This wonderful old photograph arrived in the mail today thanks to David Parfitt giving me the heads up about it. I thought it would help give Joe a boost today.

It is dated 1912 on the reverse of the 9 X 7 inch photogrpah, it came from France but is marked USA on the back and I wondered if anyone recognises the location in the States?

There is a second Cub near the building in the background and note the light color the Bear is painted on the front. Rectangular serial number plate like the one in the Saskatoon Museum, and my tractor, early round spoke wheels and I wonder what the badge is on the front of the radiator top tank?

Malcolm.

Malcolm:

Wow! Wow! Wow! Tom and I have been talking about this picture for over a week now i am glad to see you are the new owner of it.

I really believe this picture is taken at the original Cleveland, Ohio plant Attached is a picture taken from one of my books note the water tower is in the exact place. I believe the picture you have is an older one taken before the little addition was added on or possibly the picture I have was doctored up like many of the others in the book. Note the Ford part is deleated out in the picture but the building is an exact match with the extention on the roof where the "Ford" name is.
Next remember the picture of all the Cubs pulling them round barrels? If you look at the ground you can see the tracks from the barrels I believe this may have possibly been taken on the same day as that picture. Also look in the backround and see the picket fence it is in both pictures, Next remember that picture you have of the Wallis Cub climbing over the rocks? The fence is also in the backround and that picture is doctored up as I said and that perticular tractor does not even have a gas tank!!
The picture I am posting here says 36 hour yard test I believe it was taken right out the back door of the plant out in the "Yard".

Now the thing that has been bothering me for a long time now, What was the emblem on the radiator??? Here is a picture fof the radiator on my Yuma Cub before I cleened it up you can clearly see there was an emblem on it, but what was it???

Back to that Ford plant picture I got Tom on the Case trying to track down the old Cleveland plant to see if it mentions anything about Wallis moving into an old plant and starting up shop or possibly renting a portion of the factory??

Anyone else out there have any information don't be afraid to jump in here and help us out!!

Joe

Thanks Joe, you have confirmed what I was thinking too about it being at the Cleveland Ohio works. The water tower and identical buildings have been in quite a few of the old photographs of the time used in their sales literature, but as you say a few have been "modified" long before the use of these fancy computers which we have now to adjust a photograph.

Malcolm.

 

Malcolm:

I believe I may have solved the case on the radiator emblem!! The answer was right in front of us, just couldn't see it!! I took my camera and took a picture of it so I could blow it up and see it better. I would be willing to bet this is what the emblem looked like that is on the Cub in your picture and the one that is missing on my radiator. The new Wallis "Fuel Save" is what they kept bragging about in the book, Makes sence this would be on an emblem just as it is on the water tower.

What to you think???

Joe

Joe,

I think you are onto something here, I wondered if you could give me the measurements of the old emblem from the mark on your radiator, then I could get Chris to draw and scale it up and see what it looks like, if OK then I could get him to produce one or two, what do you think?
Is it a circle or oval on your radiator?

Malcolm.

Another interesting piece of the Cleveland Ohio Wallis history jigsaw puzzle received from David Parfitt this morning, Wallis collectors may find this interesting, the attached newspaper cutting from The Automobile Magazine dated May 1913 states that Wallis rented the buildings in Cleveland previously occupied by The Royal Automobile Company.

Malcolm:

As near as I can tell the emblem was 3 inches tall and 4 1/2 inches wide. I probebly shouldn't have sanded that old solder off the radiator a couple years ago but I wanted to clean it up to put the Wallis decal on and get the brass looking pretty.

The quality control at the Wallis plant must not have been that good at the time they put the emblem on as it was off center about an inch or so.

Here is also a couple pictures of other tractors with the oval emblem on the radiator, one is the tractor that made the 1000 mile run and another pulling a grader not the best pictures but you can clearly see it looks oval shaped.

Just to revive this old Wallis Cub thread I was looking at an old book last night called Farming By Motor written in the late teens and covers farm tractors and motor ploughing.

The adverts for different manufacturers are very interesting and a double page for the UK agent The Ancona Motor Company who distributed Wallis tractors. The Cub advertised at £850 which at todays conversion rate puts it at $1,083 and The Cub Junior was £395 which today would be $592. Shame I can't order one of each.

Malcolm

Another interesting 1918 book by The Agricultural Gazetteis called The Farm Tractor Handbook and in this is the only photograph I have found so far of a Wallis Cub at work in UK, it is pullig a four furrow (bottom) ride on plough made by Ransomes of Ipswich in Suffolk, working in a hilly part of the country. With a magnifying glass on the photograph you can just see a number on the rear left fender so I presume it was a tractor which came over for the evaluation by the British Government just like many I-H Mogul's and Titans of the same period.

Enjoy the old period photgraph and listing from the book.

Malcolm.

From the same book here is the Wallis Cub Junior or "Wallis Junior" as they describe it, note the differnt plough of US origin behind this tractor.

Malcolm.