photo credit: infodump

One of the great parts of collecting is finding the unusual one of a kind piece. That’s not really easy to do when you collect Studebaker items. However in 2002 I was set up as a vendor at the International Studebaker Drivers Club Meet in South Bend Indiana and found just such an item.

It was Friday afternoon, the end of a full week of selling Studebaker toys, literature and memorabilia and I was in the process of packing my items away for the trip home. An elderly couple came into the room where the vendors were and fortunately came up to the area I was in first. As I vend alone, I set up beside a good friend from Canada so we can take turns watching the tables if one of us needs a break. The couple explained to my friend Richard and me that they had a few Studebaker items they wanted to sell. We are always on the lookout for new items to put on our tables so we took a look. They had a 10-year service pin and a copy of the Centennial album put out by Studebaker in 1952 which Richard bought. The other item they had was a hand-drawn picture of the five Studebaker brothers. This is the story of that item.

There had been several photographic images of the Studebaker Brothers made during the time they were all alive and their company was growing. They all went from being simple farmers and blacksmiths to being very wealthy men of influence. The brothers were born to John C. and Rebecca Studebaker. Along with Henry, Clement, John M, Peter and Jacob there were also five sisters in the family.

The couple selling the items had been antique dealers in South Bend with a store they had operated for more than 20 years. They told me a woman came in the store in 1964 with this picture and said her grandmother had drawn it. Her grandmother was Elizabeth Studebaker, the younger sister of the brothers that formed the Studebaker company. They had a slip of paper that had the name of the woman they bought the picture form and a newspaper clipping showing the five brothers in a familiar pose. The drawing shows the brothers in this same pose but quite a few years younger than we are used to seeing them.

If the info was correct, it was a great find, a one of a kind piece that would be a great addition to any collection. With no more info than their word and original note we struck a deal and I bought the picture. Once I returned home, I did some research and found out that the name they gave me was indeed that of Elizabeth Studebaker’s grand daughter. The time line checked out as well.

Drawing of the Studebaker Brothers

After that I took the framed picture to an appraiser to check it over. He confirmed it was from the proper era with period framing and glass. The backer is a single sheet of thin wood held in the frame with small square nails. There is a piece of heavy cord used to hang it.

The image itself was done in a soft silver which was popular medium of the age and tarnished like silver will do which then gives it the appearance of pencil. The appraiser couldn’t give me an accurate appraisal though since it is a one of a kind and there is no reference point to put a price on it. I guess the value doesn’t matter much since it’s become part of my own collection instead of going up for sale.

Why they chose our table to walk up to that day I don’t know, they did walk past a couple of other tables to get to us. They weren’t even sure why they had held onto the picture as long as they did since they had closed their antique store in the 1970s. I guess this time fate took a hand in deciding the new home for this unique piece of Studebaker history.

Above story was originally published at Madd Dooder. com

NOTE: The Studebakers had a rich history at Chautauqua in the 1900′s. Clement Studebaker served as interim president after the death of Chautauqua founder Lewis Miller, Clement Studebaker Jr. also later served on the board of trustees.

In recent years the Kinzua Region Studebaker Club has attended a fall weekender on the  Chautauqua Institution Grounds. For this years weekend dates and events check the Kinzua Region SDC schedule.

Was this piece af art drawn as one of the Special Studies classes held on the Chautauqua Grounds?

photo credit: tö

The event was planned to meet in Westfield NY, about 10 miles away from Chautauqua. The plans for the hotel fell through and at the last moment there was a wild scramble for rooms for a large gathering of Studebaker enthusiasts. As luck would have it, and being off-season, rooms were available for the group the stay on the Chautauqua grounds. Rooms were booked at the Englewood, Mardell Manor, The Miller, Rose Cottage and Cambridge Inn.

Chautauqua had no idea the quiet winding streets would soon be filled with vintage Studebakers. Plans were also made to visit the more well know Studebaker house, now known as the United Missionary House. The event was a success and the club has returned each year. The group has met and stayed at the Carey Cottage Inn for the last three years. This year’s event will take place this Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4 – 6.

And one of the bigger Chautauqua Studebaker weekends took place the year, founder of the Kinzua Region Studebaker Club, was married on the grounds. The wedding took place at Kennedy Park, near the Spencer Hotel. More than 50 Studebakers surrounded the Park and the bride arrived in a horse drawn carriage.

The bride was quite late and rumors were circulating she may have taken off but the carriage finally arrived. A safe route had to be taken, as the brakes to the carriage were not working. And the bride and groom still had a long downhill trip to the reception, which was taking place at the lakeside pavilion.

United Missionary House

Clement Studebaker, founder of the Studebaker Corporation, built the United Missionary house, located on the lakefront of Chautauqua Lake and on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution. Studebaker was known first for their wagons and later for the automobiles, which were produced until 1965.

Clement Studebaker as a wedding gift for his daughter also built the house located directly behind the United Missionary house.

John Hyle Vincent, Lewis Miller and Clement Studebaker were also responsible for the Atheneum Hotel, working with the design and raising funds for a hotel that would be one of the first hotels in the United States to have electricity.

Lewis Miller’s Daughter married Thomas Edison so many of the experiments in electricity were performed at the hotel and down in Miller Park

Atheneum Hotel

photo credit: Sue Manus

Studebaker brought in his architect that designed the Tally Ho, his home in South bend Indiana, to design the home on the Chautauqua Grounds. This would be their summer home. For those of you who have visited the Tally Ho, the similar design and architecture of both buildings is apparent.

The first mention of the Studebakers at Chautauqua was a small clip in the newspaper announcing the arrival of Anne Studebaker, her children and their small pony. Clement later went on to be interim president after the death of the founder, Lewis Miller. Clement soon took ill and passed away in 1901.

During the time when the Studebakers visited Chautauqua they lived in five to six different homes, with the United Missionary house being the most well known. It is still a mystery as to why the Studebakers stopped visiting Chautauqua and sold the houses that they built. It may have something to do with the closing of the Studebaker Company but the reason is still unknown.

If you are in the area of the Chautauqua Institution on Labor Day weekend, stop by and enjoy the vintage cars.