Title: Kissel Kar Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1905-1935
Inclusive Dates: 1961

Creator:

• Kissel Kar Company

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss BQ

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Correspondence and business records (1905-1935) of the Hartford, Wisconsin company, the company's various branch agencies, and the Kissel family. Included are loan applications, financial papers, and correspondence relating to patents. Also present is a manuscript copy of a company history written by E. E. Hustings published in Antique Automobile magazine in 1961.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil000bq

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Louis Kissel and his two sons, George and William, formed the Kissel Motor Car Company on June 5, 1906 in Hartford, Wisconsin. Cars built by the Kissel family emphasized old world craftsmanship and attained international renown for their advanced design and outstanding performance, which helped the company to prosper. The Kissel Kar Company was part of a group of industries in Hartford owned by the Kissels which included the Hartford Plow Company, the Kissel Manufacturing Company, and the Hartford Electric Company.

During World War I the Kissel firm went into the production of trucks for the Army, and during the later months of the war devoted itself almost entirely to the production of trucks. During the war the Kissel plant employed as many as 1400 workers.

George and William Kissel suffered serious financial losses during the Great Depression, which all but wiped out the Kissel name from the automobile industry. In 1935, they organized Kissel Industries, which primarily made outboard motors for Sears, Roebuck and Co. Upon the death of George Kissel in 1942 the company was sold to the West Bend Aluminum Company.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the West Bend Aluminum Company, Hartford, Wisconsin, January 1958.

Processing Information

Processed by Steve L. Hensen, April 6, 1967. Reprocessed by James P. Kusik at the Milwaukee Area Research Center, May 3, 1994.

Box   1 Folder   1	Aut-O-Mat Candy Sales Company, 1931-1932
Box   1 Folder   2	Ayers, Fred W., Correspondence, 1930-1931
Box   1 Folder   3	Balance Sheets, 1917-1920
Box   1 Folder   4	Chicago Kissel Kar Company, 1908-1909
Box   1 Folder   5	Detroit Kissel Kar Company, 1911-1912
Box   1 Folder   6	Hartford Golf Club, 1932-1935
Box   1 Folder   7	Hartford Plow Company, 1905-1910
Box   1 Folder   8	History, E.E. Hustings, 1961
Box   1 Folder   9	Kansas City Kissel Kar Company, 1911-1914
Box   1 Folder   10	Kissel Kar Klub, 1976
Box   1 Folder   11	Kissel Model 6-55, undated
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Loan Applications and Miscellaneous Financial Material, 1930-1935
Box   2 Folder   3	Maps and Blueprints, 1917-1932
Box   2 Folder   4	Minneapolis-St. Paul Papers, 1911-1917
Box   2 Folder   5	Miscellaneous Business Papers, 1911-1930
Box   2 Folder   6	New England Kissel Kar Branch, 1911-1914
Box   2 Folder   8	Patent Material and Correspondence, 1912-1926
Box   2 Folder   7	Southwest Kissel Kar Branch, Dallas, 1911-1918
Box   2 Folder   9	World War I Material and Correspondence, 1917-1920