| Reviews | The Journal of The Society For Industrial Archeology, 32.1

Reviews

Wagon-Making in the United States during the Late-19th through Mid-20th Centuries: A Study of the Gruber Wagon Works at Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania. By Paul A. Kube, with contributions by Clayton E. Ray and Cathy L. Wegener. Blacksburg, Va.: The McDonald and Woodward Publishing Co., 2005. vi+258 pp., illus., notes, bibl., glossary, appens., index. $22.95 pb (ISBN 0-939923-97-1).

The Gruber Wagon Works: The Place Where Time Stood Still. By Carol J. Hunsberger. Leesport, Penn.: Society for the Preservation of the Gruber Wagon Works, 2005. 196 pp., illus., diags., index. $35 hb (ISBN 0-9770724-0-1).

Paul Kube wrote the core of Wagon-Making in the United States during the Late-19th through Mid-20th Centuries as a thesis for his master's of education in 1968. Those involved in the research and preservation of the Gruber Wagon Works quickly identified it as an excellent resource and adopted it as a guide in their efforts. Wagon-Making was the only work Kube (who spent his life first in the U.S. Navy, then as an industrial arts teacher in the Boyertown Area High School) ever published. His work is complemented by an introduction, contextual historical notes, and appendix material by Clayton E. Ray and Cathy L. Wegener. Ray, a retired paleontology curator, was the main force in publishing Kube's work. Wegener, superintendent of interpretive services at the Berks County Heritage Center, works with the Gruber Wagon Works site.

Carol J. Hunsberger, a former English teacher from Lehighton, Pennsylvania, working with the Society for the Preservation of the Gruber Wagon Works, published The Gruber Wagon Works: The Place Where Time Stood Still. Hunsberger drew on the help and expertise of people involved with the Gruber Wagon Works, including her husband, Bruce Hunsberger, interested individuals both independent of and associated with the Society for the Preservation of the Gruber Wagon Works, and the Berks County Heritage Center.

These two books were published almost simultaneously in 2005. Each book focuses on different aspects of the company's history and operations. Kube's book is essentially a documentation of the buildings, tools, and machines used in wagon making, including a detailed, step-by-step description of the process. Hunsberger focuses on the history, people, and preservation of the Gruber Works. Because both books were prepared for publication at the same time, they were able to reference each other, both emphasizing the instructional values of the other. While not designed as a pair, they stand quite well that way.

The story of the Gruber Wagon Works is a story without a definitive beginning or end. It is a story of change, innovation, and adaptation. After substantial experience in the construction of wagons, Franklin Henry Gruber built his own works on Licking Creek in Pennsylvania in the early 1880s. From that time, the story of the works is one of adopting new technologies and adapting to new market demands. The works became recognized in the region as providing high-quality wagons of a unique design. Over time, however, the Grubers had to revise their focus to adapt to the new markets created by mass production of automobiles. Interestingly, the work's peak wagon-making years were from 1910 to 1920, well into Ford's rise. The Grubers adapted by shifting to making truck bodies into the 1930s and designing tools for the Model-T. Extremely adept at accommodating change and preserving tradition on a local scale, the works survived until 1971. In recognition of its exceptional historical value and intact state, the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and was thus saved in 1976 from demolition by a dam project.

Kube's work is largely a documentation of the tools and machinery used at Gruber and the processes used to produce the Gruber Farm Wagon, or box wagon. For each piece of equipment, Kube provides detailed information, including date of construction, date of purchase, specifications, materials, and function. Along with a brief historical commentary, the narrative is accompanied by a photograph and often a diagram.

Kube first examines the sources of power used at Gruber, detailing each new technology introduced. Next, he examines the machinery built at the works, carefully moving through each section of the shop building. Finally, he examines the blacksmith's shop and its associated machinery/equipment. Kube shows readers that, rather than choosing the most advanced commercially available machinery, the Grubers made their own, instead, buying second-hand and cobbling together equipment that would suit their needs.

Kube ties his documentation together by discussing the process of making a wagon. In thorough documentary style, he provides many photos, diagrams, and specifications, allowing readers to visualize the process systematically. He then pulls back his focus and shows the finished product, specifications and all.

Several pieces have been added to Kube's work under the impetus of Ray to extend its historical and documentation value. Ray wrote the introduction, which includes an overview of the wagon age and comments on the relevance of Kube's contribution to current scholarship on industrial processes. He also provides a brief history of the works since 1968 and a biographical sketch of Kube. Wegener ends with 38 pages of production records from the works.

Hunsberger divides her book into three sections: the history of the Gruber Wagon Works, its people, and its preservation. Her history of the works broadly reviews ground covered by Kube but goes well beyond his focus. She examines the family and the development of the works, discusses a number of specific features of the works, including additions and some machinery, and looks at all the products and services offered by the Gruber enterprises. Her discussion of the adjustment to competition from the auto industry is an interesting view of the diffusion of and adaptation to new technologies.

Hunsberger devotes a large section of The Gruber Wagon Works to the people involved with the site, be it in the past or today. While the Grubers made efforts to achieve economies of scale, their enterprise remained focused around a small group of people, often family, who were well known and respected in the region. As Ford perfected his mass-production system with "faceless" workers and minimal craft work, the Grubers, even while adapting, continued to depend on craft skills and close relationships with people. One cannot help but feel that this approach is still alive at the works today as a small group of citizens have united to continue the traditions of a place about which they feel strongly. This section is a little too extensive, slowing the flow of the book.

The last section of Hunsberger's work is an extensive discussion of the preservation and moving of the Gruber Works during the 1970s. As a case study, this section is extremely interesting. An immense amount of work had to be done by many groups and individuals (at all levels of government and the community), and large sums of money had to be found. Over a 10-year period, the shop building and one storage shed were moved and transformed into a museum, a process that involved disassembling and reassembling the main works building. Again, Hunsberger reminds readers that this project involved real people and was much more than simply a bureaucratic process.

Kube's work has many strengths. His documentation style affords readers a rare view of a small-scale, late-19th century manufacturing facility. Further, this book seems to be the only source available that describes in any detail the technique and process of making wagons in the U.S. Kube's narrative is very clear and precise, allowing any reader to understand the methods undertaken in this skilled and complex trade. Out of respect for Kube's death, the publishers did only the most minor editing of his work. They retained his original photographs for "authenticity," a practice that, unfortunately, resulted in a number of slightly out of focus and roughly printed illustrations.

Hunsberger's work is far less focused than Kube's. Taking a broad approach, she depicts the world within which the works existed. She makes extensive use of high-quality images to supplement her text, providing reproductions of everything from invoices and letters to photographs of people and products.

Together, these two books provide a broad view of the site's history. One major piece missing from both is an economic history that would better enable readers to understand the Grubers' business decisions and attitudes.

Those interested in craft manufacturing as well as its associated tools and machinery should consider these books. Kube's work is by far the most detailed in this respect, but both books, each in a different way, would be useful to studies of the development of the automotive industry and mass manufacturing in general and the spread of their influence on American life. Hunsberger's book also provides an excellent case study for those interested in the preservation of historic places.


	Cameron C. Hartnell

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