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In 1912, Pete Kief purchased the Dessecker Company, a New York City based
carriage and hearse maker. Famous for their exceptional upholstery and drape-works, Dessecker did a good business
in refurbishing tired coaches as well as furnishing new ones in the height of fashion. Renamed the Peter Kief
Company, the firm supplied large numbers of funeral vehicles to New York City livery firms starting in 1912.
Many metropolitan funeral directors couldn't afford to own the sometimes large number of vehicles needed for the
funerals of the rich an famous so they relied upon livery companies such as the Hornthal Company to supply them with
extra vehicles. Other directors found that the excellent service offered by the numerous rental firms enabled them
to operate without owning any vehicles at all.
With the sudden popularity of motorized funeral vehicles, large metropolitan liveries like Hornthal sold their
old horse-drawn hearses to South American and Caribbean-based brokers who were eager to purchase the now-obsolete
coaches. A fine Cunningham hearse, almost worthless in NYC, might bring as much as $1000 in Havana during the mid to
late teens.
Kief like to use heavy-duty chassis, initially with Autocar and later on with White's 140" chassis of from
1913-1916.
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