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Western Highway Historical Collection
M0314
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Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Western Highway Historical Collection
source:
Western Highway Institute
Identifier/Call Number: M0314
Identifier/Call Number: 477
Physical Description:
6 Linear Feet
(11 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1888-1960
Abstract: Photographs, dealer catalogs, and specification sheets concerning trucks, mostly from the 1920s and 30s, and trucking ephemera
from the early 1950s.
Language of Material:
English
.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Various sources.
[Identification of item] Western Highway Historical Collection (M3014), Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Collection of photographs, dealer catalogs, specification sheets and other material concerning trucks, buses, trailers, and
other vehicles for transportation, freight and construction. Manufacturers include Autocar, Trailmobile, Fageol Motors, Kenworth,
Mack Trucks/International Motor Company, Reliance Trailer and Truck, Hilo Transportation and Terminal, and White Motor Company.
The Western Highway Historical Collection was founded in 1960 with the cooperation of the Western Highway Institute, primarily
to preserve the records and pictures of the early days of highway transportation west of the Rocky Mountains. Donors include
Randolph Brandt, E.E. Brower, W.D. Patterson, Don Pennell of Peterbilt Motors, Sam A. Simpson, William Tice, and E. Guy Warren.
Some published material was transferred to general stacks where it is accessible through the library's catalog.
While the focus of the collection is on the vehicles themselves, also depicted in photographs are drivers, workers, and urban/industrial
locales infrequently captured on camera. Additionally, researchers may encounter all manner of businesses and occupations,
including bakeries, dairies, gas stations, lumbering, passenger buses, house movers, and municipal projects.
In 2018, several boxes of related material was added, primarily ephemera from Western trucking and moving companies, circa
1949-1952. Most files in these series originated in the Hopkins Transportation Library as "Pamphlet Material on Motor Carrier
Industry" HE5612 Zpc. This addition includes training manuals, forms, promotional booklets and fliers, photographs & negatives,
employee magazines, legal papers, radio program and advertising scripts, speech transcripts, etc.
Correspondence within the collection, largely with Hopkins librarian Carolyn Mohr, concern the acquisition of research material
from various companies in the early 1950s. Mohr was also likely the author of the thumbnail histories included for most firms.
Some photographs referred to in the letters have not been located, although many are likely to be found in the various Hopkins
Transportation Library archival collections.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Automobiles -- History
Trucks
Trucking
Transportation -- Photographs
Storage and moving trade
Freight and freightage
Autocar Company
Fageol Motors Company
Trailmobile Company
Kenworth Truck Company
Mack Trucks, inc.
Reliance Trailer and Truck Company, inc.
White Motor Company
Hilo Transportation and Terminal Company
Western Highway Institute
Pacific Gas and Electric Company