Acknowledgements

Lists

• 1908: Hennessey and Company, Plat Book of Racine and Kenosha counties, Wisconsin(1908), page iii (commercial directory page, possibly paid for: a plat book is a commercially published rural land ownership directory), lists under Machine Shops: Piggins Bros 1113 6th. Source: The State of Wisconsin Collection.
• 1910: The Motor Cycle, Motor Boat & Automobile Trade Directory, Chilton Co., 1910, contains a directory of manufacturers of "commercial" and "pleasure" gasoline cars including Piggins Brothers (page 452). It also contains the following entry in a directory of parts brands: Piggins--clutches, Piggins Bros., Racine, Wis. (page 501) [Google Book Search]
• 1917: A directory entry at page 238 of BARBER, Herbert Lee; Story of the Automobile: Its History and Development from 1760 to 1917, with an Analysis of the Standing and Prospects of the Automobile Industry; (Chicago, A.J. Munson & Co., 1917, 250 pages): Gasoline Trucks and Delivery Cars Manufactured in the United States. This chapter is reprinted from Everybody's Magazine... The prices are those that were in effect prior to April 1, 1917. "Piggins," Piggins Motor Truck Co., Racine, Wis., 4 models. Chassis only. Enclosed Spur Gear drive. 1 to 5 [capacity tons], Prices $1750 to $3850. (Reliance is not yet mentioned in the list of 145 truck brands). [Google Book Search, Microsoft Live Search]
• 1917: A listing of automotive manufacturers in a report by the US Senate Committee on Finance: Revenue to Defray War Expenses: Hearings & Briefs before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, on H.R. 4280; (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1917): Piggins Motor Truck Co., Racine, Wis. (succeeded by Piggins Bros. M.T. Co.). [Google Book Search] [Bill H. R. 4280 was revenue legislation.]
• 1945: GLASSCOCK, Carl Burgess and Floyd CLYMER, Motor History of America, 1945, lists Piggins at page 329 [Google Book Search]

Press Clippings

• 1909: The Horseless Age: The Automobile Trade Magazine, page 103: Consolidation Proposed [heading]. It is reported that the Racine Manufacturing Company and the Piggins Brothers, of Racine, Wis., will be consolidated and engage in the manufacture of motor ... -- [Google Book Search]
• 1913 Jan-Jun: vol 28, The Automobile, A Journal of Automobile Progress and Construction, page 916: Automotive Industries; Piggin Motor Truck Branch [heading]: EN McNabb, president of the Piggin Motor Truck Co., ... where the various models of the Piggins truck will be assembled from ... [Pilgrim redacted to Piggin, because surely an OCR error] U Michigan Library (snippet view only in Google Book Search)
• 1913: vol 8, Commercial Vehicles, page 50: Operation & Maintenance [heading]: ...'s 1-ton truck will be practically the same as in 1912, only minor changes .... the truck made by the Piggins Motor Truck Co. remains the same in design and ... U Michigan Library (snippet view only in Google Book Search)
• no date: The Gas Engine, page 252: The manufacture of trucks by the new company has already been started in the plant used by the Piggins Motor Truck Co., Racine, Wis. ... [not clear if following is also part of the same report:] two of their representatives are now in Ashland, where they are superintending the removing to Menasha of the machinery belonging to that company." -- from the 1898-1921 periodical (publisher The Gas Engine Publishing Company) [Google Book Search]
• 1918, vol. 3 Automotive Engineering, page 491: The Reliance Motor Truck Co., Appleton, Wis., has completed the transfer of the machinery, tools and equipment of its former plant at Racine, Wis., to the new shop in Appleton, which will be ready to start operations August 1st or 5th. The shop is one story, 175 x 290 feet. [Ira L.?] Miller is the president. [copy U Michigan Library, in Google Book Search]
• 1919 Jul-Dec, vol 6, Motor Record, page 42: The Reliance Motor Truck Co., Appleton, Wis., which was thoroughly reorganized early this year, will increase its capital stock from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The company manufactures the Badger ...[Google Book Search]
• 1921 (Apr 15-Oct 1), vol 35, Motor West page 16: A while back, Mr. Miller became president and general manager of the Reliance Motor Truck Co., in Racine, Wis. Then-- He directed building of a new $150,000 plant in Appleton, installed machinery, the company moved over from Racine, and its capital stock was raised.[Google Book Search]
• 1965-1966, vol 27-28, Horseless Carriage Club Gazette, page ??: Wire wheels were available for any automobile. Fifty percent of the K-R-I-T production was exported to England where the cars were consistently advertised in the Autocar magazine. These cars were made by W.S. Piggins (of Practical Piggins Truck fame), Kenneth Crittenden (for whom the cars were named) and Clai... [this would appear to be an error, as W.S. Piggins was not connected to the Practical Piggins truck business] Publisher: Horseless Carriage Club of America [copy U Michigan Library, in Google Book Search]

Notes

• The incorporation of Piggins Motor Truck is recorded in a collection of papers on defunct Wisconsin corporations 1848-1945 held in Madison, and searchable online through the Wisconsin Corporations Index (Wisconsin Historical Society website). File number P 001010 in box 0687 contains seven sheets on the The Piggins Motor Truck Co. (registered in Racine County). The Historical Society is the Wisconsin State Archives housing original state and local government records. Note that the publicity brochure for the trucks called the manufacturer the Piggins Motor Car Company: this may indicate a reincorporation, or else the brochure was printed in early 1912 before the company's name had been finalized.
• An abstract of this website dealing with the Piggins car and truck is available in French
• Don Piggins has begun a separate site devoted to the Piggins automotive story: pigginsmotorcarco.com
• Advertisement in the December 1908 issue of the magazine Motor Age: