The Graham Legacy:

Graham-Paige From 1932

Now available directly from the publisher, or by special order by your local book store.

 

A last, the “rest of the story.”  Announcing the second book of Keller’s two-volume history of the Graham-Paige Motors Corporation.  The first volume of this set, The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige To 1932 won the prestigious Cugnot Award of the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH) in 1999.

This newly published narrative follows the struggles and successes of the Graham enterprise through the tumultuous years of the Great Depression, its resurgence as a prime contractor to the Armed Forces during WWII and its post-war association with the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation.  The firm’s redirection as an investment company, and later a management company, is also thoroughly related. Complemented by nearly 200 era photographs (many never previously published) the text is much more than a discussion of the swift and stylish automobiles proffered by the venerable Michigan firm.  Importantly, each of the various Graham brothers’ endeavors is fully explained in the context of the times.  As with the initial volume, the Graham family, its business creed, and place in the rich tapestry of American automotive history is a focus.

The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige From 1932 is an important study of an interesting facet of American manufacturing history, one of which is many times overlooked in the grand scheme of automotive history.  The Graham-Paige story has long deserved an in-depth look, and this final volume of the Graham-Paige history continues to do just that. 

Only the finest materials are used in the creation of the volume.  The book will be a large 11 x 8½-inch, collector quality edition with a deluxe hardbound cover and full-color dust jacket.  Two hundred and eighty pages of high-gloss, double coated, acid-free paper will be used for superior photo reproduction.  The first 500 copies of the Commemorative Edition will be signed by Michael E. Keller.  “Commemorative Edition” will be embossed on the cover design to distinguish these copies from standard editions. 

  How to Order

Order directly from M.T. Publishing Company, P.O. Box 6802, Evansville, Indiana  47719-6802, or for credit card orders, 1-888-263-4702.  $39.95 for the Deluxe Standard Edition; $79.95 for the bonded leather edition.  Domestic postage is $6.50 for the first book, $4.50 for each additional book.  Inquire for foreign shipping. 

  

About The Author

Michael E. Keller has researched Graham-Paige history for over 3 decades.  He is the proud owner of two Graham-Paige automobiles, has assembled a comprehensive collection of Graham and Paige sales literature and memorabilia, is a past two-term president of the Graham Owners Club, International and is the author of The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige To 1932.

 

The Contributors

 Bill McCall was born into a family that utilized Graham automobiles for everyday transportation through the 1950s.  He developed a keen interest in Graham Blue Streak models when, at fifteen, his first automotive purchase was a 1933 Model 57A Custom Eight rumble seat coupe.  Since then McCall has researched, driven, collected and restored many 1932-35 Grahams.  He is a two-term president of the Graham Owners Club, International.

 Karl Zahm is a well-known antique automobile historian who specializes in the products of the Graham-Paige Motors Corporation.  He is a past editor of the Graham Owners Club magazine, The Supercharger, and is the former owner of an award-winning Graham Hollywood.  With a penchant for the lesser-known makes of the 1920s and 1930s, Zahm has published scores of magazine articles in Automobile Quarterly, Collectible Automobile, The Bulb Horn, The Classic Car and many other antique automobile publications.

  

What The Critics Are Saying

From well-known historian Gerald Perschbacher of Old Cars Weekly:

 “If you bought Michael Keller’s first book on Graham, you simply must buy this companion, hardbound book with 280 pages.  Yet, this book stands on its own merits if you only wish to concentrate on the period of 1932 and beyond the company’s car products up to 1962.  Exacting, informational, relevant in application, revealing in scope, the book is a masterpiece in study and text.  Nine chapters cover the main topics and challenges of the Graham-Paige leadership from Blue Streak models to the Frazer, even the rototiller.   About 100 pages are dedicated to epilogue and appendices.  Here is added strength that a book seldom enjoys.  Ten appendices deal in detail with Graham family lineage, custom-built cars, engine and serial number data, production figures, scale models and toys, sales literature, and more.  I can’t imagine anything missed that was truly worth mentioning about the car company and its products.  Visuals are superb throughout the book and are more concentrated on pre-war car pictures than postwar years.  Learn about the Nissan connection and other companies with ties to Graham.  Discover how the power of supercharging in pre-war years.  Find out about foreign design company that crafted bodies on Grahams.  “Superb” is a word too small in scale to describe this milestone book.

