Whilst perusing the June 1934 edition of Radio-Craft magazine, I found betwixt the pages this business
card from the Lake Chevrolet Company, of Devils Lake, North Dakota. As you can tell by the old panel truck on
it, the year it was printed was probably sometime around 1934. While this business card does not have the value
of a 1900s era blue chip stock certificate I keep hoping to find, it does have historic and nostalgic value -
at least to me as an appreciator of the people and institutions that built America.
The handwriting on the back of the card says, "Delivery 577. Cab box chassey[sic],"
and "Let me know at least 3 weeks ahead." Although you cannot tell from the flat scan, there is a fold line that
runs along the top of the green "Chevrolet Motor Trucks" line, with the outline of the truck trimmed out so the
truck sticks up when the card is folded and set on a surface for display.
A little research indicates that this is a 1932 Chevrolet Panel Truck. A couple features that distinguish it
from the model years before and after it are the vertical vent fins on the side of the engine compartment, and
the way the bottom rear of the container area curves inward toward the front.
Image of
1932 Chevrolet Panel Truck retrieved from
Steve Sexton's flickr web page.
Lake Chevrolet Company is now called Lake Motor Company
and is located at 123 Fifth St. Northeast, Devils Lake, ND, 58301. According to their 'About
Us' page, the family that founded the company has been in business since 1923! A president of a certain country
might say to them something like, "you didn't build that," but my guess is there might be some disagreement amongst
all the kin who took risks, put in long hours, and employed many other people along the way in the last 92 years.
A brief search for the salesman, Mr. Casper L. Wesley, did not turn up anything positive. I found one census
record of someone with that name born in 1889 in Wisconsin, but no history on him. It is unlikely that there might
have been two Casper L. Wesley in America back in the day, so maybe he sought his fortune as a car salesman in
North Dakota. Unlike many of the vintage magazines I buy, this one, unfortunately, did not have the original mailing
label on the cover to identify the owner.
I have never been to Devils Lake, but Melanie was there for two weeks when she was in the West Virginia Air
National Guard (she was an administration specialist in the publications office)
and the 167th Air Lift Wing flew to there. Ironically, one of her old WVANG comrades, Mr. Steve Schwarz, who retired
as a MSgt., just a couple days ago sent her a couple photos he had taken waaaaay back around 1981. This one was
at the home base in Martinsburg, WV.
Posted on May 20, 2015
