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Although he's almost entirely unknown today,
during the
early part of the 20th century W.I. Fickling supplied
wholesale
coach work and automotive accessories to Manhattan's automobile dealers
and
later pioneered the baking of enamel finishes on both wood and metal
bodywork,
supplying short runs of baked enamel sheet metal parts to the regions
automobile manufacturers.
William Irvine Fickling was born in
Washington D.C. on 1876
to Charles Hollingshead and Ida Elizabeth (Rodier) Fickling, his father
being one
of the Capitol region's best-known real estate agents and investors.
After a
public education he attended Georgetown University, receiving his A.B.
(bachelor of arts) in
1894, followed by an LL.B. (bachelor of laws) from Georgetown's Law
Department in
1897.
William Irvine Fickling and his younger
brothers, William
Webb (b.1881-d.1939), Frank Gordon (b.1889), John Sotheron
(b.1893-d.1966) and
Charles H. jr. (b.1892-1939) were all automobile enthusiasts and during
the
early part of the 20th century either owned, worked at, or
managed a
number of auto-related businesses, most of which were run by their
older
brother William Irivine.
Amongst William Irvine Fickling's early
automobile-related
endeavors was an automobile parts and accessories superstores, whose
star
employee, Henry F. (Harry) Holbrook, would become associated with a
long list
of auto-related firms either as president, vice-president, manager, or
secretary-treasurer as follows:
Auto Cover & Top Co., 1905-1906;
Fickling & Co., 1906-1908;
Holbrook-Singer Co.,1908-1910; Holbrook Co., 1910-1913; Enameling &
Stamping Corp. of New York 1918-1920; Perfect Body Corp., 1920-1921;
H.F.
Holbrook Co. 1921-1922; Associated Motor Industries 1922-1923; National
Motors
Corporation 1923-1926; H.F. Holbrook & Henry Brewster Co.
1926-1928; W.A.
Riddell Co., Bucyrus. Ohio 1928-1937.
Fickling's given name was William Irvine,
although many news
articles list it as William Irving. He married Mae Frances (Grant) (b.
1887) in
New Rochelle, New York in September of 1906. His listing in the 1909
edition of
Who's Who in New York City and State Vol. IV, follows:
"FICKLING, W. Irvine:
Manufacturer; b. Washington, D. C,
1876; B. Charles
H. and Ida E. (Rodier) Fickling; grad. Georgetown Univ., A. B., 1894,
Law
Dep't. same, LL.B., 1897; m. New Rochelle, N. Y., Sept., 1906, Mae
Frances
Grant. Engaged in mf'g automobile bodies and equipment and establishing
agencies throughout the country. Formed the Auto Cover and Top Mf'g
Co., 1905,
succeeded, 1906, by Fickling & Co. (Inc.), of which is
pres, and
treas. Incorporated N. Y. School of Automobile Eng'rs, 1905. Democrat;
Catholic. Mem. Southern Soc. of N. Y. Clubs: Motor, N. Y. Athletic,
Coupon,
Confederate Veterans. Columbia Yacht. Residence: 524 Riverside Drive.
New York
factory: 154-156 E. 57th Street; Body factory, New Haven, Conn."
December 24, 1902 Horseless Age:
"Fickling & Fulton, 248 West
Fifty-fourth
street, have secured the New York agency for the Covert motorettes and
touring
cars, and have organized a branch of their business to fill orders for
automobiles of all makes. They state that they also have the facilities
for
building cars to order."
January 28, 1903 Horseless Age:
"FICKLING & FULTON, of New
York, sales agents for the Covert motorettes, made up
their
display out of two carriages of this make.
The smaller
vehicle was equipped with a high speed vertical motor of 3
horse
power, air cooled cylinder and water cooled head. Two forward speeds,
but no
reverse, are provided. All the machinery being
on the running gear and the body being very light,
only
light springs are required. The little carriage had four
elliptics of but one leaf each.
"The other machine was larger
and of a
different type. Its engine was of the de Dion pattern, rated
at 5
horse power, and had been placed under a bonnet in
front. The change
speed gear was of the planetary variety, and provided two
speeds
forward and a reverse. A hinged wheel, with direct arm
to the steering
link, constituted the steering device. A foot brake and a
hand brake
were also provided. The weight of this bevel gear driven
car was
said to be 650 pounds, and the tank capacities 6 and 4
gallons of gasoline and water respectively. Both machines
were
equipped with thermo-siphon circulation."
Located at 248 W. Fifty-fourth St., the firm
marked the
first business venture of W. Irvine Fickling and Robert E. Fulton.
The November 14, 1904 edition of the
Horseless Age announced
the appointment of Fulton as manager of the recently-established
Manhattan
branch of the Pope Motor Car Company of Toledo, Ohio. Located on
Broadway
between Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth streets it served as the Eastern
distributor of Pope-Waverley, Pope-Tribune, Pope-Hartford and
Pope-Toledo
automobiles.
