Economy Post Card

By Staff
Published on February 1, 2003
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Digging around in the GEM archives, we came across this great
photo of the Hercules Gas Engine Co.’s factory in Evansville,
Ind. Taken some time around 1914-1915, this picture was used on a
post card advertising Economy engines. But, when did Hercules make
a black engine? Resident Hercules expert Glenn Karch offered this
information on seeing the post card:

‘That post card showing Economy engines in the final
inspection phase at Hercules shows up every now and then on eBay
and at flea markets. Remember, in those days (1914-15) photography
was black and white, so any color you see was added by artists. In
order to keep the picture from looking like a sea of red, some were
colored black for contrast. There were no original black Economy
engines that I know of.’

Special thanks to Fred Bailey, Tomball, Texas, who sent this
copy to the old Stemgas offices some time in the late 1990s. Most
of us love this kind of stuff, so if you have any great vintage
shots hanging around, send them in and share them with GEM readers.
We’ll send ’em back – promise.

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