We recently received a stack of memorabilia from Kenneth Schafer
of 6144 Olstead Road, Muir, MI 48860.
‘I really don’t have a good story about my Uncle
Frank’s Galloway 5 HP engine. He used it for many years buzzing
fire wood till they got the 10-20 tractor. He sold it to a
neighbor. They didn’t take good care of it and ran it too
fast–broke the crank, then sold it for junk–but he kept all the
papers.
‘My uncle’s name was Frank Xavier Schafer. That’s
why the ‘x’ is in his name. He passed away about 25 years
ago.’
Kenneth asked us to print the Galloway papers, which you’ll
find here and on the next seven pages. We weren’t able to
reprint all of the material he sent us, however. One item of
interest was a blank ‘Plan No. 5– Installment; No
Interest’ agreement, which permitted buyers to pay for their
engines with a down payment and nine equal monthly installments to
the Company without interest.
Another item of interest was a $25,000 guaranty bond that went
with the engine, covered by the Black Hawk National Bank. William
Galloway’s words appeared on the opposite side of the
‘bond,’ and read, in part:
‘I make this $5000 challenge and back it up with real money
in the bank.
‘On account of the wonderful trade I have built up; on
account of my fast expanding business of building and selling
Galloway Gasoline Engines, Galloway Manure Spreaders and Galloway
Sanitary Cream Separators, and many other lines of farm implements;
on account of hundreds of knockers now are daily making false
statements about my business because they cannot meet my prices and
quality; and in order to show you how I stand, I make this $5,000
Challenge offer for your protection and my own, in addition to the
$25,000 Guarantee Bond printed on opposite side. The $5,000 is
deposited in the Black Hawk National Bank of Waterloo, Iowa. Show
this challenge to your dealer or the slick salesman whose smooth
talk costs you money.
‘Here is my challenge: I, William Galloway, as President of
the Wm. Galloway Company, issuing this Challenge in good faith,
will pay $5,000 in gold to any one who will disprove any of the
following claims:
‘1. That The William Galloway Company is not owned or in any
manner dictated to or controlled by a Catalog House or Trust.
‘2. That the crank shafts of all Galloway Gasoline Engines
are made from finest steel–never from cast iron.
‘3. That all Galloway Gasoline Engines, Galloway Manure
Spreaders and the new Galloway Sanitary Cream Separators are made
in my own factories from the highest grade materials, by the best
skilled workmen and modern, improved machinery.
‘4. That my factories, offices and warehouses, etc.; are
exactly as pictured on the $25,000 Guaranty Bond shown on opposite
side. Remember that!
‘5. That The William Galloway Company carries out in good
faith every offer made regarding Free Trial Tests, Refund of Money
and Guarantee of quality.’
In addition to copies of various printed materials from the
William Galloway Company, Mr. Schafer supplied us with copies of
some correspondence from Mr. Galloway to his Uncle Frank from
1914.
The first of the three letters is signed by Mr. Galloway itself,
and personalized to Mr. Schafer. Since these were the days before
modern ‘word processing,’ it’s hard to say how much of
Mr. Galloway’s language is unique to this letter, but most of
it appears to be ‘boiler plate’ sections likely sent to all
such inquirers. In any case, it expresses enormous enthusiasm for
the products, and carries some details that may be of interest to
our readers.
In addition, there are two more letters from the Galloway firm
to Mr. Schafer written later in the same year. Here are excerpts
from one of those letters, which elaborate on the ‘direct from
factory to user’ motto printed on the company letterhead:
From an October 2, 1914 letter to Mr. F. X. Schafer, Fowler,
Michigan:
It seems from your letter of recent date that there are a number
of different ones in your locality, that are in need of small
engines, but it is rather hard for you to get them to place their
order with us, unless you have one of the small engines to show
them.
There is this difficulty in selling engines by mail. We,
however, have been in business so long and have met with such good
success that it hardly seems as though any one would hesitate in
placing their order with us, for we agree to take the engine back
if they are unable to get good results from it, after giving it a
good thorough test.