Although Fulton was forced to resign from
the Fulton &
Fickling partnership, he joined his former partner in a new enterprise,
an automobile
accessory outfit first announced in the July 1905 issue of Motor Age:
"New York — Auto Cover &
Top Mfg. Co.,
capital $15,000. Incorporators W. Irving Ficklin, Thomas H. Ray and J.
Day Lee.
"New Alliance in Gotham — Percy Owen and
Robert E.
Fulton, managers respectively of the New York branches of the Winton
and Pope
companies, and W. Irvine Fickling have just formed the
Automobile
Cover & Top Mfg. Co., with headquarters at 148 West Fifty-sixth
street, New
York. They are handling the Gabriel horn, a new cape cart top and slip
covers."
The August 2, 1905 issue of the Horseless
Age included a few
additional details:
"The Automobile Top and Cover Manufacturing
Company, of
which W. Irvine Fickling, Percy Owen and Robert E. Fulton are
directors, has been organized, and are using the building at 148 West
Fifty-sixth street, New York city, for the manufacture of limousine
bodies,
tops and upholstery work. They have the agency for Gabriel horns."
The May 18, 1905 issue of Motor Age:
Garage Chauffeurs' School—The Pope Mfg. Co.
is to establish
in connection with its New York branch a chauffeurs' school.
Instructors from the factories where the various types of Pope cars are
made
will be In charge, and no man who cannot pass an examination will be
recommended as a chauffeur. There will be frequent lectures and the
demonstrations of cars and their various parts. A nominal fee will be
charged
each man with a view of keeping out undesirable drivers. The idea
originated
with Robert E. Fulton, the assistant manager of the garage,
and was
quickly indorsed by the officers of the company.
Fickling's interests also included the
education of new
mechanics and the August 23, 1905 issue of Horseless Age announced the
creation
of his own automobile school:
"New York School of Auto Engineers, New
York.—Capital,
$25,000. Incorporators, William Irving Fickling, Clarence
McMillan, Ralph
H. Higgins."
The firm's listing in the 1908 Motor
Cyclopedia indicated
two of Fickling's business partners, Percy Owen and Robert E. Fulton
were also
involved in the school:
"New York School
of Automobile Engineers, Inc.—146 W. 50th St., New
York City. Practical instruction in the care and operation of
automobiles.
Cap. $25,000. Robert E. Fulton, Pres.; Percy Owen.
Vice-Pres.; M. S.
Gilmer, Treas. and Business Mgr.; Roger B. Whitman, Sec. and Technical
Director. Faculty: Engine Dept., Julius C. Liebhardt, M. E. Ignition
Dept., Philip
K. Stern, E. E., M. E. Transmission Dept.. Rudolf Grissman, M. E.
Construction
and Shop, Albert Capetillo. Special instructors for owners, Albert
Trica, B.
S.; G. Rudolph Ruckert, M. E. Road instructors, Matthew Farrell and
Fred
Kowsky. Designers' Course, E. Favary, M. E., E. E."
The January 10, 1906 Horseless Age listed
the directors of
the Auto Cover and Top Company in its listing of New York Auto Show
exhibitors:
"Auto Cover and Top Company; W. I.
Fickling, R. E. Fulton, Percy Owens, H. D. Cashman, H. J.
Kelleher, L. C.
Chase, Charles Alheim, Edward Yonkers, William Anderson, H. F. Meyers,
Sylvester James, I. L. Bowden."
The January 25, 1906 issue of the Automobile
included a
description of Fickling's exhibit at the show:
"Automobile Cover & Top Mfg. Co.—A
most attractive exhibit was a rich wine colored extension top shown on
a lemon
yellow and black striped Pope-Hartford body. The covering of the
top was a
very fine texture imported mackintosh waterproof cloth, while the bows
and
joints were covered with red leather; sockets and buttons were polished
brass.
An interesting feature was red leather cover slips for protecting the
roll of
the upholstery over the edges of the body. A more serviceable top on
similar
lines to the foregoing, but covered with a gray mackintosh that would
not show
dust and rain spots, was also shown. The bows were of hickory in the
natural
finish. As Eastern distributing agents for the manufacturers, the
company
displayed Gabriel horns in different sizes and styles, supplemental
spiral
springs for use at the ends of the rear spring horns, and a compact
wine
cabinet, with ice compartment, to be carried in the car."
The April 4, 1906 Horseless Age reported
that Fickling had relocated
to a new quarters:
"The Automobile Cover and Top Manufacturing
Company is
moving into larger quarters at 154 East Fifty-seventh street, New York
city,
where 20,000 square feet of floor space will be available.
W. Irvine
Fickling and Geo. R. Spinning have purchased the interest of Percy
Owen
and Robert E. Fulton."
Business must have been good as the June 27,
1906 Horseless
Age announced that Fickling had bought out Spinning as well:
"W. I. Fickling has purchased the
entire interest
of the Automobile Cover and Top Manufacturing Company, 154 East
Fifty-seventh
street, New York. The plant is being enlarged to accommodate painting
and
repair jobs on automobiles, together with all kinds of limousine,
tonneau and
automobile body work."
