Coachbult.com - Glascock Bros. Mfg. Co.



Glascock Bros. Mfg. Co. - 1892- 1940s - Muncie, Indiana

Glasocock Bros Mfg. Co. letterhead dated Muncie, Ind. April 18, 1910, it has great illustrations of a baby in a jumper, baby in a walker and a child on a Glascock hand car. Letter has the stamped signature of C. S. Davis, Sec'y

John J. Dow President - A.L. Johnson Vice-President - C.S. Davis Sec'y & Treasurer

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Originally formed to manufacture washing machines, the Glascock Brothers Manufacturing Company became famous as the the first company to manufacture beverage coolers officially approved by the Coca-Cola Company. Because of this status, Glascock Brothers Manufacturing Company is considered the "Grandfather" of Coca-Cola coolers. Glascock Brothers Manufacturing Company was located in Muncie, Indiana and many of their early coolers have become very collectible.

More famous for their 1930s Coca-Cola (and other brands) soda coolers, Glascock also made a few early stamped-metal production bodies for Mid-western manufacturers. Know dates of manufacture are 1912.

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In January of 1929, at the annual Bottlers Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Glascock Brothers Manufacturing Company of Muncie, Indiana unveiled what was to become one of the most important Coca-Cola advances in the history of the company-the first mass produced Coke cooler.

The "Standard,' as the first ice box was called, held 72 six ounce bottles with a storage area in the bottom of the cooler for three cases of Coca-Cola and one case of empties. The Standard weighed approximately 151 pounds and had outside dimensions of 311/2" x 231/2" x 40" high. The cost was $12.50! As with later "Glascocks," the cooler was well built and able to take considerable abuse and use as witnessed by the number that have survived. Heavy metal was used and galvanized for strength and longevity. The sign panels were built from "heavy gauge material" and embossed. Early coolers have the famous logo "Serve Yourself' above, and "Please Pay the Clerk" below the logo "Drink Coca-Cola." In later years the Standard, as well as other Glascock coolers, used the simpler red and white sign saying "Drink Coca-Cola." To refurbish the Standard and others, the Coca-Cola Company made available sign inserts for the machines that needed new sides, repainted the boxes Morocco green and painted the inside with aluminum-based paint.

In subsequent years, the Glascock Brothers introduced numerous other coolers or modifications to the existing line. One example is the Coca-Cola "Junior." The Coca-Cola Bottler magazine of February, 1930, shows a picture and description of the Junior. Known to collectors today as the single case Glascock, it was designed for situations where floor space was limited. It was offered as an alternative to the Standard and used in small stores, clubs and offices. It held 36 bottles in ice water and had room for 24 bottles in storage. As with the Standard, both coolers were built with heavy duty "500 pound" one-piece casters that were cadmium plated for use in maneuvering the machine. The original Junior listed for $7.95.

Also available in 1931 was the countertop model which is basically a Junior without legs. It had a spigot for the draining of water and provided only ice cold Cokes since there was no storage capability.

With the introduction of the larger Standard in 1930 came the "Deluxe Model." The Deluxe Model was designed for stores that wanted a more attractive cooler, and listed for $36 in The Coca-Cola Bottler of November, 1931. The Deluxe and the Frigidaire equipped version which initially cost $160, are extremely rare and very difficult to find.

Modifications of these machines were done in various forms. The "All Weather Model" was galvanized on the exterior for protection. The Standard became available with an enclosed base and a coin-op device was added in 1932. Wheels were also added to give yet another use to the well-designed and, by then, prolific machine.

The "Grandfather" of all existing Coke machines throughout the world, Glascocks are treasured by all collectors who own them. In many cases they are the central part of their collection, and understandably so.

