From Laramie to Beer
Beginning in 1916, a charismatic journalist cum automobile manufacturer forever changed the way cars were perceived. Edward S. “Ned” Jordan founded his namesake motorcar company in Cleveland, specializing in assembled cars that relied on parts from outside vendors. In house, Jordan and his team put the finishing touches on his luxury autos in a 60,000 square foot facility on East 152nd Street. The attractively styled, fancifully painted cars caught the attention of the era’s wealthy playboys – which had been the idea all along. A masterful marketer, Jordan created among the most influential advertising campaigns in history. On June 23, 1923, his evocative “Somewhere West of Laramie” ad appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, causing a stir. No longer were cars sold on their technical merits, but rather their cachet, their allure, the potential adventure they could offer. The resulting demand for Jordan’s Playboy was so great that the factory had trouble fulfilling orders.
Women were the primary buyers of electric cars, and the Rauch & Lang Carriage Company and the Baker Motor Car Company were electric car innovators at the turn of the century. “Women loved electric cars,” says Unrein. “No smoke. No mess. No fuss. Just plug them in at night, and you are ready to go in the morning.”
Redefining the idea of a backseat driver, women often sat in the back of these autos with a top speed of 20 mph, steering with a tiller, while their lady friends sat backwards to face the driver and chat. Many of these cars were equipped with side curtains and flower vases: “These were women’s urban social cars.”
Through the 1920s, auto manufacturers came and went, such as the Templar Motors Company, whose factory was on Athens Avenue in Lakewood, and White Motors, which probably sold the most units, says Unrein. “A lot of these companies were very small production … either mid- or higher-priced cars,” he says. “Although they were quite on the cutting-edge of development, when the Fords and Chevys came out, and some of the other cheaper production cars, bankers were less speculative in Cleveland. Thus began the migration of the industry to Detroit.
“Labor was too costly here. Labor was cheaper in Detroit. So to make a cheaper production car, banks and investors went to Detroit, where they had similar raw materials as Cleveland.”
The last car manufactured in Cleveland was a 1932 Peerless prototype made entirely from aluminum, including the 16-valve motor. The body was styled by 22-year-old Franklin Hershey, who would later design the iconic 1955 Ford Thunderbird.
However, the Great Depression spelled the ultimate end of Cleveland’s automotive heyday. “Everybody went away, basically, because of that,” says Unrein. Even moneyed manufacturers such as Peerless realized nobody was going to buy cars. Production deteriorated from a couple of thousand cars per year to less than 100 per year. “It wasn’t worth making automobiles in Cleveland anymore.”
Peerless, for one, turned to alcohol. “They made a phone call to Canada, got the rights for Carling beer; within four months, they turned the whole [factory] into a brewery and never made another car again,” says Unrein.
Cleveland's automotive history will be celebrated at the 2010 Glenmoor Gathering of Significant Automobiles, September 19 from 10 am to 4 pm, with a special collection of Cleveland-made automobiles on display.
