Franklin Under

Framed on the wall of an office which overlooks an ivy-covered factory in Syracuse. N. Y. is a homely slogan writ large in the hand of the founder-president of H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Co. Last week for the first time in the 33 years that Herbert Henry Franklin has been making air-cooled automobiles, the aging motor pioneer had cause to doubt his slogan. For three years he had doggedly fought off failure. He had cajoled his bankers into renewing and renewing bank loans which were thrice his company's current assets. Reorganization plans had fallen through but new ones had been devised. "It Can Be Done" read the slogan, but last week, having exhausted the bankers' patience, Herbert Henry Franklin saw his venerable company pass into bankruptcy and the hands of a receiver.

Motorman Franklin got his start as a printer's devil in Coxsackie, N. Y. some hundred miles from his birthplace in Lisle, Broome County. In the early 1890s he set himself up as H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Co., maker of die castings. Mechanically-minded young men of that time were absorbed in the automobile, and when John Wilkinson gave Herbert Franklin a ride in an air-cooled contraption he had just invented, Herbert Franklin decided to branch into the exciting new industry. In 1902 Motorman Franklin produced 13 automobiles priced at $1,100 each. Soon he ranked among the largest makers in the U. S. Other companies have long since outstripped Franklin in volume but by the 1920s production was running about 8,000 per year, soaring to a peak of 14,000 in 1929. Like other makers of high-priced cars, Franklin was badly hit by Depression. Production in 1932 was only 1,898 units, last year 1,100.

In the mushroom days of the motor trade, air-cooled cars like Knox and Holmes were common. Only Franklin has survived. It survived not so much be cause of the winterproof feature as because of its quality. One of Franklin's best markets has long been among such mechanically inept persons as doctors, authors, professors who want big car com fort with small car economy. Founder Franklin prized his reputation for fine materials and scrupulous workmanship. Franklin, always a high-priced car, sells today from $1,435 to $3,185.

Some ten years ago the company planned to enter the low-priced field but the engineers could not meet the price within the rigid framework of Mr. Franklin's specifications. In Syracuse people say that Herbert Henry Franklin has --as much independence and individuality as Henry Ford."

For a decade or more Franklins were famed for easy-riding and for their odd sloping hoods. Franklin owners were highly sensitive about their car's appear ance, vociferously defended the esthetics of that hood. Franklin baiters were quieted in 1922 when the hood assumed submarine lines. In 1925, two years after Fanny Brice had her nose remodeled,* the Franklin nose was completely straightened.

H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Co. has never shared in the spectacular profits of the automobile industry. Its stock is very closely held. Franklin's peak in late years was reached in 1925 when a $2,000,000 profit was reported. In 1929 it earned only $1,100,000. Since then it has reported deficits. Immediate cause for last week's bankruptcy was $2,088,000 in bank loans long overdue. The receiver talked of selling the company to another motormaker, but Herbert Henry Franklin's friends hoped against hope that direct Government loans to industry might yet save the concern for the lonely, crusty bachelor of 68 whose sole interests are air-cooled cars and good roads to run them on.

*Observed the sedate New York Times in 1923: "Miss Brice has had her nose condemned, and torn down and is about to erect a high-class modern structure on the site."

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