There are of course a few of these engines returned to us, not
because the engine is not good, but because the operator does not
get as good results from it in the start as he thinks that he
should. The number of engines however, which we have returned, is a
very small item, and we of course are selling thousands in all
parts of the country each year.
We appreciate what you are doing in trying to introduce our
engines in your locality. No doubt the engine which you purchased
from us some time ago is proving very satisfactory, and we would
think that on this account the others would not hesitate in placing
their orders.
Attached to this letter were a ‘Certificate of
Agreement,’ which obligated the Galloway Company to pay Mr.
Schafer $10.00 for each person on his prospect list who actually
bought an engine. In addition, were the ‘Cashier’s
Checks’ which entitled the bearer (presumably Mr. Schafer in
this case, to discounts of $1, $2, $3, and $4 towards merchandise
purchased, in exchange for the names of potential customers.
Also included in the letters is a November 20, 1914 response to
F. X. Schafer’s letter of November 13 of that year, in which he
had supplied names of two parties in his neighborhood as sales
prospects. In this letter, the company also responds to Mr.
Schafer’s wish to get a gear driven magneto for his engine,
which they offer to send him immediately with all attachments for a
price of $10.00.
Kenneth Schafer asked what had happened to the Galloway plant
and what became of William Galloway. For that information, we
turned to the Grout Museum of History and Science in Waterloo
Kenneth, who is married to a woman from Lyons, Michigan, also
seeks information on the Lions engine manufactured there (see page
288 of Wendel’s American Gasoline Engines Since 1872 for a
photo of the Lions engine).
Letter to Frank X. Schafer from William Galloway dated February
23,1914
Dear Mr. Schafer:
Thank you for writing me. Going back to you by fast mail is a
copy of our latest–brand new–up-to-date–fresh from the printing
press–Special Engine Catalog. This catalog is filled to the brim
with solid–substantial–out and out–straight from the shoulder–
engine facts.
The very minute I received your inquiry I called in a
stenographer and sat down immediately to write you this letter. Let
me assure you right now that I highly appreciate your kindness in
writing me. I am going to talk with you in this letter as freely
and frankly as if you were here in my office sitting across the
table from me.
You have given me a chance to show you how I can save you from
$25.00 to $350.00 on an engine, depending on the size you buy. Be
on the lookout for the catalog. Watch for it every minute until it
gets there. You should receive it in a very few hours after this
letter. When it does reach you I ask you to read it thoroughly and
carefully because it will tell you how to pick out an engine that
will meet your requirements, satisfy you in every respect and it
will show you in actual figures how much money you save when you
buy a Galloway.
When you buy a Galloway engine you are not buying an experiment.
The engine has 20 years of successful history back of it. It is
better now than ever. If you have seen a Galloway engine at work,
and very likely you have, you know that the material is the highest
grade, the workmanship first class in every respect and that the
engine develops away above its rated horse power.
The material used in building Galloway engines is the best that
money can buy. No inferior or poor stuff of any kind is allowed to
be built into any part of the engine. The workmen in the factory
are experienced mechanics, not students and beginners. The head
experts and foremen have been building gasoline engines from 15 to
25 years. They thoroughly understand what is necessary to build a
good engine and every one of them knows that I absolutely refuse to
allow an engine to leave my factory unless it is made as good as it
can be made, out of fine materials, by skilled workmen, on high
grade automatic machinery.
There is not a single part of the engine that is not
interchangeable. If you should ever through accident break any part
of the engine a new part would fit without filing, grinding or
drilling.
It is no trouble to order a Galloway engine. Nothing is easier
than to sit down–go over the catalog–pick out the engine you
want–select the selling plan that suits you best–write up your
order and send it in.
Dealing direct with the manufacturer is a very simple thing, and
absolutely safe–much safer than when you buy from the local
dealer–because the manufacturer who sells direct must give the
customers better protection–better goods, and can make them better
prices than the local dealer or jobber.
There is no good, sound, substantial reason whatever, why
anybody should pay an outrageous price for a good engine. I
guarantee quality in the Galloway engines that is the equal of
anything offered by any other manufacturer regardless of price.
