Dale Body Company, R. I. Schonitzer, Fostoria, Ohio, Allendale Additions, Allen Motor Company, Peabody Carriage Co.



Dale Body Company - 1917-1920 - Fostoria, Ohio

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.

For more information please read:

Beverly Rae Kimes - The Classic Car

Beverly Rae Kimes - The Classic Era

Beverly Rae Kimes - Packard: A History of the Motorcar and Company

Beverly Rae Kimes & Henry Austin Clark Jr. - Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942

Richard Burns Carson - The Olympian Cars

Raymond A. Katzell - The Splendid Stutz

Marc Ralston - Pierce Arrow

Brooks T. Brierley - There Is No Mistaking a Pierce Arrow

Brooks T. Brierley - Auburn, Reo, Franklin and Pierce-Arrow Versus Cadillac, Chrysler, Lincoln and Packard

Brooks T. Brierley - Magic Motors 1930