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The S.S. Albright Company of
Sacramento was typical of the many regional American coachbuilders who
operated in the early part of the twentieth century. When the principals of
those firms passed away in the second half of the century, their history was
lost forever. They can only be traced by using city directories or an
occasional advertisement in the local newspaper, which typically give little
to no information about the history of the firm or the quality of its
products.
Unlike the vast majority of
those builders, Albright’s history has been reasonably well-documented. An
article written by Albright giving the history of the firm was
printed in a central California trade magazine and a handful of pictures of
the firm’s work taken by a commercial photographer, the McCurry Foto Co., managed to escape the paper
drives of the Second World War.
Consequently, Albright’s
story is not that of the well-advertised bespoke custom body builder, but
rather of the forgotten regional firms which were located in every
mid-to-large sized city in North America. Many of these firms built bodies
that were of equal quality to those produced by the more celebrated
practitioners of the coachbuilder’s art, and it’s immediately obvious that
Albright was among them.
Sidney S Albright (b.1876-d.1948)
was born near the city of Bucyrus in Crawford County, Ohio. At the age of
sixteen years Albright was apprenticed to a Crawford County carriage-builder
where he became experienced in all aspects of the trade. After the requisite
three years had passed, Albright plied his trade in Dayton, Ohio; Jackson,
Michigan and metropolitan New York City.
It came to pass that Albright
became known as a first-rate painter and in 1896 he accepted a position as
the foreman of the large Studebaker Bros. Works in South Bend, Indiana. In
1903, Albright left Indiana to take charge of the paint department of A.
Meister & Sons Company, a well-known Sacramento, California vehicle
builder.
By 1909, Albright had saved
up enough money to open his own firm, and established the S.S. Albright Co.
on the first floor of a leased building located at the intersection of 24th
and K Sts. in midtown Sacramento.
Early on Albright
manufactured commercial bodies and hearses for local customers and during
the early teens began to manufacture an occasional automobile body for
Sacramento’s luxury car dealers.
The
second floor of the 28’ by 60’ structure was soon utilized for storage of
completed vehicles and in 1916 Albright relocated from 1112–1114 24th
St. to a new 30,000 sq.ft. daylight factory located at the intersection of
13th and U Streets.
Period advertisements offered
blacksmithing, spring and radiator work in addition to the firm’s
well-accepted commercial and custom automobile body construction.
The advertisement at the top of the page reads:
A pleasure car body specially designed and built by "Albright"
"The classy job shown here is finished in blue-grey craftsman's leather,
the fenders and body covered with it, the top and upholstering likewise of
the same material. The chassis is painted Rolls-Royce blue and the wheels
are Italian cream in color. The interior is beautifully appointed and
painstakingly finished. It is the kind of car a particular owner thoroughly
enjoys."
"Why not have a car body designed to suit your own individual taste -
something exclusive and 'different', like the beautiful sport roadster shown
here? Just give us your idea. We'll supplement it with a few suggestions and
then submit sketch for your approval."
Another advertisement prompted Albright's customers to:
"Paint Your Car A Victory Color.
The new victory colors are attracting the attention of many motorists whose
cars need painting. Why not choose one for your car?
Pershing Green, St. Mihiel Brown, Rheims Gray, Armistace Yellow, Joffre
Blue, Victory Red, Verdun Maroon and Italian Cream were available.
"You know of course, that an "Albright" paint job is done by expert
workmen, using the finest materials. It is then finished in scientifically
constructed bake ovens that give a luster and permanence that's unequaled."
Most of Albright’s work was
for local merchants and his well-equipped facility sold and installed the
popular Browntruck and Longford rear axle conversion kits which turned a
standard Ford Model T into a ½- to 3-ton medium-duty truck. They also built
a large number of delivery vehicles and distributed the popular line of
Reliance trailers.
Albright was vice president of the Sacramento Auto Trades Association and
wrote the following article for the June 1919 Your Protection magazine, a
regional automotive-related trade magazine:
“The Daylight Plant
“From a modest beginning in a 28 by 60 two-story building just a trifle
more than nine years ago to a plant now occupying approximately 30,000
square feet of space, thoroughly modern and splendidly equipped in every
detail, is the story of the rapid growth of the S.S. Albright Co.
“October, 20, 1909, on Twenty-fourth, between K & L, S.S. Albright
started his little carriage shop, and the quality of his work soon attracted
a large following. In a short time more space was necessary, and still more
and more, until finally on October 31, 1916. the S.S. Albright Co. moved to
its present location on Thirteenth and U, where a space of approximately
30,000 feet is devoted to automobile construction in all phases, body
building, blacksmithing, bake-oven auto painting, trimming, radiator and
sheet-metal work.