The reason why you pay so much for an engine when you buy from
your local dealer is because you have so many profits to pay. No
matter how you figure you pay four or five profits when you buy
from your local dealer or jobber or from a catalog house that does
not own the factory where the goods it sells are manufactured.
Everybody between you and the manufacturer gets a profit, and each
one gets a good big slice too, or he would not be handling
engines.
All you pay when you buy a Galloway is the cost of material, and
the cost of labor, and a very small factory profit, which is honest
and legitimate.
The factory capacity where Galloway engines are built is so
large that we can turn out 125 engines a day. That means from
35,000 to 40,000 a year. By doing a tremendous volume of business I
can be satisfied with a very small profit on each sale, and yet on
account of the large number of sales make enough money to build our
business up bigger and better every year.
The only successful engine on the market today sold DIRECT from
the factory to the consumer, and the best engine for your work
regardless of how sold is the Galloway, and all I ask is a chance
to prove that statement, right on your place and let you be the
sole judge.
Now let us–you and me–go over the catalog together. Parts two
and three tell you why I first went into the manufacturing
business. When working for an implement dealer I got into
possession of some facts and some inside secrets, of how they rob
the farmers.
Now let us go over to page six, read that and then give very
careful attention to page seven.
One of the good things in this concern today is my Free Service
Department that is ready and willing to assist you with any of your
power problems, no matter whether you purchase a Galloway engine or
some other make. This service will not cost you a cent. It is
expert SERVICE given you by experts backed by years of experience
in building and operating gasoline engines, and fitting up power
houses.
Now let us begin with page 11 and read clear through to the
bottom of page 18. These few pages will give you some engine facts
that you will find in no other catalog.
Next, I wish to call your attention to our splendid line of
pumping and light work engines. If you have been pumping water by
hand all those years or depending on a windmill to do the work
whenever you want to, one of these steady, reliable, metal hired
men. Any of these pump engines will save you the work of one hired
man this year–and just look at the price. Read the
description–notice the prices–and then decide whether you can
afford to go through this year without one of these little power
giants on your place.
It will pump water every day–barrels of it. It will run the
cream separator every morning and night, and then when Monday
morning comes it will do the washing for the entire family, making
it unnecessary for you to stay in out of the field to assist and
saving your wife the hardest kind of drudgery. It will make Monday
the most pleasant day in the week.
Now let us go over to page 27. Here is a cut of the popular
Galloway 5 HP engine sold at the low dollar price of $99.50. A
splendid looking engine, isn’t it? Notice the new style
cylinder head. This increases the horse power, cuts down fuel
consumption and by doubling the water circulation around the
valves, will add at least five years to the life of the engine.
On page 28 is shown the new Galloway 6 HP engine, which today is
our heaviest seller, equipped with the new style cylinder head and
also the two ball type of governor. We are also using the new style
cylinder head on our 7? HP engines.
If you are in the market for a large engine and want it mounted
on solid steel trucks, read page 33. On page 35 I show you a
complete Galloway sawing outfit. These outfits have been selling so
fast that it has been impossible for us to get any of them built
ahead. The belt tightener, saw guard, and new style saw table are
all part of the regular equipment. Just look at the prices.
Page 37 gives a very complete explanation of our five liberal
selling plans. In the regular pick price list enclosed you will
find our prices quoted on these different plans. Every man who
needs a gasoline engine can own a Galloway because I make prices so
low and selling plans so liberal that there is not anybody who
needs to do without plenty of power for his work.
Page 39 will interest you very much. Read it carefully. On pages
41-42 are short testimonials from some of my customers. We have
testimonials by the hundreds. We can not publish them all because
it would take too large a book, but they are here ready for your
inspection any time you want to see them.
Beginning on page 45 and continuing on page 47 show some very
serviceable and practical combination outfits.
