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The Charles Abresch Company was a
File:1888 Abresch Brewery wagon Miller Beer.jpg, A Charles Abresch Company brewery wagon for Miller brewery, Milwaukee, 1888
File:Abresch plant 1903.jpg, The Charles Abresch Company plant in Milwaukee, 1903
File:1916 Ford Model T Delivery Van Abresch coachwork.jpg, A 1916
The Charles Abresch Company was a carriage
A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...
and wagon
A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...
factory and an automotive, commercial vehicle and body manufacturer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Brand names were Abresch and, for trucks, the Abresch-Cramer Auto Truck Company.
The company was founded in 1871 by Charles Abresch, a German immigrant who initially specialized in building beer wagons.
In 1884 it was reorganized as a public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
. Charles Abresch continued to lead, Andrew Hofherr, a cigar manufacturer, became Vice President and Harry P. Ellis became CFO and Secretary. Louis Schneller and H. Paul were active business partners in the company.
In 1892 Abresch invested US $35,000 in the expansion of the plant. A change of name to Charles Abresch Company, Incorporated took place circa 1893, but it is unclear whether the entry in the commercial register was made at that time or earlier and was now replenished. By 1894 the company had over 800 employees.
The company later transitioned to build car and truck bodies, beginning in 1899. With This business grew quickly as customers switched from horse-drawn wagons to motor vehicles.
In the mid 1960s, the company ended its manufacturing activities after losing its contract with Harley-Davidson, which involved a partnership in which the company manufactured motorcycle sidecar
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''.
...
s. After this, the company exclusively performed auto body work.
Charles Abresch House
The Charles Abresch House is a -story Queen Anne home with 3-story tower, designed byFrederick Velguth
Frederick W. Velguth (March 13, 1838 – April 9, 1914) was an architect in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Several buildings he designed are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
He came to Milwaukee from Magdeburg, Germany, in 1858.
H ...
and built in 1890. It is located at 2126 W. Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Gallery
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...
delivery van with coachwork by the Charles Abresch Co.
File:1918 Sterling Beer Wagon Abresch body for Bapst Brewery.jpg, 1918 Sterling Beer Wagon Abresch body for Pabst Brewing Company
The Pabst Brewing Company () is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently a holding company which contracts the brewing of over ...
References
Further reading
*External links
* * Abresch-Cramer Auto Truck Company – article at German Wikipedia {{portalbar, Companies, Transport Companies based in Milwaukee Coachbuilders of the United States Wagons Carriages Defunct truck manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Wisconsin