THE GRAHAM LEGACY:

GRAHAM-PAIGE TO 1932

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Dear Sirs, I recently let author Mike Keller know that we have reprinted your Graham Paige Legacy – Book One. View it on our Turner Publishing website at:
http://www.turnerpublishing.com/detail.aspx?ID=542

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Now available directly from the publisher

 

Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the First

Graham-Paige Automobile

Announcing the first in-depth study of Graham-Paige, one of America's major independent motor car manufacturers prior to the World War 11. This comprehensive examination of the Grahams of Indiana includes a study of their endeavors in the bottle and glass industry, truck production and, of course, Graham-Paige automobiles.

This volume includes chapters dealing with Graham Glass, and how the brothers' efforts brought them to the very top of manufacturers in that industry; Graham Brothers trucks and tractors, including the brothers longtime association with Dodge Brothers; a complete overview of the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company; and a complete documentation of Graham-Paige vehicles and history to the pivotal year of 1932. For those interested in Graham-Paige, Paige, and Jewett automobiles, a complete detailing of each model and series-for each year of production-is included.

Appendices include a specification table for all Graham-produced automobiles up to 1932; production graphs, serial number listings, and body manufacturers; a compilation of all known Graham sales literature; and a Graham genealogy.

This beautifully bound volume is profusely illustrated with hundreds of rare photographs, many of which have never been published.

The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige to 1932 is an important study of an interesting facet of American manufacturing history, one of which is many times over-looked in the grand scheme of American automotive history. The Graham-Paige story has long deserved an in-depth look, and this volume does just that.

About The Author

 

Michael E. Keller has been a student of Graham-Paige Motors Corporation for over two decades. He has served the Grahams Owners Club, International as president, is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians, and owns a comprehensive collection of Graham-Paige, Paige, and Jewett sales literature and memorabilia. Keller is also the proud owner of two Graham-Paige automobiles.

How to Order

Only the finest materials were used in the production of this book. The volume is a large 1 1 x 8-1/2 inch, collector quality edition with a deluxe hardbound cover and color dust jacket. Two hundred and thirty-two pages of high gloss, double-coated, acid-free paper was used for superior photo reproduction. The Delux Standard edition is $34.95, plus $6.00 for shipping and handling ($3.50) each for additional book to the same address). To order directly from Turner publishing with a credit card, simply call 1-800-788-3350. To order by mail, send your name, address, and check or money order (US funds only) to Turner Publishing Company, PO Box 3101, Paducah, Kentucky. (502-443-0121)

What the reviewers have said about the book

Since the release of The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige to 1932 in late December of 1998, it has been nominated for the Cugnot Award of the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH). The Cugnot award is presented annually for what the society deems the "best automotive history book" published during the year.

Keith marvin is a well known automobile historian, the author of several hunderd magazine articles detailing antique automobile history. He has been named the "Friend of the Automotive History," is a charter member and past president of the SAH, and editor of several historical periodicals.

The paragraphs which follow are his review of the volume.

The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige to 1932 is one of the finest books of its type which has ever crossed this desk. Not only its complexity is superb but also the minor facts, events and sundry occurrences have gotten full play in these pages, the sort of material too frequently overlooked in too many histories. The genealogical material on the three Graham brothers is, to me, of great interest as is their background in the glass and bottle industry and their early experience in the manufacture of tractors and later, trucks.

Michael Keller is an expert in the study of the Graham history, and thus, in chronicling it as carefully and meticulously as he has in this book, has made an valuable contribution both in overall automotive history in general and in the story surrounding the Paige, Jewett and GrahamPaige in particular, as these attributes are not readily found in many histories of cars, in this case covering two different managements. And because of the story's complexity, the second volume, already underway, promises to continue the Graham story with the greatest of accuracy. It might also be said that the writing style is such that The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige To 1932 should appeal to many readers whose interest doesn't necessarily focus exclusively on automobiles.

What I think impressed me most about the book was its focus on the times the car was built including the boom days of the 1920s, the terrible Stock Market Crash of October 29, 1929 and the early days of the Depression it spawned. It affords the reader a window on the innumerable considerations and departments which automobile manufacturers must experience in an ongoing basis--day by day; week by week; month by month and eventually year by year. For in addition to planning a car, manufacturing it, selling it, plus updating models and other mundane matters, how many of us consider such other involvement as in planning custom coachwork to special order, dealing with manufacturers of necessary components not produced in-house, keeping a watchful eye on competition and negotiating a successful export market?

If anyone puts any of these on a back burner as not being of the utmost importance, it might be surprising to them to see how truly important they are. An example of this concerns a large manufacturer of bodies which was a major supplier for Paige but which expanded to accommodate other automotive interest and found itself unable to supply Paige with the contracted-for bodies. This inability started a chain reaction which did terrible damage to Paige. Unfinished cars piled up, distributors and dealers were unable to satisfy their customers and sales were affected. Occurrences such as this cannot be anticipated. When they occur, the problem can start a chain reaction from the production line to consumer.

The superb text is complimented by the accompanying photos, well chosen and as well presented. Some of them are of singular interest, such as one concerning the Graham Brother's purchase of the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company. Who has ever seen a photo of a check for $3,305,430?

Single-car or single-company coverage hasn't been a problem with automotive books over the last three decades. It has covered all U.S. cars currently built from their cradle days to the time of publication. Some have been excellent. Others are good and a few are just fair. Too, cars no longer built but have their enthusiasts have been covered--some of them heavily such as Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Pierce-Arrow, Packard and Hudson among them. This is advantageous in some cases as different viewpoints are most interesting. By the same token, when too many biographies are written on a specific car with conflicting material, the neophyte reader might wonder which are correct.

I doubt whether this will happen with Graham-Paige for two reasons.

The first of these is in the presentation of this monumental study by Michael Keller. In its preparation it is obvious he's sifted the wheat from the chaff and presented the facts. His presentation of them is superb as well as an accurate account of his subject. The second is that I can't imagine that another book on Graham would surface because Keller's account has covered all of the ground in accurate and presentable fashion and included anything that anyone could want textually and visually.

The Graham Brothers produced a car for which they will be remembered for their contribution to the automotive field. That is their epitaph.

Michael Keller produced a book on the Graham Brothers for which he will be remembered for this contribution of automotive history. Hopefully it won't be his epitaph ... just yet!

I recommend The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige To 1932 :without reservation. Go for it before it becomes out-of-print. I cannot praise this book too highly.

Keith Marvin

January 1999