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There is a Pierce Arrow tow truck at the Klairmont Collection in Chicago.  Not sure of the year as I haven’t been there in a while

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First of all, Merry Christmas to all!

As I was sitting in my living room, digesting Christmas dinner, dog in lap, I decided to check my email.  I was somewhat surprised to receive an email from the grandson of Chicago Pierce Arrow dealer Henry Paulman.  Evidently my name showed up somewhere on one of the various posts on Henry Paulman & Co. even though Bill Morris did most of the background work on the firm.  Anyway, he’s looking for pics of his grandfather and I will dig some up for him out of local newspaper archives.  Just wondering if any of you might have any other pictures in you collections so that I could forward a copy to him.  Here’s his message:

Dear Mr. Muellner,

My name is Roger Paulman.  My paternal grandfather was Henry Paulman the Pierce Arrow Dealer for the Midwest Region.  I found your article with the pictures you included on the P-A Society website.  I have been looking for photographs of my ancestor (and his wife as well) for years and so far have found none.  I am wondering if you have additional pictures and/or if you can identify for me which person in the photographs you posted are, indeed, Henry Paulman.

You might be interested to know that my Father was also a Henry Paulman (Jr.) and so is my brother, Henry the 3rd.  For some reason my father, who was a good looking, rarely would allow his picture to be taken.  I have often thought it might have been some teachings of his father, the P-A dealer.

Interestingly, P-A Henry’s father, was named Frederick Paulman.  Frederick was an immigrant (legal) from Germany just after the Civil War.  We have several good photographs and an oil painting of him.  Frederick was a barber.  We named our son Frederick after the barber feeling there had been enough Henrys in the family for awhile.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide,  Roger Paulman

Send anything on to me and I’ll forward it to him

 

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I believe Henry Paulman & Co of Chicago had a branch in Minneapolis.

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I was planning on going to Buellton this year but the travel options weren’t the greatest.  I had wanted to take the Pierce out there,  but couldn’t get anyone to ride along with me.  A three day drive by myself was not that appealing, and then when I added in the fuel prices and the extra hotel nights along the way it started getting really expensive.  Pulling a Pierce on a trailer with big diesel truck over 4000 miles round trip can be pretty pricey.  I do plan on being at Gilmore, however, and with the exception of a little peeling paint, I have just about everything up to snuff.

I will have the car out at Oakbrook Center out here in Chicago this weekend for the Father’s Day Car Show at the mall, however.

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Thanks, David.  I have all of the above on my car, and I just have to question the running board strips.  I have no strips actually on the running boards, as I have seen on earlier cars, but I do have chrome strips along the bottom edge of both running boards.   So, it does look like I have a Salon Model.  I also have that type of upholstery in my car.  As I mentioned, the gentleman at the car show saw my car in the process of being reupholsterd in the late 1970’s.

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Dave,

Can you tell from the records if my car is a “Salon” model?  Scott Stastny claimed that it was due to the parking lights, dual lights, hood trim, etc.  One advantage to the parking lights and dual tail lights was that Bob Lederer’s shop was able to install turn signals using the existing lights, and the only sign of the signals on the inside is a discreet toggle switch that was installed in an existing hole in the left side of the dashboard.  Turn signals are a must living in an urban area.

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Well, the second local show went very well.  Scott Stastny always told me to take the car out on increasingly longer runs to check reliability before going on any tours or anything.  The car show mentioned above is only about three miles from home, so I was taking longer runs.  Last Saturday, a car show was held in Bill Morris’s stamping grounds, and since he was giving a Pierce presentation, I had to be there.  A little old lady from church wanted to come along, so I picked her up on the way.  By the time I got her, went to the show, and got back home again, I had driven 72 miles without a problem.  Scott had told me that if you make 50 miles, you should be fine.

One of the highlights of the day is when a local man came up to my car, and started looking at it from stem to stern.  It seems that he grew up and went to school in Tucson, and swore he recognized the car.  I confirmed that the car was delivered new in Tucson, and he told me that one of his college professors had a hobby of reupholstering cars, and he remembered my car from the late 1970’s.  I gave him the updates on the history of the car, and he was truly amazed at running into the car again.  There is no other 1933 1236 EDL listed in the directory and for all I know, it might be the only one extant.

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$2500. for four wheels.  I needed to put the spares on the car while waiting for the wheels to be done.  Put the spares on the right side of the car, backed the car in the garage against the wall, and jacked up the left side and took those wheels off too.  I’ll probably take the spares down next winter, although in order to fit the wheel wells, my spares are undersized, 7.00×17 vs 7.50×17 on the road wheels.

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My 1933 1236 does not have the emblem on the horn button, and the spark and light levers are black rather than chrome.

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Also had a great time at Gilmore in spite of  summer cold and the heat and humidity.  Matter of fact, think that the heat and humidity is what kcked out the cold.  Had a COVID test on the Michigan border and was negative, and if it was positive, I would have turned tail back home.  Had a good time driving Dave Stevens 1933 1247.  Limited myself to one book at the Gilmore book store this year, and I swear that you all must have held some sort of prayer meeting for me on Sunday after I took off for home.  No sooner did I get home I received a telephone call from Noah Stutzman that my wheels were ready for pickup.  Back off to Ohio to get them, and the workmanship is flawless.  He even showed me where the previous wheelright had peened part of the wheel to try and tighten them up.  So now my car is not only bespoke but respoke(d)!