The September 6, 1906 issue of The
Automobile indicates
Fickling had a much larger plan in store for Manhattan's new
automobilists:
"AN AUTO MART FOR NEW YORK CITY.
"If plans already well under way do not fall
through,
New York will soon have an automobile mart. Interested in the idea
are W. I. Fickling, E. R. Lozier, S. H. Elliott and Harry V. Kibbs, who
have secured an option on a building at Broadway and Sixty-second
street,
which was
built on speculation as a garage and automobile saleshouse, and is
handsomely
designed and entirely fireproof. The only thing necessary to insure the
plan
being carried out is a sufficient number of applications for space. An
automobile mart established in Boston has proved very successful, and
there is
no apparent reason, the promoters of the New York plan state, why a
local mart
should not be even more successful, the field being more extensive."
Many of Fickling's business partners were
well-known early automobile
men, in particular, Percy Owen and Robert Edison Fulton.
Born in Oswego, New York on January 19,
1875, Percy Owen (b.1875-d.1956)
entered the automobile business as manager of the Winton Motor Carriage
Co.'s
Manhattan factory branch in 1899, after several years working for the
Globe
Rutgers Fire Insurance Co. The Manhattan branch is credited with being
the
first gasoline automobile dealership in New York City, a number of
electric
automobile dealerships having preceded it. He was a member of the US
Winton team
(Owen, Alexander Winton and Barney Oldfield) that competed in Ireland's
1903
Gordon-Bennett Cup race, and in 1906 left the employ of Winton to
become
Eastern sales manager of the Aerocar Co. of Detroit. In partnership
with his
friends W.I. Fickling and Robert E. Fulton he helped found the New York
School
of Auto Engineers and the Automobile Top and Cover Mfg. Co. He imported
the Italian-built
Bianchi automobile as Percy Owen Inc. during 1907 and 1908 and helped
found the
New York Automobile Trade Association, serving as its president for a
number of
terms. He also served as treasurer of the National Association of
Automobile
Manufacturers, and from 1908-1910 served as vice pres. and gen. manager
of Carl
H. Page & Co., the Manhattan Chalmers distributor. In 1910 he was
appointed
the eastern sales manager of the Chalmers Motor Co., and in 1912 became
Chalmers general sales manager. In 1915 he became vice-president of the
Saxon
Motor Car Co., and between 1916 and 1924 served as president of the
Liberty
Motor Car Co., of which he was a major investor. After a short stint
working
for the U.S. Dept of Commerce working under future US. President
Herbert
Hoover, he accepted a position as director of foreign sales for Dodge
Brothers
in 1925, retiring from the automobile business in 1926 to enter other
fields of
business where he was equally successful. He passed away in 1956 after
retiring
as president of Michigan Bakeries a Grand Rapids-based wholesale
bakery.
(Percy Owen was unrelated to Ralph &
Raymond Owen, the
proprietors of a number of early automobile agencies in Manhattan, and
later on
the manufacturers of the Owen Magnetic automobile.)
Robert Edison Fulton's automotive career
would eclipse that
of Fickling's, culminating in the presidency of the sales organization
of the Mack
Truck Company. Born October 4, 1878 to Robert A. and Anna Louisa
(Cowell) Fulton,
Robert's father owned a well-known grocery store at 1550 Broadway
(William A.
Fulton, Grocer, formerly Fulton & Bookstaver). His father died in
1891 and
his activities during the next decade are unknown, but in 1902 he
joined an
acquaintance, W. Irvine Fickling, in establishing a Manhattan sales
branch for
the Covert automobile, as Ficking & Fulton. In 1904 he became
manager of
the Pope Manufacturing Co.'s Manhattan branch. After parting ways with
the Pope
organization Fulton served as manager of the Mercedes Import Co. after
which he
became associated with C.P. Coleman who had purchased the rights to
manufacture
the Swiss-built Saurer truck under license. When production began at
the firm's
Plainfield, New Jersey factory in 1911 he joined the Saurer Motor
Company as
salesman. The banking house of J.P. Morgan, heavily invested in both
the Saurer
and Mack Brothers Motor Car Co., spearheaded a merger of their two
truck
manufacturing holdings on September of 23, 1911 creating the
International
Motor Truck Company, which was capitalized at $2.6 million.
As sales manager (1911-1913) and
vice-president of sales
(1913-1922), Fulton coordinated the sales campaigns of both Saurer and
Mack
from 1911 to 1922 when the firm was reorganized as Mack Truck Inc. As
president
of its associated distribution arm, International Mack Truck Co.,
Fulton
directed the sales of Mack Trucks up until his retirement in 1935. In
1925 he
joined William Brewster, president of Brewster & Co., as a director
of the
Rolls-Royce of America, Inc. Fulton passed away on April 30, 1938.
Robert
E. Fulton Jr., one of Fulton's two sons with his wife Hannah L.
(Travis) Fulton,
had a successful career as an inventor, his most notable creations
being the
skyhook and the Airphiban flying car (1946).
