Horseless Carriages: Inside Larkins & Co.'s 1913 Plant

THE AUTOMOBILE TAKES OVER. Just before World War I, Larkins and Co. came under the direction and eventual ownership of William's eldest son, William B., who had the difficult task of transforming it from a carriage manufactory to a maker of custom-built automobile and truck bodies. There was some resistance among first-time automobile buyers to the unaccustomed sameness of the new assembly-line cars, and a sporty, cut-down "Larkins Top" for Packard roadsters was popular in the 1920s. Later still, the company became an auto repair and tire business.

Postcard by Murat Photography (Larkins family)

This promotional postcard was printed in 1913, the year William Larkins senior died. Clockwise from the upper left, the small captions read : "Upholstery & Trimming Dept", "One of the Varnish Rooms", "Blacksmithing Dept", "Part of the Paintshop", "Office and Drying Room", and "Body Building Dept".

To see blowups of the Model T and the Varnish Room, click here.

To see a color painting of a Packard roadster with the Larkins Top, click here.

For a brief period, the woodworking and blacksmithing skills of experienced carriage makers could be usefully applied to auto bodies which, in the beginning, mimicked carriage bodies. But, when wood was replaced with metal, the old carriage craftsmen had to give way to young mechanics.

The days of the horse and buggy were over.

To learn more details about the transition from the buggy to the horseless carriage, go off-site to Early San Francisco Automobile Insurance.
For a general illustrated summary of horse-drawn vehicles, go off-site to Horse and Buggy Days.
To learn more about early San Francisco history, go off-site to the San Francisco City Museum's detailed History of San Francisco 1865-1900 and to Ron Filion's Early History of San Francisco.
To see the family tree of William Larkins, go to William Larkins Genealogy

Send email to John Larkins