To protect you and give you perfect confidence in our way of
doing business and also in the Galloway engine you are given the
unrestricted privilege, from the time the engine reaches you, to
test it thirty full days at your work with the understanding that
if it is not entirely satisfactory during the thirty day trial we
will take it back. Work the engine as hard as you can–try it out
in every possible way–don’t be afraid you are going to hurt
it–put it right along side of any other engine ever built, no
matter what the price of the other engine is, or by whom it is
manufactured. Work them both out hard. At the end of thirty days if
you are not satisfied that the Galloway engine is much the better
of the two, don’t keep it. Just notify me that you don’t
car to make it your permanent property–and I will send sipping
instructions for its return, refund every cent of money you have
paid, and stand the freight charges both ways. That is fair,
isn’t it?
This free trial test privilege goes with all of our selling
plans.
AND NOW for my 1914 PROPOSITION. Here is something that will
interest you very much. With this letter I am enclosing a
Confidential Business Proposition that is positively the finest
thing that has ever been offered the engine buying public. Read it
over. It isn’t hard to understand. Pick out the engine you
want, send in your order, and at the same time send me a list of
good names, 15 to 25 of them. I will put them down to your credit,
and as soon as you write me that the engine is satisfactory I will
send each one whose name you give me a catalog and write him a
personal letter. I will also ask him to go to your place and see
the engine at work.
On every sale I make to any name on the list, if the engine is
not smaller than 5 HP and with the understanding that their name is
not already in my files, I will pay you a commission of $10.00. You
will not be requested to take merchandise or anything of that kind
for your commission, but you will receive a check that you can cash
into real money in any bank in the United States. Some of my
customers have made as high as $90.00 in six months on this
proposition. One Galloway engine in a community sells more. In some
place one Galloway engine has sold as many as 30. This proposition
runs 15 days only. It is a confidential proposition to YOU. To
accept it you may order any size or style you please but do not
deduct $10.00 from your order because we can not accept less than
the regular price.
There is a big demand in every part of the country for Galloway
engines. This demand will continue to increase. Orders for Galloway
engines come in the year around every day. There is never a dull
season or a slack day in our engine business.
Now is the time for you to make me your order. You need the
engine. The sooner you get it on your place, the sooner it will
commence to earn money for you.
Read the catalog over again–go through the price list once
more–select the engine you want–pick it out now–fill in the
order blank–sign it up–drop it into the mail TODAY, and I will
make immediate shipment of a genuine Galloway to you–an engine
that will prove so satisfactory, earn you so much money, save you
so much hard work and drudgery, that you will wonder how you ever
did without it so many years. I am, Your friend at
Waterloo,
William Galloway: Waterloo Industrialist
Thanks to the Grout Museum of History and Science at 503 South
Street, Waterloo, IA 50701, we are able to print this brief
overview of the life of William Galloway, Waterloo industrialist.
Galloway is credited with helping build much of Waterloo and was
known throughout the United States for his industrial
achievements.
In 1877, William Galloway was born on a farm in Tama County. He
began his business pursuits in about 1899 in Reinbeck, Iowa, a
small town in Grundy County, with a partner named D. J. Wilson.
After a few months, he moved to Waterloo, and much of the early
industrial development of the town centered around Mr.
Galloway.
The William Galloway Company sold farm machinery. In 1902, his
interest turned to automobiles, particularly one-cylinder Cadillacs
which he began to display in front of his office.
In 1904, Galloway drove a horseless carriage, the equipment for
the car being bought elsewhere. This homemade version of the early
horseless carriage was put together by William Galloway and Henry
Greutsmacher, a Waterloo carriage maker. The carriage had a box
hand brake for steering and thus was the first car using a round
steering wheel in contrast to the lever type used to steer earlier
cars.
Galloway now turned his attention to the manufacturing business.
In 1906 the William Galloway Co. was organized with Galloway as
president, the chief product being a harrow cart in which the
operator could ride behind the harrow. Later, manure spreaders were
added, then cream separators an gasoline engines.
The company was incorporated with capital stock of $100,000 and
installed in the former plant of Cascaden Manufacturing. A long
list of general merchandise not made in Waterloo was sold by his
mail order business in addition to the articles made there. His
slogan, ‘The house that divides the melon,’ was known from
coast to coast.