Despite sharing a surname, Robert E. Fulton
was unconnected
with the Fulton Motor Truck Company, 1917-1923, a Farmingdale, Long
Island
manufacturer of 1½ ton motor trucks founded by William Fulton Melhuish,
Jr., as
the Clyde Motor Truck Co. in 1915. It's further surprising as W. Irvine
Fickling served as manager of the Fulton Motor Truck Co.'s, Manhattan
Branch
from 1918 to 1922.
The August 30, 1906 Motor Way described
Fickling's new
operation:
"The entire interest of the Automobile Cover
and Top
Mfg. Co. Inc., at 154 East Fifty-seventh street, New York,
has been
purchased by W. Irvine Fickling and will be conducted under the
new name
of Fickling & Company, Inc., with office and factory at
the same
address. The capacity of the plant been greatly enlarged to permit of
the
building of limousine and tonneau bodies and automobile tops. The
company is
also eastern distributors for Gabriel horns, Foster shock brakes,
Supplementary
spiral springs and Harroun auto wipers."
Fickling's listing in the 1908 edition of
the Motor
Cyclopedia mentions a factory in New Haven Connecticut in addition to
his
Manhattan warerooms:
"Fickling & Co., Inc.—154 E. 57th St.,
New York
City. Factory, New Haven, Conn. Mfrs. and agents for limousine,
landaulette and
runabout bodies, cape cart, Victoria and canopy tops, slip covers,
motor boat
tops, wind shields, tops recovered, extra and folding seats, foot rests
and
coat rails, lamp covers, dust shields, tire covers, painting bodies,
upholstering, iron and steel work, trunk carriers, tire irons, lamp
brackets,
wheels repaired, battery and tool boxes, auto fenders, auto relief
springs,
"Fickling" ignition and lighting system. Capital, $15,000. Est. 1905.
Successors to Auto Cover & Top Co., September, 1906. W. Irvine
Fickling,
près, and treas.; W. W. Fickling, sec; Henry F. Holbrook, mgr.; C. J.
Donovan, head of trimming dept.; W.С. Clark, head of paint shop; G.
Smith, head
of woodworking dept.; S. Hainpold, head of upholstery dept.; Mr.
Byrnes, head
of blacksmith dept."
"Fickling, W. Irvine.—Pres, and treas.
Fickling & Co., Inc., 154 E. 57th St., New York City.
"Fickling, Wm. Webb.—Sec. Fickling &
Co., Inc., 154 E. 57th St., New York City."
It's interesting to note that W. Irvine
Fickland served as a
judge in the 1903 and earlier class of the New York Automobile Trade
Association's 1908 Automobile Carnival.
Holbrook resigned as manager of Fickling
& Co. in early
1908, joining forces with John (Jack) Graham, Charles A. Singer Jr. and
David
J. Levett to produce high-grade custom-built bodies for the Manhattan
distributor of the Simplex and Palmer-Singer Automobile which was owned
by
Charles A. Singer Jr. and Sr.
Located at 509-15 W. 56th St., New York, New
York, the Holbrook-Singer
Co.'s organization was reported in the February 19, 1908 issue of the
Horseless
Age:
"Holbrook-Singer Co., Larchmont, Westchester
County, N.
Y.—Capital, $15.000. Directors. Henry F. Holbrook, 58 West
Fifty-ninth street: Charles A. Singer, Jr., and David J. Levett.
Larchmont, N.
Y. To manufacture motors, vehicles, etc."
After Holbrook left, Fickling moved to a
larger 6-story
brick structure located at 304-06 W. 49th St. and brought in two
experienced
automobile men, C. Royce Hough and D.W. Gluck, to help run the
business. The December
2, 1908 Horseless Age stating:
"Fickling & Co., manufacturer of
automobile
bodies and equipment, nave recently leased the large seven story
building at
304 and 306 West Forty-ninth street, New York, where several new
departments will
be added."
"C. Royce Hough, formerly factory manager of
the Pope
Manufacturing Co., Indianapolis, Ind., and later sales manager of the
Motor Car
Co., of Washington, D. C, has accepted a position as general manager
of Fickling & Co., New York."
The Real Estate Transactions column of the
December 6, 1908
New York Times reported:
"The Gross & Gross Company has leased
for G. Waldo
Smith to Fickling Co. the entire building 304 and 306 West Forty-ninth
Street a
term of years."
Additional details were published in the
December 12, 1908
issue of the New York Times:
"The seven story building at Nos. 304, 306
West
forty-ninth street has been leased by Fickling & Co., Inc.,
manufacturers
of automobile bodies. The firm has several new departments in its new
quarters.
To its staff have been added as general manager C. Royce Hough,
formerly
factory manager of the Pope Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis, and
as sales
manager D.W. Gluck, for several years with the Packard Motor Car
Company of New
York."
The managerial change was reflected in
Fickling & Co.'s 1909
listing in the Motor Cyclopedia:
"Fickling & Co., Inc.—304-06 W.
