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Register of the Eagal (John H., Sr.) Collection, 1812-1970
Mss109
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Title: Eagal (John H., Sr.) Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1812-1970
Collection number: Mss109
Creator:
John H. Eagal, Jr.
Extent: 9 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], Eagal (John H., Sr.) Collection, Mss109, Holt-Atherton
Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
John H. Eagal Sr. was one of the earliest American automobile dealers. At the end of his
life (1973) he was the oldest living Ford dealer. Eagal began his career as a Studebaker
factory worker and mechanic. Studebaker sent him west to establish its first dealership
in San Francisco (1907). He left Studebaker for Oldsmobile (1910), then took over San
Francisco's original Ford agency, the William L. Hughson Co., in 1913. Eagal marketed the
Fordson tractor (1917) and two years later moved to Stockton as Ford's salesman for this
product. In 1920 he became Stockton's second Ford automobile dealer and there he remained
for over fifty years. Eagal was active in the California State Automobile Dealers
Association, serving as President (1937-38) and as a Director for fourteen years.
The Eagal Collection includes: 19th century Eagal family correspondence; family
scrapbooks and photograph albums containing many images of early automobiles; business
papers; published and typescript biographical material on John H. Eagal, Sr.; and, much
printed matter pertaining to Ford Motor Co. operations in San Francisco and Stockton,
Calif.