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Hercules Body Company During World War Two
Evansville, IN
1905 - 1920 as part of the Hercules Buggy Works
1920 - 1923 as part of the Hercules Corporation
1923 - 1936 as part of the Servel Corporation
1936 - July 31, 1948 as the independent Hercules Body Company
This page added 9-8-2023.
One year after the Hercules Buggy Works went
into business in 1902 in Evansville, IN, Mr. George K. Specht joined the
company as an office boy. In 1923, the Hercules Buggy Works became
the Servel Corporation of Evansville. The company changed its name
when it entered the refrigerator market. In 1935, when the
Hercules Body Division moved to 1501 West Franklin Street in Evansville,
Mr. George K. Specht was named the General Manager. The next year,
Mr. Specht purchased the Hercules Body Division of Servel and renamed it
the Hercules Body Company. He also became the president of the new
company.
On July 31, 1948, Mr. Specht announced that
the company was ceasing operations as of that day. After much
consideration, he decided to close the company. This was because
the company's main products, station wagon and truck bodies, had to be
shipped 500 miles to its customer base in Michigan. The
transportation costs to ship the company's products cost prohibitive
compared to suppliers in Michigan. 500 persons in
Evansville lost their jobs that day.
The Hercules Body Company won the Army-Navy "E" Award one time during
World War Two.
It won the award on June 5, 1945.
Hercules Body Company World War Two
Products: The company had two known products during World
War totaling $9,777,000 in major contracts. One was twelve-foot
wooden cargo bodies for military trucks, and the other was one-ton cargo
trailers. Table 1 shows that the company produced 6,989 trailers
for the war effort. It also provided approximately 43,000 wooden
cargo bodies to help win World War Two. At the start of World War
Two, truck bodies were typically made of steel. As the war
progressed, wood replaced the steel to free up the steel for other uses.
Hercules was one of several companies selected to produce the wooden
truck bodies. Table 2 shows it had seven major contracts for these
types of products.
Table 1 -
Hercules Body Company's
World War Two Trailers Accepted by Detroit Ordnance, US Army
The information below comes from "Summary Report of
Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1945"
Published by Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of
Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and
Progress Branch
January 21, 1946. |
|
Type |
Contract Number |
1943 |
1944 |
1945 |
Total |
| Trailer, 1-Ton,
2W, Cargo |
Govt. F.I. |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Trailer, 1-Ton,
2W, Cargo |
294-ORD-2452 |
1314 |
1286 |
0 |
2,600 |
| Trailer, 1-Ton,
2W, Cargo |
33008-ORD-1146 |
|
|
4387 |
4,387 |
| Total |
|
1,314 |
1,287 |
4,388 |
6,989 |
|
Table 2 - Hercules Body Company's Major World War Two Contracts
The information below
comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply
Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945." This was
published by the Civilian Production Administration,
Industrial Statistics Division. |
|
Product - Customer |
Contract Number |
Contract Amount |
Contract Awarded
|
Completion
Date |
| Bodies Truck
- Army Ordnance |
294-ORD-1718 |
$335,000 |
6-1942 |
1-1943 |
| Bodies Truck
- Army Quartermasters |
2425-QM-642 |
$157,000 |
7-1942 |
11-1942 |
|
Bodies Cargo - Army Ordnance |
294-ORD-2042 |
$370,000 |
12-1942 |
1-1943 |
| Bodies Cargo
- Army Ordnance |
294-ORD-2045 |
$2,819,000 |
1-1943 |
12-1943 |
| Trailers -
Army Ordnance |
294-ORD-2452 |
$840,000 |
5-1943 |
12-1943 |
| Wood
Cargo Bodies - Army Ordnance |
33008-ORD-36 |
$1,370,000 |
8-1943 |
6-1944 |
| Wood
Cargo Bodies - Army Ordnance |
33008-ORD-455 |
$888,000 |
1-1944 |
12-1944 |
| Storage
Services - Army Ordnance |
33008-ORD-909 |
$87,000 |
6-1944 |
12-1944 |
| Trailers -
Army Ordnance |
33008-ORD-1146 |
$1,357,000 |
9-1944 |
8-1945 |
| Cargo Bodies
- Army Ordnance |
33008-ORD-1474 |
$1,554,000 |
9-1944 |
7-1945 |
| Total |
|
$9,777,000 |
|
|
Information provided by
Tables 1 and 2 shows that the 2,600 trailers produced under contract
cost $352 each. The 4,387 trailers produced under contract
33008-ORD-1146 cost $309 each.
One-Ton, Two Wheel
Cargo Trailer:
This World War Two Hercules Body
Company-built one-ton trailer is part of the collection of the National
Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, WY. Author's photo.
This was one of 4,387 trailers built under
contract
33008-ORD-1146 and was delivered on April 26, 1945.
Author's photo.
This trailer cost $309 in 1945 dollars.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Truck Bodies: It is unknown for
which types of trucks Hercules Body Company produced wooden truck bodies. Below are several samples of the wooden truck bodies produced
during World War Two.
This Four Wheel Drive HAR-1 is owned by the
Wheels of Liberation of Gettysburg, PA. It is of wood
construction with steel brackets. Author's photo.
I was able to photograph this truck after it had
been bead blasted for repainting. Without the paint, the wooden
construction is most evident. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
This White Model 666 is on display at the
Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, VA. Author's photo.
It is equipped with a wooden body.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Another White Model 666 is on display at the
National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, WY. It also has a
wooden body. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
This tow truck version of the GMC CCKW-353 has a wooden body.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
The Hercules Body Company Plant:
The company was in the factory shown below from 1936 to 1948.
Evansville has a strange number system for
street addresses. The former Hercules Body Company factory has an
address of 1501 West Franklin Street, yet the intersecting street is
North 7th Avenue. Satellite view courtesy of Google Maps.
Some of the 160,000 square feet of the
former factory is now a PPG paint store. Image courtesy of Google
Maps.
This map on display at the Evansville, IN
Wartime Museum shows the location of many of the factories in the city
that helped win World War Two. Hercules Body Company was located
north of the Evansville Shipyard that produced 167 LSTs during World War
Two. |