49th St.. New
York City. Factory, New Haven, Conn. Mfrs. and agts. for limousine,
landaulette
and runabout bodies, toy tonneaus, touring cars, cape cart, Victoria
and canopy
tops, slip covers, motor boat tops, wind shields, tops recovered, extra
and
folding seats, foot rests and coat rails, lamp covers, dust shields,
tire
covers, painting bodies, upholstering, iron and steel work, trunk
carriers, tire
irons, lamp brackets, wheels repaired, battery and tool boxes, auto
fenders,
auto relief springs. "Fickling" ignition and lighting system.
Capital, $15,000. Est. 1905. Successors to Auto Cover & Top Co..
September.
1906. W. Irvine Fickling. Pres. and Treas.; M. G. Fickling, Secy.; S.
H.
Elliott, Director; C. Royce Hough. Gen. Mgr.; D. W. Gluck. Sales Mgr.;
C. J.
Donovan, Foreman trimming dept.; W. C. Clark, foreman paint shop: J. A.
Fitzsimons, Foreman woodworking dept.; S. Hainpold. Head of upholstery
dept.:
Ed. Yunkers. Head of blacksmith dept."
A small display ad in the December 26, 1909
New York Times
follows:
"LIMOUSINE and Landaulet Bodies. Immediate
Deliveries,
"FICKLING COMPANY, 304 West
49th."
A little over a month later the Fickling Co.
was in the
hands of a receiver as reported in the February 10, 1910 issue of Motor
World:
"Fickling in Receiver's Hands.
Bankruptcy
proceedings have been brought against Fickling & Co., of
New
York City, manufacturers of automobile tops, bodies and
equipment, Judge
Adams appointing William Henkel, Jr., as receiver. The liabilities are
estimated at $18,000, of which $9,000 is unsecured, and the business
assets at
$29,000, consisting of plant, $20,000; accounts, $4,000, and good will
$5,000.
The petition alleges that the corporation is insolvent and that it
transferred
all its outstanding accounts to the Northern Bank of New York. It also
is
alleged that the bank has taken possession of the assets on a chattel
mortgage
of $8,500, has closed up the stock room and has prevented the taking of
materials for the factory to complete contracts amounting to $6,000.
Judge
Adams issued a restraining order against the bank from interfering with
the
possession of the receiver, as the bank had posted notices of the sale
under the
chattel mortgage and W. I. Fickling, the president of the
concern,
stated that the company would suffer irreparable loss if the sale took
place."
The receiver's fear that material might be
exiting the stock
room was well-founded as two of W. Irvine's brothers had recently
established
their own automobile supply houses. William Webb Fickling in
Philadelphia and
Frank G. Fickling in Washington D.C.
The July 16, 1910 issue of Automobile Topics
announced the
grand opening of Frank G. Fickling & Co.:
"Frank G. Fickling, who has been
connected with
the National Electrical Supply Company, in the automobile supply
department,
will on August 1 open a general supply store at 1112 14th Street, N. W.
The new
firm will be known as Frank G. Fickling & Co. and will
handle a
complete line of automobile accessories."
May 4, 1911 Washington Post classified:
"Accessories and Supplies of all kinds.
Frank G.
FICKLING Co., 1112 14th st. N.W. Phone N. 3825."
The February 22, 1912 issue of Motor World
reported:
"Frank G. Fickling, formerly of the Frank G.
Fickling
Co., and W. W. Fickling, of Philadelphia, have formed a
partnership
and opened salesrooms at 1401 I street N. W., Washington, D. C, where
they will
deal in accessories."
While his brother ran their own firm Frank
opened a
competing firm across town as recorded in the September 26, 1912 Motor
Age:
"Washington, D. C—The National Auto Supply
Co. has
opened a store at 1530 Fourteenth street, N. W, with Frank G.
Fickling as manager."
March 16, 1913 Washington Post:
"Frank Fickling has been appointed manager
for the
local branch of the Motz Tire Company, which has located at 1012
Fourteenth
street northwest. Mr. Fickling is well known to the Washington
automobile
trade, having been engaged in the accessory business here for several
years
past. The new branch will be formally opened with a complete stock of
Motz
tires this week."
Following W. Irvine Fickling's 1910
bankruptcy the firm's spacious
facility was leased to the W.A. Wood Automobile Mfg. Co. of Kingston,
New York,
the importer of the British-built Commer Car Truck. According to the
October
1910 issue of the Commercial Vehicle the firm hoped to produce 1 to 6
ton
Commer trucks in a leased Kingston, New York factory:
"For the present the machines sold will be
imported
from the works of Commercial Cars, Ltd., England, until the company is
in a
position to ship American-built machines from Kingston."
William A. Wood had recently become
well-known in Manhattan
automobile circles as he had announced the introduction of Guy
Vaughan's
"Try-out" car and had recently purchased some of the assets of Wyckoff,
Church & Partridge, Manhattan's Stearns, Commer and DeCauville
distributor.
Manufacture of the 'American' Commer never
materialized and
Kimes & Clark question whether series production of the Vaughan
commenced,
although a few test cars were produced between 1910 and 1912. In 1911
William
A. Wood reorganized the W.A. Wood Automobile Mfg. Co. as Wycoff, Church
&
Partridge Inc., and the resulting firm was declared bankrupt in 1912.