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B.D. Glascock, of the firm of J. W. and B. D. Glascock, dealers in coal at Muncie, is a native of the old Buckeye State but has been a resident of Muncie since the days of his boyhood. Mr. Glascock was born at Hillsboro, Ohio, in 1872, and is a son of the Rev. Benjamin and Catherine (Kinsell) Glascock, the latter of whom was born in the state of Ohio. Rev. Benjamin Glascock was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, a son of Daniel Glascock, and was but a lad when his parents located at Hillsboro. The Rev. Benjamin Glascock located in Muncie in 1887. He and his wife had five children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last born, the others being Charles O., Sarah, wife of James McClellan, Seth T. and John W. Glascock. As will be noted by a comparison of above dates, B. D. Glascock was fifteen years of age when he came to Muncie with his parents in 1887. He completed his schooling in the schools of this city and was for some time afterward connected with the wholesale grocery trade in the city, later becoming associated with his brothers, Charles O. and John W. Glascock. In 1892 the Glascock Brothers Manufacturing Company established at Muncie a factory for the manufacture of washing machines and juvenile novelties. In 1907, a year following the death of Charles O. Glascock, the other brothers, J. W. and B. D. Glascock disposed of that concern and organized their coal business, with ample and well-equipped yards at Liberty and Second Streets, one of the oldest established coal yards in the city. Mr. Glascock is a Freemason and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. B. D. Glascock married Marietta Angel, daughter of the Rev. William P. Angel, a former pastor of the Friends' Church at Muncie, and has one child, a daughter, Elizabeth, who is now a student in DePauw University. J. W. Glascock married Mary Lieb and has three children, sons all, Hardin R., Fred L. and John Lewis, the two elder of whom are veterans of the World War, Fred L. Glascock having served as a surgeon with the rank of a second lieutenant. The B. D. Glascocks reside at 45 Orchard Place. J. W. Glascock is now living at Beverly Hills, California.

Note: This must be the same family that designed the Coca - Cola soda machines (early).

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Sydney PAUL, manager of the plant of the Portland Body Works, manufacturers of automobile bodies, at Portland, is an Englishman by birth but an American by adoption and choice and has never had occasion to regret the decision which prompted him to come to this country not long after he had attained his majority. Mr. PAUL had been thoroughly trained in the details of his craft in his home country and the additional experience gained by practical service in some of the big body building plants of this country after his arrival here has given him a facility in that form of industrial operation that has long caused him to be regarded as one of the leaders in his line. He has been a resident of Portland since 1915 and has from the very beginning of his residence there been recognized as one of the important factors in the industrial life of the town. Mr. PAUL was born at Petersborough, in Northamptonshire, England, April 22, 1886, son of Stephen and Harriet (AYTHORPE) PAUL, and completed his schooling at St. Peters College in that city. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed under the English system, for a period of five years with the firm of Brainsby & Sons, coach and auto body builders, at Petersborough, and upon completing his apprenticeship went to Coventry, the automobile center of England, and there became employed in the enclosed body building department of the Daimler Motor Car Corporation. So thoroughly had the young man learned the technicalities of his craft that his skill was at once recognized by his employers and within a month he was put in charge of the landaulette department of that corporation's great plant. For more than three years Mr. PAUL remained with this concern and then he went to Southport, where for a time he was employed as superintendent of the enclosed body building department in the plant of the Vulcan Motor Car Corporation. As a means of widening his knowledge of his craft he then rendered service in various other plants in England until he was twenty-three years of age, when he determined to come to America and enter the automobile industrial field here. On November 24, 1909, he sailed on the American Line steamer "Freisland," which on account of rough seas was thirteen days in making the passage, the unwonted delay causing the vessel to be reported lost in maritime offices. Mr. PAUL landed at Philadelphia and straightway proceeded to Kalamazoo, Mich., where the position of superintendent of the auto body department of the plant of the Michigan Buggy Company was awaiting him. The conditions there did not prove satisfactory and he only remained a month, going thence on January 1, 1910, to Muncie;, Ind., [Delaware Co.] where he became employed as mechanical engineer and designer in the plant of the Glasscock Bros. Manufacturing Company, builders of auto bodies. In the following August, Mr. PAUL went to New York to meet the English girl to whom his troth had been plighted before he left his native land, and he was married there. Returning to Muncie with his bride, he established his home in that city and there remained connected with the Glasscock Bros. plant until November 1, 1915, when he moved to Portland to take the position of mechanical engineer and assistant manager in the office of the Portland Body Works. On January 1, 1921, he was promoted to the position of manager of the plant and has since served in that important capacity.