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Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 1:29 pm
by David Greenlees
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Rob Heyden, where are these Model K's now?

Elmer Bemis owned and operated Bemis Motors Inc. here in Brattleboro Vt, and I believe all of these photos were taken in the 1940s and '50s. The lead image of Bemis' Model K Touring was taken in the 1940s at the VMCCA meet at John R. Macomber's, “Raceland,” in Framingham, MA, or another VMCCA track meet held later in Greenfield, MA.
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His Model K roadster is seen here on one of the joint VMCCA/AACA Glidden Tours in the NH White Mountains. He and his wife Dot took the car on the Anglo-American Rally in the UK in 1954. This car is featured in an interesting Rally video @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_fz3f3Z4GY
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This photo was taken Bemis' Ford dealership on Putney Rd. in Brattleboro, VT. L to R is a Marmon "Speedster," a Hudson touring car that I owned at one time, unknown, the Huntington's Pierce-Arrow, and Elmer and Dot in the T touring. The building survives today in about the same form.

I was fortunate to purchase all of Bemis' Stevens Ford tools and some other shop equipment from one of his former employees that was in the restoration business until about 25 years ago.

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster and K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 1:50 pm
by Erik Johnson

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster and K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:58 pm
by David Greenlees
Erik Johnson wrote:
Tue Jun 07, 2022 1:50 pm
More on Elmer Bemis, his Model K and the Anglo-American tour:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1395261672

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1397271279
Erik,Thanks for looking back and finding this information.

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:27 pm
by Rob
Erik,
Thanks for the links (I think....., lot's of old stuff showed up back then). The Bemis Model K each have a special place in my heart. The Bemis touring eventually was owned by my good friend the late Tim Kelly. His wife Joan and son Jeff and family toured with it at the BBC tour a few weeks ago. As always, it ran great, as did both other Model K on the tour.

The Bemis Roadster, #808 was sold new in Omaha, Nebraska. It was owned by the Storz family, a well known brewing family in Omaha. It remained in Nebraska until the 1930's, when it made it's journey east. This well travelled roadster went on the Alnglo-English tour in the 1950's to England, where it was a mistakenly identified as a 1906 Roadster (Ford only produced K roadsters in 1907 and 1908, selling the last in 1909 and 1910). We now have Ford Motor Co. Ledger information that the car was sold in Omaha in the late summer/early fall of 1907. Currently it's in Sacramento, with much of what was once the Towe collection.

The link below is color video of the Anglo-American Tour, and includes Mr. and Mrs. Bemis driving their 1907 K Roadster:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zi3b5pe2pkfh ... r.mp4?dl=0

David, I'm going to "get into the weeds" here a bit. I've been working on Ford ledger information, and the Bemis "K" Roadster happens to be one of those that we have a ledger entry for, and that still exists today. It's number is 808, and the FMC account receivable ledger tells us Deright (Omaha NE agent) submitted a deposit for it and two Model R on July 29, 1907. The two R were shipped (S.D.,-Sight Draft) the next day.
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Deright also mentioned in his Omaha newspaper advertisement on July 28th, 1907 that he had a Ford six cylinder Runabout on the way:

FEAC2D3C-727F-4526-ABF4-50EE0FF3C12B.jpeg

We know from the ledger above that the car was paid for by Sight Draft, and shipped from FMC on or near August 12, 1907 (last ledger entry above). Part of my ledger work indicates Model K shipping during the summer of 1907 were often delayed two or more weeks, while N and R were usually shipped within a day or two of a deposit/order arriving at FMC.

In October, 1907, the Storz brothers and a friend visited Blair Nebraska, north of Omaha, in their "Ford Flyer;"
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As of November, 1907, one of the Storz brothers received a traffic ticket for speeding with their Ford six:

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Model K #808 had a few more important events while in Nebraska. The Storz met the German Protos racer in the New York to Paris race in 1908, and piloted it across part of eastern Nebraska:

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In 1924, the Model K met Frank Kulick driving the 10 millionth Model T in Omaha. Frank Kulick, driving the famous Model T, would have inspected and approved K #808 years before, as the head Model K tester for FMC.

It's a small world..........

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 1:52 am
by Wayne Sheldon
Some of this stuff is simply wonderful!
Thanks Rob!

