Michigan Auto Company: Calumet’s First Auto Dealership and the Man Behind It by Kenneth C. Bracco

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner

Kenneth C. Bracco’s “Michigan Auto Company: Calumet’s First Auto Dealership and the Man Behind it” brought to life stages of the automobile industry and other life changing events from 1900 to the 1960s. Other places mentioned in the book were Detroit and Chicago besides the main location Calumet, a town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.). Paul Pawler, the focal person in the book, had two daughters. Bracco, the author, was taken under Pawler’s wing and treated like the son he never had. He was also Bracco’s uncle and they spent a lot of time together. He was heartbroken when his uncle died in 1973. Pawler was in a photograph with his first vehicle,  his 1900 Orient Buckboard. Vehicles progressed from the Diamond “T” truck to top of the line Chryslers. Tires were shabby at first and that situation improved with the Michelin and Goodyear companies. Life changing events were: World War I; World War II and the Italian Hall disaster and 1913 strike of the miners. During the early part of the twentieth century, Calumet could support a thriving automobile industry.

Two of the main themes in the book were: a strong business acumen and generosity and caring for others. Pawler and his siblings became orphaned when his mother died. He was raised by Peter Ruppe Sr. who encouraged him  to go out on his own instead of being a working man. He developed a strong business sense and was aware of the importance of working with the Detroit automobile industry to bring cars to Calumet and the importance of advertising. His generosity was demonstrated during the lean years of the Depression in which he hired men to do odd jobs.

Bracco provided a large variety of historical pictures of trucks, cars, people, buildings, ships, and locations. He captured the magnitude of the shipwreck of the City of Bangor (ship) that succumbed to thick snow and ice. Lake Superior has claimed many ships. This wreck occurred in February of 1927. All the old ads in the book described prices of vehicles, auto shows, quality of cars and trucks. It was interesting to learn that people were exchanging horses for cars and livery stables were used to store automobiles. The book reminded me that Calumet was a prosperous community during the mining years.

I was taken back to the time when I owned my first car. I am dating myself, it was a 1965 Oldsmobile. An older vehicle that provided me with what I needed it to do. Get me from point A to point B. Eventually, I sold the car to someone to use at a demolition derby for $50 less than I paid for it and purchased yet another old car, a 1966 Chevy Impala. It looked the same as the one used in the Supernatural series by the Winchesters.

When reading this book I was reminded of the book “The Life of the Automobile: the Complete History of the Motor Car” by Steven Parissien. He described the progression from the use of horses to provide transportation to the shift to automobiles. Karl Benz invented one of the first cars in 1885 which was considered the first practical automobile. Automobiles actually go back further but Benz’s was the first to combine an Internal combustion engine with a chassis and the first in a series production. Pawler owned the 1900 Orient Buckboard. The movie that came to mind was the 1988 “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” movie. Tucker was a nonconformist car designer who challenged the established auto industry with his groundbreaking car concept. The movie highlights his entrepreneurial spirit and his struggles while trying to revolutionize the automobile industry. Pawler transformed the automobile business in Calumet.

I recommend Michigan Auto Company: Calumet’s First Auto Dealership and the Man Behind it for its historical facts, because of its interesting information about the Calumet car industry and its link to the Detroit car industry, for Pawler’s business ingenuity and for its endearing story about a long-standing relationship between a boy and a man who ended up serving as an important father figure. Bracco reported throughout the book important events such as the Italian Hall disaster in 1913. Bracco spent time while growing up by going to Pawler’s cottage at Copper Harbor. He was with Pawler when he died while they were walking to the cottage. Pawler was 89. Pawler had a strong business sense and solved delivery problems. Bracco portrayed some of the amazing history of a town in the U.P. A great reminder of the stories to be told by anyone who wants to tell them.

Title: “Michigan Auto Company: Calumet’s First Auto Dealership and the Man Behind It.”
Author: Kenneth C. Bracco

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save