I hope everyone enjoyed the Jumper Cables last month. The Jumper Cables is our “connection” between Battery Posts to keep everyone informed.
The Board is continuing to plan the events for the year. We hope to have activities that have broad appeal. This includes more joint activities with other clubs. For example, in June we’ll have a couple of activities with the Cadillac/LaSalle club. One of those activities is a Show n’Shine at the Altoona Outlets. Julie organized our club’s event there last year. We wanted to gain some external exposure for the club and with a similar desire this year, we’ll go back to the Outlets to continue those public interactions that hopefully moves towards in new club members. If any of you have ideas for events, please be sure to reach out to me or a Board member.
I’m starting to see antique cars on the road, a sure sign that Spring is near! Des Moines has many connections to important automobile companies. A few months ago, I was made aware that there is a plaque at 915 Grand Ave in Des Moines discussing the Duesenberg brothers (see picture above). Coincidently a colleague at work that knew I was interested in antique cars made mention of an article in the DM Register noting the brothers’ connection to Iowa and Des Moines. According to it and the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa, Frederick and August Duesenberg settled in Rockford, Iowa around 1885 after coming from Germany with their widowed mother and siblings. The following is directly from the Biographical Dictionary of Iowa website. “Fred opened a bicycle shop in Rockford; Augie later opened a bicycle shop in Garner, Iowa. By about 1900, they were experimenting with gasoline engines, attaching them to bicycles to make some of the first motorcycles. In 1905 they moved to Des Moines and received financial backing from a local attorney, Edward R. Mason, to design and begin manufacturing an automobile that was called the Mason. “Old Number One,” which appeared on February 19, 1906, had a 24-horsepower, two-cylinder, valve-in-head, 5 by 5 opposed engine. Their early cars were called Mason Hill Climbers, and they demonstrated the sturdiness and power of the car by performing feats such as driving the car up the west steps of the state capitol in Des Moines. In 1910 Fred Maytag of Newton bought 60 percent of the company and formed the Mason Maytag Motor Company. The new company relocated to Waterloo, where production was expanded to include four-cylinder engines. In 1913 Maytag sold out and went into manufacturing washing machines.” To read the rest of the story I’ll refer you to http://uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/bdi/DetailsPage.aspx?id=104 and https://data.desmoinesregister.com/famous-iowans/frederick-and-august-duesenberg. At some point it might be fun to stop by the plaque and even Central Campus in Des Moines which was a Model T assembly plant.
Best,
Scott
