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Located next door to Standard Carriage Works at 717 S. San Pedro St. was
Langlois Bros., a well-known school bus body builder and distributor founded
by twin brothers, Harry F. and Herbert N. Langlois.
The Langlois were born in Paso Robles, California on February 24, 1891 to
William H. and Lizzie L. (Terry) Langlois. After a public education they
attended Santa Maria College., graduating in 1910. They became interested in
the emerging auto truck field and after working for a number of Los
Angeles-based firms entered the trailer, truck equipment and school
bus distribution business in 1919, when they purchased the business formerly
operated as the Bennett Auto Body Company.
Bennett was best known for their commercial body building activities on
the Ford Model T chassis and also distributed heavy-duty Model T frame
extension, suspension and drivetrain kits. Bennett was the successor to the
Williams Brothers, an early Los Angeles carriage builder who had been in
operation at 717 S. San Pedro St. since the 1890s.
Early in their life the Langlois Brothers offered their own line of
school bus bodies for the Model T chassis, but soon became distributors only
becoming the Los Angles agents for Superior Body Co. of Lima, Ohio. The
brothers prospered and put some of their profits into Diatom Co. a
successful Nevada mining operation. They also were heavily invested in
developing the town of Desert Hot Springs, California and held a number of
US patents relating to heavy-duty brakes, transmissions and oil filtration
systems.
Today 717 S. San Pedro is at the center of Los Angeles’ wholesale flower
district and the former Langlois Brothers plant is now the home of the Los
Angeles Flower Mall.
© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com
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