance of outlining how many car companies went out of business, because I think there was a lot. Seems to me entering the automobile business is a formidable task, the number of parts, quality of those parts, the sheer logistics of running a car company, I think the smart money stayed away. Rockefeller made his money through Standard Oil, mostly by conniving and undercutting the competition until they were out of business, course it helps when you're a shareholder in the Chase Manhattan Bank and the privately owned Federal Reserve and most of big pharma and media or at least that's what my fifteen yeas research tells me!
No mention at all of Packard motor company. Wow.
LaSalle? Stutz?
Nothing about Pan Motor Company, in St. Cloud, Mn.
Disc brakes?
Has anyone heard of a "Starr Car"? There was a wrecked one in a family junkyard when I was a youngster. I sawed the radio antenna off because it was brass! Still have the antenna!
The term “depression” was used because Wall Street and the politicians didn’t want to use the more severe term “recession”! But since the Great Depression, the term recession now refers to a less serious downturn than a full-blown depression.
so many car companies, all in car shows or barns.thanks for the info.
Coming from a guy who owns a Marmon, well done! People don’t realize that in the early 1900s, there were nearly 2000 car companies registered in the United States. Granted, a lot of them only ended up making one or two cars.
There was a Great Depression not a recession we have a recession now