Description:

Business



Brewster & Co., America's Luxury Coach Builders & Automobile Manufacturers

 

Small archive relating to Brewster & Co., a preeminent coach building and automobile manufacturing concern, including four promissory notes and bank checks, ca. November 1862-July 1863. The corporately signed documents date from just before Brewster & Co. attained its peak celebrity as a luxury vehicle manufacturer.

 

Brewster & Co. operated between 1810-1935. James Brewster, Sr. established the business in New Haven, Connecticut and later partnered with his two sons. The company reached its carriage building zenith between the 1870s-1890s, when its carriage models won prizes at the 1878 Paris and 1893 Columbian Expositions. Brewster & Co. designed, manufactured, and sold vehicles ranging from children's pony carts to 20-person carriages throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and South America. The company began transitioning into the automobile industry at the turn-of-the-century. By the 1930s, Brewster & Co. car chassis were so synonymous with luxury that they were immortalized in Cole Porter's lyrics from Anything Goes: "You're the top! You're a Brewster body!"

 

In July 1856, James Brewster, Sr.'s firm split into two companies, each managed by one of his sons. The younger son, Henry Brewster, later organized the Civil War era Brewster & Co. During this era, business headquarters were located in a 6-storey warehouse at Broome Street in lower Manhattan.

 

The lot includes:

 

1. Promissory note signed in New York City on November 18, 1862, reading in part: "Seven months after date we promise to pay to the order of James Brewster Two thousand Dollars at the Butchers & Drovers Bank…" Partly printed and partly handwritten document endorsed by James Brewster, Sr. verso. Various markings, including X-shaped cancellation at center, as well as clerical stamps, yet lacking the requisite revenue stamp (a practice implemented by the IRS just six weeks earlier, on October 1, 1862.) Overall toning and minor edge darkening, else very good to near fine. 7.75" x 3".

 

2. Bank check (No. 24) signed in New York City on June 12, 1863. Brewster & Co. pledged to pay $65.10 to "A.T. Stewart + Co." Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-1876) was an Irish businessman whose multimillion dollar dry goods business ranks him historically as one of the richest men in the world.

 

3. Bank check (No. 65) signed in New York City on July 6, 1863, in which Brewster & Co. pledged to pay $177.21 to "R. Colgate + Co." Colgate & Co. specialized in soap, candles, paint, and other chemicals possibly used by Brewster & Co. in the manufacture of their carriages.

 

4. Bank check (No. 73) signed in New York City on July 8, 1863. Brewster & Co. pledged to pay $65 to "D.H. Bayley." Dudley H. Bayley (1809-1884) sold carriages, including Brewster & Co. models, at Bayley's Bazaar in Boston. Near fine. 7" x 2.5".

 

The three bank checks are all partly printed and partly handwritten. Various markings include X-shaped cancellations at center, clerical stamps, and 2 cent blue George Washington revenue stamps.

 

An outstanding archive for any collector of transportation memorabilia!

 



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May 15, 2019 10:30 AM EDT
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