1914 Fruehauf Truck Trailer
01
Artifact Overview
In 1914 Detroit blacksmith August Fruehauf devised a simple single axle trailer for lumber dealer Frederic Sibley. Hooked to a modified Ford Model T, it carried Sibley's boat on vacation trips. Sibley then had Fruehauf modify the trailer for hauling lumber. This "semi-trailer," as Fruehauf called it, is the ancestor of trailers carrying freight all over American roads today.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Truck trailer
Date Made
1914
Place of Creation
Creator Notes
Made by August Charles Fruehauf and Otto Neumann in Detroit, Michigan.
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
62.114.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Fruehauf Corporation.
Material
Iron (Metal)
Wood (Plant material)
Rubber (Material)
Color
Black (Color)
Yellow (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 72 in
Width: 71 in
Length: 167 in
Inscriptions
Forward sections on each side: F. M. SIBLEY/ LUMBER CO.
Trailer chassis on left side: FRUEHAUF/ TRAILER/ DETROIT
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