In 1910 Galloway persuaded Fred Maytag to bring his Maytag car
to Waterloo and output was five or six cars per day, with several
hundred people employed. Galloway had an interest in this company
and was one of Maytag’s chief backers. Because of a faulty rear
axle, the company folded and moved to Newton, Iowa, where it began
the manufacture of washing machines.
Galloway built the Galloway Agricultural Club in 1910-11 as a
sample room and place of entertainment for the thousands of
customers and visitors who came to the Galloway Company for
products. The club had the largest dining room in Waterloo at that
time, and the second floor contained many single and double room
accommodations for overnight visitors.
In 1914, William Galloway, J. W. Galloway and M. L. Bowman
organized the Galloway Brothers & Co. and began the advertising
of farm and garden plants and seeds.
The manufacture of tractors began in 1916. During World War I,
hard times struck when $1.3 million worth of tractors were sold to
Great Britain for war use, but the bill was not settled. His Cedar
Heights home, farmland and herd of cattle all had to be sold to pay
off his obligations, but Mr. Galloway began again.
In 1919 tractors manufactured by Galloway Brothers & Co.
took first place honors at the London Exposition in competition
with ten other American and continental tractors. In 1920, Galloway
lost his business on Westfield Avenue, but the new owners retained
the name Galloway Co., Inc. and operated under that title.
By 1927, Galloway had begun business again, now on Ansborough
Avenue, under the name of William Galloway & Sons, with sons
David J. and Hugh H. as secretary and treasurer. The company
expanded greatly with oat hullers and other farm specialties.
Reasons given for their quick success were attributable to
Galloway’s policies: First, the best goods possible; second,
sold direct to the consumer; third, a square, honest deal; and
fourth, a liberal selling plan. Business was successful enough for
him to buy back his home in Cedar Heights.
During World War II, the Galloway Co., In., no longer operated
by William Galloway, but using the name, made bomb fuse parts,
anti-aircraft gun tripods, and gears. In 1944 they shifted back to
producing farm implements and became one of the first in the nation
to use plastic in place of stainless steel for cream separator
components.
Galloway, who was known as ‘Big Bill,’ was interested in
suburban development, and with associates developed some twelve
additions to Waterloo and Cedar Falls. He served as the first mayor
of Cedar Heights following its incorporation and before its
absorption by Cedar Falls.
He was one of three men who organized and launched
Waterloo’s National Dairy Cattle Congress and International
Belgian Horse Show, as well.
In 1952, William Galloway died at the age of seventy five. The
next year, a group of Peoria, Illinois investors gained controlling
interest in Galloway Company, Inc., and the firm sold out its
equipment and discontinued production of farm equipment.
In 1966, the Galloway Agricultural Club, which had stood over
fifty-five years as a memorial to the pioneer industrialist, was
demolished as part of an urban renewal project. None of the company
buildings remain standing.
GALLOWAY COMBINATION OUTFITS
HERE we show a line shaft outfit which we have had on exhibition
at the State Fairs the last few years. This outfit has made a big
hit among visitors to our exhibit; it has also proved to be very
instructive–giving people a plan to follow’ in fitting up a
power house of their own.
However, it would be necessary to make a few slight changes when
installing such an outfit in a building. Instead of the vertical
supports and the iron rods with turnbuckles it would be necessary
to use journal boxes or drop hangers.
This illustration is shown here for the purpose of giving you a
good working idea if you decide to fit up. a power house.
There is nothing that means so much real profit and enjoyment on
a farm as a good power house properly fitted up. The expense of
installing such an outfit is so small that there isn’t a farmer
anywhere who can afford to run his farm without one. If you have
not received a copy of our book, ‘Fitting up a Power
House,’ send for one at once; it is absolutely free. It tells
you how to accurately figure the speeds and diameters of pulleys,
and gives you other useful information you ought to have.
Our Service Department prepared the book, ‘Fitting up a
Power House’ and also have submitted figures on the combination
outfits in this price list.