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The Dale Body Company was organized to provide production bodies for the
Allen Motor Co., of Columbus Ohio. R.I. Schonitzer, formerly chief body
designer for the Racine Manufacturing Co., was put in charge of the plant which was built
adjacent to the former Peabody Carriage Company plant which was converted into
Allen's Fostoria final assembly plant. The name referred to its location in
the Allen Company's "Allendale Additions," planned automobile community.
E. W. Allen told a gathering of 290 Fostorians, "We have outgrown our present
quarters at Center and North streets and would like to locate our plant on fifty-five
acres of land in connection with our present body plant, formerly known as the Peabody
Buggy Factory."
The March 3, 1917 issue of the Horseless Age announced:
“Allen to Have New Body Plant
“A concern to be known as the Dale Body Co. received great impetus in its
organization plans recently when members of the Fostoria, Ohio, Chamber of
Commerce subscribed for $100,000 of the $150,000 capital stock of the new
company. This concern will supply the Allen Motor Co. and will be a part of
the Allen Company's centralized automobile community on the northern edge of
Fostoria. The body plant will be situated alongside the main Allen factory
and will be under the management of R. I. Schonitzer, designer of the
present Allen body.”
July 1917 Duns’ Review:
“Allen Motor Company Expanding
“The confidence with which many of the large automobile
manufacturers look to continued good business, despite the fact that the
United States is now at war, is well evidenced by the announcement of the
Allen Motor Company that work has been started on the Dale Body Company’s
new plant, the first building to be erected in ‘Allendale Additions,’ which
is the new automobile community founded by the Allens in Fostoria, Ohio.
“The Dale Body Company will devote themselves
exclusively to the production of high-grade bodies for Allen cars. The main
building will be 500 feet long and will afford about 30,000 square feet of
floor space. The walls will be mainly of glass, which will cause the
interior to be flooded with light. Protection from fire will be insured by
use of the sprinkler system. The latest body building machinery will be
installed throughout, and when running at capacity the plant will deliver
100 bodies a day.
“Work on the Allen’s new body plant is being rushed and
it is expected that the building will be ready for occupancy by July 1,
1917. Inquiries sent to the firm should be addressed to the Allen Motor
Company, 2905 Allen Building, Fostoria, Ohio, U.S.A.”
Allen Motor Co.'s Fostoria plant was sold to Willys-Overland in 1920 and later became an Autolite
plant.
© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com
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