The former Fickling & Co. building on
West 49th Street was
subsequently taken over by the Orchard Spring Water Co. the century-old
garage
at 304-06 W. 49th St. currently houses a rental car office and parking
garage.
Fickling did not stay with the building,
having found a job
as a Reliance salesman as reported in the March 3, 1910 issue of Motor
World:
"W. I. Fickling, who has long been
identified with the automobile
trade, has returned to the commercial vehicle end of the business and
is now
assistant sales manager for Reliance gasoline wagons and trucks with
the Rainier Motor Truck Company, at Broadway and Sixty-fourth
Street,
New York."
The Rainier Co. later the R.& L. Co.,
1880 Broadway,
also distributed the Garford and Willys trucks.
Although the Holbrook Company enjoyed much
success in the
custom body field, after five years in business its founder and
namesake Henry
F. Holbrook parted ways with the firm, selling his shares to the
partners and
returning to his native England where he served as a gunner in the
Royal Flying
Corps.
Holbrook had served as the firm's salesman
and designer and
when he left the void was filled by a succession of talent who included
Paris-born coachbuilder, Leon Rubay, who worked for the firm for a
couple of
years between stints with Rothschild & Co., White and his own
Cleveland,
Ohio Company.
In the meantime Holbrook's friend and former
employer W. Irvine
Fickling had formed a new organization, the Fickling Enameling
Corporation,
which was organized under the laws of New York State on November 14,
1914. His
partners in the enterprise were two of his younger brothers, John
Sotheron
(b.1893-d.1966) and Frank Gordon (b.1889) Fickling – W. Irvine, pres.;
J.
Sothern, vice-pres. & superintendent; and Frank G., sec.-treas.
The November 5, 1914 issue of the Automobile
reported:
"Fickling Resigns—W.
Irvine Fickling, for the past 4 years sales manager of the R.
&
L. Co., New York City, Eastern distributors of Garford trucks, has
resigned and
will shortly make an announcement of a new connection."
That announcement appeared in the December
16, 1914 issue of
the Horseless Age:
"Fickling Enameling Plant.—The second
floor of the
building at Webster and Second avenue, Long Island City, N. Y.,
has been
leased by the Fickling Enameling Co., which will maintain an
automobile
body and general enameling plant on the premises, which provides over
20,000
square feet of floor apace."
The 'News and Notes of the Automobile Trade'
column of the March
21, 1915 New York Times made mention of the firm's new Radio-enameling
process:
"A direct effort to give more efficient
service to car
owners who desire to refinish their vehicles has been made by the
Fickling
Enameling Corporation, Long Island City. The process used has been
called the
Radio by this concern, and by it complete automobiles can be japanned
in three
days."
The process was explained in further detail
in the April 8,
1915 issue of Iron Age:
"A Rapid Enameling Process
"An enameling process, the distinctive
feature of
which is a quick-drying secured by heating the objects treated in large
ovens
under a relative high percentage of humidity, has been perfected by the
Fickling Enameling Corporation, Long Island City, New York. By this
method,
known as the Radio-enameling process, an automobile can be refinished
in three
days.
"After the initial enamel has been applied
by either
dipping or spraying, the parts are placed in these specially
constructed ovens
and dried under a uniform temperature and humidity. Thermostatic
control keeps
the temperature between 110 and 120 deg. F., and water control on a
diaphragm
regulates the humidity at a point about 40 per cent, of saturation.
Where the
character of materials allows, the temperature is increased to as much
as 200
deg. The final enamel is subjected to a similar baking at a slightly
lower
temperature.
"Drying in the ovens under the constant
relation of
temperature and moisture and the use of water-washed air are said to
secure
more lasting enamel than is possible by ordinary air drying. Keeping
the outer
surface green permits the inner layers to dry and set, thus securing a
hard and
enduring foundation. When dried in the open air, the surface becomes
hard,
while the under coatings may be green for some time. On automobile
hoods this
results in sweating. W. I. Fickling, president of the
corporation, is
of the opinion that the Radio method will have wide industrial uses
because
of the time saved in drying. One oven 19 ft. 6 in. x 42 ft. is in
use at
present and Mr. Fickling holds that the method would be efficient with
even a
larger oven."
The May 19, 1915 issue of the Horseless Age
announced that
Fickling had taken over the plant of the Dunlop Wire Wheel Co.:
"Fickling Takes Over Dunlop Enameling
Plant.—The Fickling Enameling Corp., of Long Island City, N.
Y., have
purchased the enameling plant of the Dunlop Wire Wheel Co., said to be
one of
the most modern establishments of its kind in the United States. The
Fickling Corporation
are prepared to continue the service formerly supplied by the Dunlop
company."
A New York Tribune display ad dating from
September 8, 1915 is
transcribed below:
"Automobiles Japanned in 3 Days
Fickling Enameling Corp., 2d and Webster Av.