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Congrats on the great car!

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Don’t feel bad Bill.  I was hoping that my wheels that I dropped off two months ago would be ready, so I was hoping to pick them up and then sneak a few days in Hershey while I was out east.  Got ahold of the wheel guy this morning and he hasn’t even started on them?  Now I’m hoping to have them back for Gilmore!  Did you try that generator guy Morton Grove Electric in Arlington Heights?  Maybe a rush job?

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I had a similar problem.  When I bought my 1933 1236 EDL, it was equipped with a set of 17.5×17 tires.  Since the tires were about forty years old, I opted for a new set of BF Goodrich tires.  When I pulled the metal tire covers off of the spares, I was surprised to see that the spares were 17.0×17 tires.  I swapped two of the new tires out for the smaller size, and they fit tightly in the wheel wells, and I had to deflate them quite a bit to get the metal covers on.  I had a discussion last year with several people on line here about this, and they explained that the profiles of the tires have changed over the years.  Several sources indicate that all 1933 Twelves had 17.5×17  but the Maurice Hendry book indicates that the 1236s had 17.0×17, while the 1242 and 1247s had 17.5×17.  So, I’m using the 17.0×17 just as spares and not in normal tire rotation.  Still waiting for the wheels to come back from Stutzman, so I won’t make the PAS National, but I hope to be at Gilmore in August.

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Well, I got the wheels off of the car, loaded them in the pickup, and went hell bent for leather down to Noah Stutzman’s shop in Baltic, OH.  What a nice gentleman!  He showed me his operation, and will let me know when the wheels were done.  I talked to him about finishing the wheels, and he was pretty much in favor of sealing them sooner rather than later.  The humidity changes in the Midwest can be very severe.

One man at Bob Lederer’s shop recommended using a product called Clark’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer on the wheels, a two part sealer.  When I went to the manufacturer’s website, most of the recommended uses were for deteriorated wood, so I contacted them and asked their advice.  They suggested using their MultiWoodPrime sealer on new wood. It soaks into the wood and seals it.  I still have to look into the Cuprinol.

At this point in time I think I will probably be at Hershey, but driving modern.  I have a driveshaft to drop off from Scott Stantsy’s shop and I really don’t want to miss you guys.  I was thinking about giving Tom a call when I flew through Cleveland, but I was running late and wanted to get home.  As it was I left for Baltic at 0430, and didn’t get home until 2330.  I was dead tired….too much construction on I-80!

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Thanks to all for all of the advice on the wheels.  I’m running them over to have the tires dismounted this morning, and then I will have to call Stutzman to see if they will be open this week during the Easter Holidays.  Right now, I’m not anticipating bringing the car this year as I don’t think I’ll have everything done in time for Hershey, but still plan on coming.  It’s not the end of the world, and this way it will allow me to accept David Coco’s invite to ride in his beautiful tourer.  I got drafted as a driver last time.  I don’t consider any of the advice irrelevant, as there are issues with these things that I would have never thought of.  Hopefully, I might even drive the car to Gilmore in August.  Everything mechanical is done, outside of the wheels I just have to touch up some paint chips.

Tom, thanks for the advice on the varnish.  How are you coming along with your cars after that terrible incident.  Was Bob Lederer able to help you?

 

Ken Muellner

Chicago

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Thanks for all of the info guys.  I had asked Noah if he could varnish the wheels but he declined, saying he doesn’t want to tie up the shop space that long.  I was hoping to bring my car to Hershey this year, to introduce it to the PAS, but the timing here just would not work that well.  I hope to get the wheels to his shop next week, or considering the Easter weekend, the next week so it appears that I might not have the wheels back in time.  Can I put the unfinished wheels back on the car without damaging the wheels?  One oddity about my car is that the 4 road wheels are 17.5 x 17’s while the spares are 17.0 x 17’s.  Due to garage space considerations as well as parking in the city, I’ve decided to just do the 4 road wheels at this time.  I put the spares on the right side of the car, backed the car into the garage in its space against the wall, and took off the left tires and left the left side on jack stands.  Considering I’m not going to use the spares in rotation on the road, just use them as spares, it’s probably all right if they’re a little wobbly.  Considering what David said about waiting a couple of months before varnishing, it would probably be August before I would be varnishing them.  I’d like to take the car to several local shows during this time, so I’m a little concerned about damaging the wheels by using them during this remoisturizing time.

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David, I noticed that names and towns of posters do not show up if you read the posts without signing in.  They show up for me if you do sign in.  This is probably a safety thing so non members can’t contact members over certain things.

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Tom,
I contacted PAS Member Bob Lederer of CPS, who did quite a lot of work on my car. I was highly satisfied with the results although most of my work was mechanical. He can handle this type of job. His shop is located in Elk Grove Village, IL, near Chicago O’Hare Field. I copied your message and sent it to him and he replied in the affirmative. You can contact him at [email protected]. He currently has a 1914 Packard damaged in a similar situation in his shop. It would involve trailering the cars to Chicago, but he does do excellent work.

Ken

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Wow, Tom, I’m shocked. I really feel bad for you. I don’t know of anyone offhand, but I’ll ask around in the Chicago area for you!

Ken Muellner

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