“Besides, this progressive firm also successfully handles the agency for
BrownTruck and LongFord truck attachments and Reliance Trailers.
“The BrownTruck attachment enables the owner of any pleasure car, either
new or used, to be conveniently converted into a capable, finely constructed
truck of from one to three ton capacity. This enables the man with a hauling
problem to solve it at the least possible cost.
“The LongFord Truck Attachment makes the ordinary Ford roadster or
touring car into a three-quarter ton truck. The wheel base is increased to
136 inches, thus providing a loading space of eight feet back of the
driver's seat. The original Ford is thoroughly reinforced and the same
pneumatic tires are used.
“The Reliance Trailers permit greatly increasing the hauling capacity of
a motor truck without appreciably burdening it. It is a well-know fact that
a man, a horse, or a motor truck can pull more than it can carry -
consequently one or more Reliance Trailers is the ready solution of rapidly
increasing hauling problems at a greatly reduced cost.
“One of the outstanding featured and one that invariably impresses every
visitor to the plant is the continual flood of daylight. By means of a
saw-tooth roof a great abundance of natural light is made possible at all
times. This permits the men in the various departments of the plant to do
their work under the best possible conditions. It also eliminates electric
light bills, thus reducing overhead expense, and finally, the cost of the
finished work. More than this, the plant is finely ventilated and so
arranged that every detail is handled with the least possible loss of time
and effort.
“Body building of all kinds - pleasure cars, stage bodies, bus bodies,
truck bodies, delivery bodies, etc. - are a very special feature in which
the Albright Co. has earned an enviable reputation for the sturdiness of its
construction.
“Recently several specially designed passenger car bodies have been
started in the body building department and they have attracted the
attention of every one who has visited the plant and seen them. A specially
designed passenger car body permits the owner to incorporate his own ideas
as to convenience and such other special features as may appeal to him; at
the same time giving him the benefit of the unusual work turned out by the
Albright Company. Hearse bodies also have been given very special attention
and some of the finest jobs of this kind that can be found in the Sacramento
Valley are products of the Albright plant.
“Blacksmithing, spring-making and repairing, and auto chassis lengthening
are also an important branch of this firm's service.
“A special spring furnace and special tempering process enable the
Albright Company to build a complete spring or to make accurate,
satisfactory and lasting repairs of broken sections of springs. This is just
a special featured of the blacksmithing department, which is equipped to
handle all classes of blacksmithing work, including auto chassis
lengthening.
“But perhaps, most important of all is the bake oven process employed in
the final finishing of automobile painting. This process gives to the
varnish finish a permanence that outclasses and outwears the finest factory
job.
“Recently the auto trimming department was moved into larger and more
convenient quarters, due to the great volume of work attracted to this
department through the exceptionally fine work turned out - particularly,
the beautiful "Deluxe" tops.
“In order to meet a continual demand for radiator and sheet metal work a
department devoted to this class of automobile construction has been
installed. Special attention is given the automobile, truck, and tractor
radiator repairs as well as to fender repairs, straightening bento or jammed
fenders and removing dents from automobile bodies. All other phases of sheet
metal work are given the accurate attention of expert workmen assisted by
the best of modern equipment.
“All in all, the S.S. Albright Company plant is a credit to the community
in which it is situated, catering to a large volume of business through the
entire Sacramento Valley and extending well into the San Joaquin Valley.
“Visitors to the Albright plant are welcome at any time, and those who
are interested in seeing one of the best arranged plants of its kind on the
Pacific Coast will be more than delighted with the systematical arrangement
and efficiency methods employed here.”
The combination passenger and freight commercial body became popular on the west coast
during the late twenties and a period Albright advertisement offered
their version of the vehicle mounted on a 1930 White bus chassis. The
bus/truck carried 8 passengers in the front compartment, with room for 1 1/2
tons of freight in the rear.
Albright held a number of patents relating to 'California Top' sliding
windows and lightweight bus construction and was an authorized distributor
for the Denby Motor Truck Company in the late teens and early twenties.
Unlike many of his competitors, Albright survived the Depression although he was forced to
vacate his 30,000 sq ft factory in 1934 and relocate to a leased 50’ x 150’
facility located at 235 North 16th St. in north Sacramento. The
city directory includes a listing for S.S. Albright Co. through 1939, but
from 1940-1943 it only lists Albright’s home phone number and address – his
occupation, salesman.
Albright passed away at an
Oakland residence in 1948 at the age of 73.
© 2004 Mark Theobald
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