Graham Motorcars Copper Dealership Ashtray A2603
A gorgeous promotional item. Measures 3 7/8" x 3 7/8" x 1/2". We see the the founders, the three Graham Brothers, in profile, transmuted into heroes of legend.
A brief overview of Graham cars: The three Graham brothers began their working career for a glass company for which Joseph Graham invented an improved method to blow glass bottles. Ray Graham then invented a method to convert Ford Model T's into one-ton trucks. They entered into an agreement with Dodge to build trucks using Dodge drivetrains which were sold by Dodge dealers. They sold their Dodge stock in April of 1926 and started their own automobile company.
The Hollywood was built using dies from the Cord 810/812. The dies had been bought by Huppmobile but they had difficulties getting their car into production. A joint venture between the two companies resulted in the Graham Hollywood and Huppmobile Skylark. The Hollywood did not have the hidden headlights or front wheel drive of the Cord. It did feature a supercharged 125 horsepower, six-cylinder Graham designed engine built by Continental, much as the Cord featured a supercharged Continental engine.
In September of 1940 the Graham-Paige Company switched production to military items in support of the World War II effort. After the war, in 1946, the company resumed the production of automobiles. Their new car, the Frazer, was named in honor of Joseph Washington Frazer, the president of the Graham-Paige Company. In 1945 the Henry J. Kaiser and Frazer became the owners of the Graham-Paige assets and became known as the Kaiser-Frazer. Graham's facilities were sold to the Chrysler Corporation.
Graham-Paige went into the real estate building. In 1962 the company changed its name to the Madison Square Garden Corporation.
--history from conceptcarz.com