Long Island
City. Telephone Astoria 1476
"Japanning of every character. All Colors."
Business increased to the point where
additional
manufacturing capacity was required and the November 13, 1915 issue of
the Automobile
announced a 25,000 sq. ft. plant expansion:
"Fickling to Add 25,000 Sq. Ft.
"Long Island City, N. Y.,
Nov. 13— The
Fickling Enameling Corp., this city, is enlarging its plant by the
addition of
26,000 sq. ft. to accommodate its assembling plant, and the
wood-working,
metal-stamping and upholstery departments, to take care of several
large
contracts recently received from manufacturers."
The firm's listing in the 1917 New York city
business
directory follows:
"FICKLING ENAMELING CORPORATION, W Irvine
Fickling
Pres; J Sothoron Fickling V-Pres; M. G. Fickling Sec and Treas;
Enameling,
Japanning Metal Work. Automobiles japanned 2d and Webster Avs L I City
Tel
Astoria 1474, 1475, 1476."
The May 13, 1917 issue of the Automobile
revealed that some
of the firm's excess capacity would now be used to store automobiles:
"Fickling Adds Storage Department
"New York, April
30—The Fickling
Enameling Corp., Long Island City, has added to its plant a
department for
the storage of cars and bodies. Following are the rates: Closed cars,
first
month $12, additional months $8.50; touring cars and runabouts and
chassis, $10
and $7.50; closed bodies, $8 and $6.50; touring bodies, $6.50 and $5.
These
prices include jacking up cars and supplying covers."
The January 17, 1918 issue of Automotive
Industries / The Automobile
announced that W. Irvine's brother, William Webb Fickling was now
involved with
the Fulton Motor Truck Co.:
"W. W. Fickling, formerly connected
with the Olds
Motor Works, Lansing, and later with the Cadillac Motor Car Co. and the
Garford
and Gramm-Bernstein companies in the truck field, has joined the forces
of the
Fulton Motor Truck Co., Farmingdale, Long Island, N. Y."
After a four year hiatus from the automotive
industry Henry
F. Holbrook returned to the United States in mid-1918 in order to join
his
friend and former employer's Long Island City body building and
Japanning
business. The May 23, 1918 issue of Automotive Industries/The
Automobile
reported on the firm's reorganization:
"Fickling Enameling Reorganized
"LONG ISLAND CITY, N. Y., May 21
—The Fickling
Enameling Co. has passed out of existence and has been succeeded
by the
Enameling & Stamping Corp., organized with a capital of $200,000.
W. Irvine
Fickling will be president of the new company, and H. F. Holbrook,
formerly
associated with the Holbrook company, manufacturer of bodies, will be
secretary
and treasurer."
April-May 1918 issue of The Metal Record and
Electroplater
indicate his wife Mae Frances, was involved in the enterprise:
"The Enameling &
Stamping Corporation of
New York, Brooklyn, has been incorporated, with a capital of $200,000
by H.F.
Holbrook, W.I. and M.F. Fickling, 600 West 116th Street to
manufacture
enameled ware, etc."
The May 1, 1918 edition of The Horseless
reported that W.
Irivine Fickling had joined his brother at the Fulton Motor Truck Co.,
the
Manhattan sales headquarters of the Fulton Motor Truck:
"Carl H. Page and W. Irving Fickling are
associated
with Norris Mason in the New York Fulton Truck Company recently formed
to
handle the Fulton Truck made by the Fulton Motor Truck Company,
Farmingdale,
L.I."
They also printed a retraction related to
the firm's sales
manager, Norris Mason, who like Fickling, had long been a fixture in
Manhattan
automotive circles:
"Norris Mason is sales manager of
the New York agency of the Fulton Motor Truck Company instead of
for the
company itself as stated in the last issue
of The Horseless Age. W. F. Melhuish, Jr., is
president and
sales manager and H. J. Flint is assistant sales manager."
The June 28, 1918 Motor Age announced the
reorganization of
Fickling Enameling Corp. as Enameling & Stamping Corp. of New York:
"Enameling Works for Service to Makers—
"The Enameling & Stamping Corp. of New
York has
established in Long Island City what are said to be the largest
enameling works
in the East devoted exclusively to the service of manufacturers for
work of
this character. The company has purchased the plant of the Fickling
Enameling Corp. and is now equipped for enameling of every
character and
in all colors. One of the quantity-production contracts now in progress
is the
enameling of 2,500,000 pieces. W. I. Fickling is president and
associated with
him is H. F. Holbrook, formerly president of the Holbrook Co."
Henry F. Holbrook was listed as the firm's
secretary and
treasurer. The August 1, 1918 issue of Aviation reported on the firm's
progress
in rustproofing metal:
"A Rust Proofing
"The increased cost of galvanizing and other
processes
of rust-proofing and the unsuitability of galvanizing or other metal as
a
coating for metal parts which must be inspected rigidly for defects
before
assembling and constantly reinspected during use, has turned attention
strongly
to the safety
transparent, rust-proof and acid-proof finish
which has been developed by the Enameling & Stamping
Corporation of
New York. It is said that no defects in metal can possibly be
concealed by
it when baked in its transparent form. Various Government and airplane
manufacturers are carrying out tests of this finish. As a priming
finish it
grips the pores of the metal so closely that no scraping or cutting can
alter
the rustproof effect, unless the metal itself is cut away. The
rustproof finish
also is being applied in many cases with pigment, of all colors, in it.
