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. Elizabeth was born in 1829 and married George Witwer in 1849. She passed away in 1909. They had a slip of paper that had the name of the woman they bought the picture from 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. 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.
I wonder how old the painting is.