Archive Watch

The Studebaker Story South Bend Indiana Automobile Manufacturer (1953)

1953 · Short film · 29 min

Watch now On the Internet Archive

Synopsis

Presented by the Studebaker Corporation and directed by Seymour Friedman, The Studebaker Story, Vol. 1 The First Hundred Years is a short 1953 film that gives viewers a quick look at the history of the Studebaker family and their rise from making wagons to producing quality automobiles. The film opens with illustrations of the development of the wheel, before cutting to a reenactment of the Studebaker brothers in 1852 South Bend, Indiana (01:34). Henry and Clement Studebaker work in their blacksmith shop as they talk to their first customer. The brothers secure a wheel on a wagon for another customer; later, they sketch out a new wagon design for the customer. The film shows the finished wagon with the Studebaker name painted on it. The film then shows a California gold rush town with a painted mountain backdrop (06:27). John Mohler Studebaker prepares to head back to South Bend. John tours Henry and Clement’s new wagon shop. Peter Studebaker and Clement present a contract they secured to make 100 wagons for the military. Illustrations show wagon trains heading west, and scenes from the Civil War, including the family’s wagon depot in St. Joseph, MO. The family sits around a formal dinner table (13:49), but they are interrupted as they realize their wagon factory is on fire. The brothers stand and talk about the future of the company with the smoldering ruins of the wagon factory behind them (14:47). The film shows an illustration of their new plant (17:40), which is…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time
29 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

More like this