  from The Belt Pulley, premier all-tractor magazine dedicated to vintage tractors:

"Most collectors know Graham-Bradley tractors were produced by a car company. Less known is the rest of the story: such as how the streamlined tractors fit into the plans of Graham-Paige or how the trendsetting Rototiller garden tiller fit into the mix. This great new book by Michael Keller fills those significant gaps (his first book tells the Graham story up to 1932). This book, like the first, is
meticulously researched and lavishly produced. During the late 1930s the struggling firm was building the controversially-styled "Sharknose" car. Graham hoped the Graham-Bradley tractor and a relationship with Sears, Roebuck and Co. would save the company, but is was not to be. Farm implement plans continued after the war, however, and rare photos and information about the never-produced Frazer tractors and the smaller production tractor, the Jacques-Frazer Model T, are included as well. The many toys produced that represent Graham products are represented in an appendix. Graham-Bradley models produced by Auburn to Die-Cast
Promotions are shown."

From Beverly Rae Kimes, well-know automotive historian:

 “Michael Keller’s first award-winning volume on the Grahams focused on the first half decade of their automotive adventure.  For this second book, which encompasses nearly three decades, he has brought in Bill McCall and Karl Zahm, past president and editor respectively, of the Graham Owners Club, International and, like Michael, long-time enthusiasts of the marque.  The seamless transition from the work of one to the other reflects the fine craft of editor Keller.  To all three of these gentlemen, helmets off for a splendid achievement. 

From Tracy Powell of "Automobile Quarterly":

"Rarely is the sequel to a blockbuster deserving of its predecessor's glory. Yet The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige From 1932, published five years after the Cugnot Award-winning The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige To 1932, is worthy of praise. The first book ended with an enthusiastic sense of new beginnings for the Graham-Paige company. As odd as it seemed at the time--in 1931, when heels had just been dug in for the long economic depression--enthusiasm for better tomorrows bustled through the company's halls. This prosperous mentality carries over to the beginning of the second book, as Graham-Paige surged forward as a healthy independent carmaker amid an industry that clamored for consolidation. For the Graham brothers, whose roots stretched back to agrarian Indiana, there were no foregone conclusions when it came to spectacular design. Consider the Blue Streak, a 1930s model that exuded refinement and modernity, leading to the "Spirit of Motion" design theme that was unremittingly embraced by Europeans. Superlative sentiment is also expressed for Graham-Paige engineering, seen, for instance, in the '30s era Supercharger sedan that lauded fuel economy of 26.66 miles per gallon. The book's three authors (Michael E. Keller, Bill McCall and Karl S. Zahm) exhibit their detailed research skills in their presentation of everything Graham-Paige: particulars on not only the automobiles, but scale models and toys, sales literature and advertisements, and fairly extensive biographies on key figures. Most interesting are discussions regarding various path-crossings, such as Graham-Paige's ties to Nissan and Rototiller and, of course, Kaiser-Frazer. Such passages were well conveyed and easily articulated. For one of the handful of independents that survived catastrophe during the Great Depression, Graham-Paige existed as a shining example of good ol' fashioned American tenacity. This enduring footnote is adequately captured in the context of both volumes of The Graham Legacy.

Dear readers of the Graham Owners Club, International web site:

As many of you are aware, The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige to 1932 was published in 1998, was the winner of the Cugnot Award of the Society of Automotive Historians in 1999 and has been reprinted six times. Published by Turner Publishing Company, this was the first book in the two-volume history of the Graham–Paige Motors Corporation and the Graham family.

The M.T. Publishing Company, publisher of the second volume of the set (The Graham Legacy:  Graham-Paige From 1932) has recently announced that it has purchased the remaining stock of the first volume from Turner.  There are no plans for a seventh edition.  The remaining stock that was acquired by M.T. Publishing is not great in number, but this gives M.T. Publishing the ability to offer both volumes (at least until the small supply of the first book is exhausted).  Because these remaining volumes are available only with no dust jackets (or less-than-perfect dust jackets) they are being offered for only $29.95, plus shipping.  This may very well be the last opportunity you have to purchase a first volume, making your Graham-Paige history book set complete.  For more information or to order, call M.T. Publishing Company at 1-888-263-4702

Thank you
Michael Keller