"The Model T Ford is still used by more people than any other automobile."
On June 29, 1928, not quite 81 years ago, the C. R. Gleason Co. of Bottineau, North Dakota — that’s about ten miles from the Manitoba, Canada, border — sent a penny postcard to a man in Maxbass, North Dakota, in the western part of Bottineau County.
The message on the backside was simple and to the point:
“Dear Sir,” it starts out, “We’re writing this letter to you today because we want to help you get your money out of your Model T. It’s still as good a car as it was the day the new Model A Ford was announced and there’s no need to sacrifice it.”
The Model A had been introduced six months earlier.
“The Model T Ford is still used by more people than any other automobile,” the message goes on to report.
“Eight million are in active service right now and many of them can be driven one, two, three and five years and even longer.”
The Model T could be rebuilt for very little money.
“Bring your car to us and let us look it over. You’ll be surprised to see how little it costs to put it in tip-top shape.
“New fenders, for instance, cost from $3.50 to $5.00 each, with a labor charge of $1.00 to $2.50. Tuning up the motor and replacing commutator case, brush and vibrator points costs only $1.00, with a small charge for material. Brake shoes can be installed and emergency brakes equalized for a labor charge of only $1.25. A labor charge of $4.00 to $5.00 will cover the overhauling of the front axle, rebushing springs and spring perches, and straightening, aligning and adjusting wheels.
“The labor charge for overhauling the average rear axle runs from $5.75 to $7.00. Grinding valves and cleaning carbon can be done for $3.00 to $4.00.
“A set of four new pistons and rings cost only $7.00. For a labor charge of $20 to $25.00 you can have your motor and transmission completely overhauled. Parts are extra.
Very truly yours,
Bottineau, N. Dak. C. R. GLEASON CO.”
In my book, it would be hard to write a better service promotion letter than the above. Possibly this was a creation of Ford Motor Company’s advertising agency in Detroit, and sent out to all dealers from the company’s then service headquarters at Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard, a couple of blocks east of the relatively new General Motors Building. Or maybe Mr. Gleason or one of his employees was well-educated in rhetoric.
A facsimile of this postal card just arrived in my email inbox and it was too good not to share.
In case you haven’t calculated it, a dollar in 1928 would amount to $12.35 today, according to the U. S. Government’s Consumer Price Index. So that $25 engine/transmission overhaul in 1928 small-town Montana would still only be $308.75 in today’s money—and a great bargain compared to what a new or rebuilt engine and transmission in a modern car would cost, whether in Montana or a Detroit suburb.
No wonder the Model T Ford was so beloved.
You can’t really compare 1928 money to today’s. An engine/transmission rebuild actually cost $3500, about 10 times higher than your comparison. Today new fenders cost $310, no brackets or painted. When I started working on my model T, I quit counting the cost at $15,000 and I did all the work. Anyway, I am having the time of my life with my Model T’s.
I received that same post card listed above from my brother. He said a friend of his in California sent it to him and I was looking to see if the company still existed and to send it on to them but I see no need to now. Thanks for the history lesson.
Bill Gailfus
formally of Rolla North Dakota
Well during this time; my step-Father’s Dad was a Ford Dealerin Harlem in New York City!
We apparently did business by by providing good service at a reasonible price!
There is a listing in the Bottineau County census for a “Gleason, C.R” here:
http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northdakota.counties.bottineau/98/mb.ashx
Thanks for the genealogical update. I never doubted that Gleason and the card were real.
Mike Davis
And Now the Rest of the Story. I stumbled on this postcard in some old files and scanned it into the computer, forwarding it to the State and County Coordinators on the North Dakota GenWeb site last fall. Not sure how it ended up with Mike Davis, but it likely got as much exposure here as it would have on the GenWeb Site since that hasn’t been updated in about two years. So, end result, bottom line is I was looking for some exposure. Should Chester Bjorngaard’s family or a descendant of the C.R. Gleason Company want to come forward and send proof of relationship, I’d be most glad to send the original to them. Things like this are neat to have but have much more meaning when there is a link to the family. VR. Mags
Michael “Mags” Shaw
Mags — Thanks for the interesting history you sent me on the North Dakota Ford dealer’s 1928 postal card.
I received my copy of it on March 13 in an email from a friend in Connecticut, a former Marine and very successful manufacturer. I’ve written to him to see if he recalls or can reconstruct where he got it.
Uh….everyone that states they have the original is a liar. I have the original POST CARD and it was found in a deserted home 35 years ago in ND.
Uh, guys, this is beginning to be funny. It demonstrates the hazard of claiming anything is a “first” or “original.”
I think, as kids used to say, “Let’s let him and you fight it out.”
No doubt the dealer mailed out dozens of these postcards. But only one presumably was sent to Mr. Bjorngaard in the hamlet of Maxbass, ND. There can’t be two originals unless the whole thing is a hoax.
What mystifies me is the delayed but widespread interest in this item, and I have to wonder what search words brought it up.
MD
Perhaps if all of the greedy union workers and manufacturers had built decent cars we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in. The idea of a dealer or manufacturer showing a customer that a new car is not necessary is foreign concept to today’s way of business.
It’s time, Mike, I respectfully submit, to move forward.
Mistakes were made by all involved, management and the workers.
The problem now is that we do not have an industrial policy that protects and creates decent paying jobs.
All other industrialized nations we compete with have such policies and they are targeting our markets.
Chester Bjorngaard is shown on the 1920 census as being 19 years old and living with his mother, Bridgette (Norwegian), his stepfather, Olaff Lerfald in Newburg, Bottineau Co, ND.