Coachbult.com - Square Deal Body Co.



Square Deal Body Co. (#1) - 1930s-1940s - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Square Deal Body Co. (#2) - 1928-1932 - Lansing, Michigan

Rust Heinz also designed "Comet" van on Autocar 132-inch chassis for use by 57 Varieties in Pittsburgh. Square Deal Body Co. constructed it.

Square Deal was primarily a commercial body builder and were famous for their product vans built for the Heinz Co.

Square Deal supplied Ford with a small canvas-covered semi-enclosed platform body during the 1931 model year that was a favorite with local freight-hauling firms.

They also manufactured large furniture and panel vans with bodies that sloped gently downwards to the driver's windshield that could be mounted on Ford Model AA cowl & chassis using parts from stock Ford panel vans.

Square Deal manufactured a line of route delivery bodies in addition to their larger furniture vans through the 1930s.

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Interestingly, Pittsburgh also was the home of the Square Deal Automobile Club, a group that ran an "auto chain letter" pyramid scheme in 1936 who were later convicted of running a lottery and violating the Fictitious Names Act.

"Square Deal" was a term coined by President Theodore Roosevelt and was a very popular phrase before WWII, especially during the Depression. A "Square Deal" was Roosevelt's concept of a society based on fair business competition and increased welfare for needy Americans. "The principles for which we stand are the principles of fair play and a square deal for every man and every woman in the United States." - Theodore Roosevelt Speech - New York City, August 7, 1912.

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A different Square Deal in Lansing, Michigan

Square Deal Auto Body Co. - 826 E. Kalamazoo St. Lansing, MI 1928-1933

In 1930, this was an auto trim and body repair facility.

This is a rectangular plan, concrete block building with a brick facade. Its roof slopes to the rear between stepped parapets on the side elevations. The street elevation consists of three service bay doors: the two flanking doors are 15-panel/9-light, wood overhead garage doors with exhaust ports; the center bay door is a newer, metal construction, overhead door with six small windows. This building was erected in the 1920s as an automobile service garage, in response to the increasing numbers of automobiles on Lansing streets. In 1928, this building was occupied by Square Deal Auto Body, in 1933 by Triangle Body Repair, in 1939 by City Body Shop, and by 1953 through at least 1963, Morrie's Auto Body Parts. It is located at the eastern end of an automobile repair row located east of downtown Lansing.

For more information please read:

G.N. Georgano & G. Marshall Naul - The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles

Albert Mroz - Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks & Commercial Vehicles

Denis Miller - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses

Tad Burness - American Truck Spotter's Guide, 1920-1970

Tad Burness - American Truck & Bus Spotter's Guide, 1920-1985

Robert M Roll - American trucking: A seventy-five year odyssey

David Jacobs - American Trucks: A photographic essay of American Trucks and Trucking

David Jacobs - American Trucks: More Colour Photographs of Truck & Trucking

John Gunnell - American Work Trucks: A Pictorial History of Commercial Trucks 1900-1994

George W. Green - Special-Use Vehicles: An Illustrated History of Unconventional Cars and Trucks

Daniel D. Hutchins - Wheels Across America: Carriage Art & Craftsmanship