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:20 am
by Rob
Wayne, my pleasure.

A few more that didn't make the 5 pic limit on my earlier post. March 15, 1908, the Storz brothers prepare to pace the German N.Y. to Paris car:
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Below, excerpt from the Omaha Ford agent 1908 parts ledger. The Storz K gets parts, including a new transmission:
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The 10 millionth T reaches Omaha, and the Storz K, now blelonging to Johnny Monnich of nearby Fremont NE makes the celebration. "K" #808 leads the parade for the 10 millionth Ford driven by Frank Kulick. A passenger in the K is the Mayor of Omaha:
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Below, in the November 1927 "Motor" magazine issue, Arthur Storz, one of the Storz Brewing Co. heirs, recalls the "K" roadster as a "raving beauty." By this time, Arthur was a major owner in Western Auto stores:
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Below, the "K" roadster is sold to a Rhode Island collector in 1939:
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This is one of the best documented Model K I've found, from idelivery and sale in 1907, to now.
Cheers,
Rob

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:28 am
by David Greenlees
Rob, Thanks for sharing the history of 808, that car certainly did get around. The RI buyer may have been George Waterman and his partner Kirk Gibson, both were early collectors and VMCCA members who assembled an impressive collection of early automobiles, and racing cars. Bemis may have purchased 808 from them.

https://insider.hagerty.com/trends/the- ... an-gibson/
https://insider.hagerty.com/trends/the- ... ollectors/

Bemis' building today - at some point after Bemis died the State of Vermont purchased the building and used it for a district highway garage. The State built a new garage five miles north of town about 20 years ago, and a local real estate investor purchased it.
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Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:19 am
by Mark Nunn
Here is a nighttime photo of Deright Automobile Company in Omaha. It was taken in 1912. It looks like "Deright" was written on the negative but that is where the building is located.
Deright.png

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:26 am
by Rob
David,
Thank you for the update. It appears the K tourabout (some Ford dealers and branches offered the K roadster in a tourer or tourabout in 1908) at Seal Cove was owned at one time by Waterman. That doesn’t mean he didn’t own more than one K, as several have (myself included). That K is quite interesting, with touring rear fenders and running boards as well as the double back seat.
Thank you for the post and your research,
Rob

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 2:31 pm
by David Greenlees
Rob wrote:
Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:26 am
David,
Thank you for the update. It appears the K tourabout (some Ford dealers and branches offered the K roadster in a tourer or tourabout in 1908) at Seal Cove was owned at one time by Waterman. That doesn’t mean he didn’t own more than one K, as several have (myself included). That K is quite interesting, with touring rear fenders and running boards as well as the double back seat.
Thank you for the post and your research,
Rob
I've seen it in person several times in the past at Seal Cove and its a very nice car, from the museum website:

"This Model K was acquired by the museum in 1964 when museum founder Richard Cushing Paine Jr., purchased 41 automobiles from a well-known New York collector, Dr. Samuel L. Scher. Prior to Dr. Scher, the car was registered to Mrs. Dorothy A. Hebden. This is significant to us because it links the Model K to George Waterman, one of the founders of Hemming’s Motor News, and one of the first car collectors in America. Mrs. Hebden’s husband, John, was George Waterman’s agent." https://www.sealcoveautomuseum.org/ford ... rs%20later.

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 2:38 am
by Wayne Sheldon
Charley Eulich??????
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Just so you know. I do read almost everything attached to these long postings!

And I find most of them quite interesting!
Thank you Rob!

Re: Elmer Bemis' Model K Roadster, K Touring and Model T Touring

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 7:01 am
by Rob
Wayne,
You do read every bit......... I haven't read this article for years, and went through again and caught "Charlie" too. I've often wondered (and found examples) how accurately names were reported "in the day." Imagine, a 'cub" reporter of many small town newspaper (and often multiple small town newspapers) reporters attempting to write down in their notebook the names, addresses, etc. of every person mentioned in stories. I"ve found mispellings, wrong first names, last names, and in this case, pure misses. When I'm trying to research a person mentioned in a story, it's sometimes impossible to find them, because of an instance like this, where the name was completely wrong.
Thank you for your interest, and proof reading,
Rob