Divco Delight. Wilton Manors, FL
1950's era Divco Milk Truck.
Divco-the Detroit Industrial Vehicle Co. began in 1924 with an idea that didn't quite work: an electric delivery truck with driving positions at the front, back and sides, to simulate the traditional horse-drawn dairy wagon's ability to be driven from all those positions. From 1926 to '30, Divco produced 933 gas-powered trucks with controls on either side. By 1930-31, however, Divco had refocused on a single set of controls and arranged so that the driver could hop onto the truck, nudge it forward and hop off, without ever sitting down.
That idea proved more successful, but profits remained elusive. The company was reincorporated as Divco-Detroit in 1927, seized by creditors in 1931, sold to engine supplier Continental in 1932, then sold to the Twin Coach Co. in 1936.
In 1950, the Divco Model 11 had a combination brake/clutch ped-al, a hand throttle and a hand-operated snubber brake, for stand-up operation. The side doors open wide, allowing an easy step up to the flat floor. The pedals sprout from a shelf above the floor, which seems odd, until you step backward, fall naturally into the swiveling bucket seat and realize, from your high perch, that the pedals are just where they should be. The enormous steering wheel lies flat but provides welcome leverage for aiming a 4315-pound truck with non-assisted steering.
Like the independent car companies, Divco profited from a postwar seller's market, producing a record 6385 trucks in 1948. Borden's, Carnation and Sealtest bought fleets of Divcos. A 1951 film called The Milkman starred Jimmy Durante and a magical Divco that came when he whistled. Divco boasted about its status as "America's Favorite Milk Truck," with 75 percent of the delivery market. But that market was rapidly disappearing.
Per-capita milk consumption declined slowly, but the percentage of milk that was home-delivered plunged from 80 percent in 1945, to 30 percent in 1963, to just 1.5 percent in 1985. Divco's 1956 merger with Wayne added buses, ambulances and hearses to the line, but that only slowed the fall. The last three Divcos were assembled from parts in inventory in February 1986.
Divco Delight. Wilton Manors, FL
1950's era Divco Milk Truck.
Divco-the Detroit Industrial Vehicle Co. began in 1924 with an idea that didn't quite work: an electric delivery truck with driving positions at the front, back and sides, to simulate the traditional horse-drawn dairy wagon's ability to be driven from all those positions. From 1926 to '30, Divco produced 933 gas-powered trucks with controls on either side. By 1930-31, however, Divco had refocused on a single set of controls and arranged so that the driver could hop onto the truck, nudge it forward and hop off, without ever sitting down.
That idea proved more successful, but profits remained elusive. The company was reincorporated as Divco-Detroit in 1927, seized by creditors in 1931, sold to engine supplier Continental in 1932, then sold to the Twin Coach Co. in 1936.
In 1950, the Divco Model 11 had a combination brake/clutch ped-al, a hand throttle and a hand-operated snubber brake, for stand-up operation. The side doors open wide, allowing an easy step up to the flat floor. The pedals sprout from a shelf above the floor, which seems odd, until you step backward, fall naturally into the swiveling bucket seat and realize, from your high perch, that the pedals are just where they should be. The enormous steering wheel lies flat but provides welcome leverage for aiming a 4315-pound truck with non-assisted steering.
Like the independent car companies, Divco profited from a postwar seller's market, producing a record 6385 trucks in 1948. Borden's, Carnation and Sealtest bought fleets of Divcos. A 1951 film called The Milkman starred Jimmy Durante and a magical Divco that came when he whistled. Divco boasted about its status as "America's Favorite Milk Truck," with 75 percent of the delivery market. But that market was rapidly disappearing.
Per-capita milk consumption declined slowly, but the percentage of milk that was home-delivered plunged from 80 percent in 1945, to 30 percent in 1963, to just 1.5 percent in 1985. Divco's 1956 merger with Wayne added buses, ambulances and hearses to the line, but that only slowed the fall. The last three Divcos were assembled from parts in inventory in February 1986.