BusTalk

frankie · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:04 am Post subject: Mercury Buses

Beside collecting model buses, I also collect bus emblems and nomenclature plates. The one featured here I've had for sometime but never could find information or photos of the actual bus or buses. Based on their website, the company ventured into the commercial market between 1946 and 1949.

Obviously, a very obscure bus manufacturer as the parent company is or was a builder of aircraft components. If this emblem came off a bus, it was designated as model type MSA, production number 3188 and serial number 43-47.

Can anyone give more information about the buses manufactured by Mercury?

Frankie

schoolbusdriver · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:43 pm Post subject:

Found this history of Mercury Aircraft of Hammondsport, NY (an hour from where I live) --

I believe that plaque came from a school bus --

http://www.mercurycorp.com/history.html

And this mention online --

Mercury Aircraft
Mercury Aircraft Inc., Hammondsport, NY. The company is a fourth generation family business. A pioneer in the U.S. aircraft industry, it was founded in 1920 by Joseph F. Meade, then a chief engineer for Glenn Curtis, as a manufacturer of spare parts for the Curtis Jenny airplane. The firm moved from Long Island to Hammondsport, where it designed and manufactured its own line of airplanes in the 1930s. During World War II, Mercury Aircraft assisted the war effort by manufacturing parts and assemblies for a variety of aircraft. After the war, Mercury focused its manufacturing efforts to non-aircraft, peacetime uses, with product lines including school bus and truck bodies and baby strollers. In 1948, Mercury began manufacturing components for IBM and continues to do so today. The company main focus now is in metals fabrication and the manufacture of products assembled with plastic, metal and electronic components.

The same company is also mentioned in "SCHOOL BUS STANDARDS" Revised Edition of 1945, when they stopped making buses is a matter of conjecture at this point.

I have an e-mail inquiry out to MERCURY AIRCRAFT INC. concerning this post. Hopefully they will be able to provide some clues about this 'lost" bus make ---

JimmiB · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 8:56 pm Post subject:

Here are two ads that I found. The first is a Ford ad that the caption had identified as a 1948 Mercury model M-103 body.
The second is a 1954 ad for Mercury buses.

frankie · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 9:57 pm Post subject:

JIMMYB: I don't think that the Mercury school bus shown above was one built by Mercury Aircraft, but rather the Canadian version of the U.S. Ford. In Canada, Fords and Mercurys from 1946 thru 1969 basically had the same body styles as US vehicles, but with switched nameplates, both with their commercial and passengers vehicles. The same held true with Plymouths and Dodges of that era.

SCHOOLBUSDRIVER: Thank you for pursuing my inquiry with Mercury Aircraft. I'm looking forward to see what they have to say.

Frankie

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 11:59 pm Post subject:

All:

This is all extremely interesting; I had no idea whatsoever that MERCURY was involved in school bus building!

You indeed learn something new every day!

Great stuff, guys!

NYO

JimmiB · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:15 am Post subject:

Yes, the fact that Fords in Canada carried the Mercury nameplate confuses the search. I do notice that the bus on the Ford ad has Ford on the hood, where the second ad clearly has the Mercury name on it, which is undoubtedly a Canadian bus. To further confuse things there appears to have been a company in New Zealand that produced buses under the Mercury name.

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 2:20 am Post subject:

Here's a URL that might just lessen the confusion about the Mercurys and other 'brand mixtures' made in Canada years ago.

http://www.brewtowncruisers.com/CanadianMercurys.htm

Enjoy,

Mr. 'L'

schoolbusdriver · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:09 am Post subject:

frankie · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:29 am Post subject:

Believe it or not, I've been racking my brains researching this and I think it paid off. Whoo-hoo!

Frankie

Photos courtesy of shepardbrosinc.com for educational purposes.

schoolbusdriver · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:32 pm Post subject:

JimmiB · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:49 am Post subject:

Whether or not this is the same company, it's a cool find. I tried searching the Penn Yan reference too, but never came up with anything.

schoolbusdriver · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:16 am Post subject:

schoolbusdriver · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:37 am Post subject:

Just off the phone with the folks at
"COACH and EQUIPMENT" of Penn Yan, NY
Although "COACH and EQUIPMENT" of Penn Yan,
NY manufactured buses under the name
"Penn Yan Bus", they were never affiliated with
"MERCURY BUS" / "MERCURY AIRCRAFT" according
to what I was just told.

So, "MERCURY BUSES" were made by
"MERCURY AIRCRAFT" under their
"PENN YAN BUSES DIVISION" in
Hammondsport, New York. The earliest evidence
I found of this company is that it was mentioned
in the SCHOOLBUS STANDARDS REVISED EDITION OF 1945
as one of many manufactuers of school buses at
that time, "A.C. Kreutziger - Sales Manager -
Penn Yan Buses, Division of Mercury Aircraft, Hammondsport, N.Y."

schoolbusdriver · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:39 am Post subject:

Check 5th column just from top --- Re: School Bus

http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2013/Dansville%20NY%20Genesee%20County%20Express/Dansville%20NY%20Genesee%20County%20Express%201946/Dansville%20NY%20Genesee%20County%20Express%201946%20-%200045.pdf

HwyHaulier · Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 932 Location: Harford County, MD

In the frankie message dated TH 6 OCT: Can't help but note bottom of the photo panel Coach #25 - The Commodore Line...

Design reminds of contemporary KENWORTH product...

....................Vern.................