The
OHA Franklin Automobile Photographs The Franklin motor car was invented by the
engineer John Wilkinson and manufactured by the industrialist H. H. Franklin and
marketed under his name. The Franklin was one of the most innovative motor cars
of its time, featuring an air-cooled engine, scientific light weight and
flexible construction at a time when other luxury car manufacturers were making
ponderous machines. Throughout its history Franklin was a luxury car and it was
in this part of the automotive market that it competed with the other notable
makes of the day. As such it fell victim to the Great Depression along with many
of these same fine luxury car manufacturers.
These remarkable motor cars engendered such a loyal and faithful following that interest in these automobiles never died out. Many individuals continued to operate Franklins as their every day automobiles or preserved them right up to the emergence of the antique and classic hobby, decades after production ceased in 1934. The H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company was a very large employer in Syracuse, New York area, its home base, and many people across the world had very fond associations with the company and its motor cars either as employees, dealers, service personnel or just loyal customers of that fine make. <from http//www.franklincar.org>
Over
150 photographs from the Onondaga Historical Association (Syracuse, NY) Franklin
Automobile Collection were scanned and described in the summer of 1997 with
funding from a Library Services and Technology Grant through the Central New
York Library Resources Council to be displayed on the CLRC.ORG web site. The
photographs include selected images from the factory and production process,
sales and advertising, and Franklin cars "on the road."
The photographs have been available as a searchable database on the WebZ Virtual Catalog section of the CLRC.ORG web site. Now, linked from the CLRC Region Digital Collections page, the photographs are easier to find.