Shattuck Trailer
I have acquired an ORIGINAL BROCHURE from the year 1916. What makes this brochure so special is the fact that 1916 was the first year in America that pop-up trailers were mass manufactured and sold. Shattuck was one of six documented companies that began production of such trailers during 1916. Of those six companies William Pitt Shattuck of 2125 Girard Avenue South, Minneapolis was the first to apply for his patents. He applied for his first trailer patent on January 15, 1916 and was granted US Patent 1,229,534 on February 12, 1917. He applied for another patent on March 11, 1916 with improvements to the prior mentioned patent and was granted US Patent 1,277,654 on September 3, 1918.
In June of 1916 Shattuck Trailer opened a general office and a showroom at 1408-1410 Hennepen Avenue in Minneapolis. Shattuck's trailer could be converted from a camping trailer to a hauling trailer in minutes with a carrying capacity of 1,500 lbs. Measuring 7 feet 6 inches long by 44 inches wide the trailer weighed 700 lbs with the camp equipment.
While at the time of this writing I do not have much information regarding Shattuck Trailer Company I did find a web site dedicated to his other exploits. William P. Shattuck II is credited with inventing the original tank as well as many other inventions. You can read all about it here, Minneapolis Man Proves Inventor of British Tank. This web site references an article run in “The Minneapolis Tribune”, March 31, 1918, page 12. I will leave all historical claims to the scholars.
W.P. Shattuck died on January 29, 1926.