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Kranz Automotive Body Co – 300 Russell Blvd. St. Louis,
Missouri – 1863-present - The nation was still embroiled in the Civil
War when the Kranzes set up a blacksmith shop in St. Louis in 1863. This was
no ordinary blacksmith shop, because the smiths had a special knack for
forging superior horse shoes, and they approached every job with skillful
craftsmanship and dedication to quality. Their reputation as the very best
blacksmiths around grew quickly. This was the beginning of a tradition of
service that has developed over more than a century and has kept pace with
the technological changes which have transformed our society over the years.
From blacksmithing, the Kranz family moved on to carriage- making, applying
its old skills and perfecting new ones to build carriages that had no equal
in the area. With the advent of automotive power, it was a natural
transition for the Kranzes to turn to building fine truck bodies. Early on
in the automotive age, companies like Kranz in many cities and towns
designed and built truck bodies in small quantities to meet the special need
of local truck users. Eventually large manufacturers began to mass produce
standardized models of many truck body types and to sell and market them
regionally and nationally. It was a logical step for Kranz to become a
distributor of these mass produced bodies, and today Kranz Automotive Body
Company represents a number of America's leading manufacturers of truck
equipment. Kranz frequently adds an extra dimension to standard equipment by
customizing it to the requirements of its customers.
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