As it
costs considerably less than porcelain enameling, it is expected to
displace
that finish for many articles. It is, in fact, less expensive than
galvanizing
or tinning under present conditions."
Coinciding with the reorganization of the
Fickling Enameling
Corp. as the Enameling & Stamping Corp. was W. Irvine Fickling's
appointment as sales manager of the Fulton Motor Truck Co.'s Manhattan
sales
office which was announced in the May 1, 1918 issue of Horseless Age:
"Carl H. Page and W. Irving Fickling are
associated
with Norris Mason in the New York Fulton Truck
Company recently
formed to handle the Fulton Truck made by the Fulton Motor Truck
Company,
Farmingdale, L.I."
Despite sharing a name, Robert E. Fulton was
unconnected
with the Fulton Motor Truck Company, 1917-1923, a Farmingdale, Long
Island
manufacturer of 1½ ton motor trucks founded by William Fulton Melhuish,
Jr., as
the Clyde Motor Truck Co. in 1915. Fulton Motor Truck Co.'s Hempstead
Turnpike plant
would later house the Fairchild and later on the Grumman aircraft
manufacturing
facilities.
The Enameling & Stamping Corp. of New
York must have
been very short-lived and by early 1920 Henry F. Holbrook, Fickling's
partner,
had gone back in business with the Singer's forming the Perfect Body
Corporation in early 1920. The 'Commercial Leases' column of the May 8,
1920
New York Times reported:
"Leo Schloss leased for the Theodore Klein
Construction
Company, to the Perfect Body Corporation, H. F. Holbrook, President, a
subsidiary of the Singer Motor Car Company, the one story
building on
Madison Avenue between 136th to 137th Streets covering an area of
40,000 square
feet."
Within the year the Perfect Body Corp. had
been dissolved
and on April 5, 1921 Henry F. Holbrook had incorporated the H.F.
Holbrook
Company with the New York Secretary of State as a Foreign Business
Corporation.
No more was heard from the Enameling &
Stamping Corp. of
New York after its 1918 organization, and Fickling concentrated his
activities
to truck and automobile sales as recorded by the July 13, 1919 issue of
the New
York Times:
"NEW CAR ON BROADWAY.
"The Hollier "Six," five-passenger touring
type, 116-inch wheelbase. The local agency has just been taken by W.
Irvine
Fickling and Norris Mason of the New York Fulton Truck Company."
W. Irvine Fickling made a number of trips to
Havana during
1917 and 1919, and his name is conspicuously absent from the automobile
trades
after 1920. He and his wife Mae, and daughter Elizabeth are included in
the
1920 US Census as resident of Westchester County, New York, but within
the year
had relocated to Miami, Florida. The purpose was to join his
brother-in-law
Leonidas Beatie Southerland, the spouse of his sister Ida, in a new
real estate
venture, the Fickling-Southerland Realty Corp. Fickling served as
president, L.B. Southerland, vice-president, secretary and treasurer.
The Fickling family's fortune had been
founded upon real
estate so it's not surprising, W. Irvine returned to the profession of
his
father after he relocated to Miami, which was in the midst of a real
estate
boom. Located in Miami's historic Congress building, the firm was
reorganized following
the death of Southerland becoming Fickling Properties. Although it's
now
headquartered in Macon, Georgia the firm is still in business as
Fickling &
Co.
An entry at Ancestry.com dating from 2001
indicates Elizabeth
Frances Fickling (b. Aug. 23, 1907) had a child in 1931 that was
ultimately named
after her father, William I. Fickling. The story of how he got his name
is
interesting. His great-granddaughter Elfriede Hutwelker writes (edited
for
continuity):
"I am the great-granddaughter of William
Irvine
Fickling. He was married to Mae Frances Fickling,
whose only child, my grandmother Elizabeth
Frances Fickling, was born in New York City on August 23, 1907. She
married
three times. My grandfather was Roy D. Cone, her other two husbands
were named
Leroy Wakefield and ? Jones. When she filed for her Social Security
number in
1936 she was living at 431 Rivo Alto Island, Miami Beach, Florida and
working
for Fickling Properties Inc., 1414 Congress Bldg., Miami Florida.
"Elizabeth Frances Fickling married Roy
Davis Cone, and
their son, Roy William Cone, was born on August 4, 1931. Shortly
thereafter a divorce
and bitter custody battle ensued resulting in my father being adopted
by his maternal
grandfather (my grandfather, William Irvine Fickling) and his name
changed to William
Irvine Fickling."
I couldn't locate an obituary for W. Irvine
Fickling, but
perhaps a family member might be so kind as to forward that information
to me.
© 2011 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com
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