The Riddle of Ravenna

Foreword

In attempting to write the history of the Riddle, the writer realizes that he is tackling a subject which is at once controversial and possibly of insufficient interest to the average automobile enthusiast or even the average reader of THE UPPER HUDSON VALLEY AUTOMOBILIST.

However there are three reasons for writing this story, the first of which is that although Riddle concentrated its efforts on both hearse and ambulance production, it also produced a limited number of passenger automobiles. These, to be sure, were cars primarily built for invalids' use but nonetheless, they were passenger cars. Consequently, the name of Riddle will take on a new importance to any reader who is interested in the as yet unwritten history of those cars which are generally unlikely to be biographed.

The second reason for writing this story owes its importance to the literature which was made available. The catalogue reproduced in this article is a prospectus devoted to the interests of funeral directors or ambulance operators, but the truth of the matter is that this is a most unusual piece of literature — one which is seldom if ever encountered in the collections of many catalogue collectors and which otherwise stands apart as a true deviation from the norm. In addition, we do not know of any fellow historian or club bulletin which has ever published a catalogue devoted exclusively to hearses and ambulances.

Finally, we have been blessed with actual family ties concerning the Riddle family itself, who have been most helpful in supplying illustrative and historical material. This is the sort of opportunity to which THE UPPER HUDSON VALLEY AUTOMOBILIST dedicated itself many years ago — the writing of material which, if not taken seriously by some group, may never be available again to anyone.

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In that mad and altogether fascinating decade of the 1920s, better known these days as "the roaring twenties," the automobile business flourished in these United States as it never had before — and in a way which it was never to do again. New makes of cars were introduced each year, some practical, some not so practical; body styles reflected the tone of the American buyer in his insistence that his car might be a little different from that of his neighbor across the street.

In an effort to cater to this demand, the established companies bent over backwards to offer as large a selection as possible: many different body styles, a rainbow of colors from which to choose, and various gimmicks which might change the appearance of the stock model. Wire or disc wheels, cycle-fender treatments, and trunks at the rear changed many otherwise standard-appearing automobiles. But the point was, if the general appearance of cars couldn't be changed, color combinations could be used to change the routine to the custom. There were, of course, millions of automobile owners to whom automobiles existed purely to provide transportation. On the other hand, a great many owners felt that the appearance of their car reflected their own personality.

There was variety on the roads of the mid-twenties, and there were makes aplenty — not only in current production but survivors of the many companies which had ceased to exist one, two or three years earlier. It was a dullard indeed who, among auto enthusiasts, couldn't readily count sixty or seventy different makes of automobiles on any Sunday jaunt.

But there was this other side to the penny. Many companies were failing every year, their cars taking their places as orphans in the industry, their trade-in values depreciating heavily, with parts and service becoming nil.

In 1926, the grim reaper who watches the destiny of the motor car industry gave the fine old name of Apperson the word. Also getting the axe during the year were Cleveland, Gray, Jewett, Lexington, and others — including the dashing ideal of the discriminating sportsmen, the ReVere. It is noted that another motor car company passed into oblivion in 1926, largely unlamented: the Riddle Motor Company of Ravenna, Ohio, which for ten years had built more than creditable funeral cars, ambulances, and a handful of sedans and limousines especially designed for invalids.

The reason for the apparent apathy on the part of the automotive public was in no way the fault of the Riddle. Generally speaking, few save funeral directors ever gave the make a thought. It was built primarily for funeral use; its brochures and catalogues found their way primarily only into the hands of undertakers. Riddle had an established clientele, advertised only by brochure, and otherwise seldom got its name into any of the automotive journals of the day.

The first Riddle motor vehicles appeared about 1916 — the last ones but a decade later. But Riddle coachwork had been highly renowned for many decades previously, Riddle carriages having been offered in a complete selection of body types and in use not only throughout the United States but in many corners of the world. At least two presidents of the country were carried to their final resting places in Riddle funeral cars: William McKinley in September 1901, and Warren G. Harding in August 1923.

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The White Years

With the advent of the motor industry, the Riddle concern saw the ominous handwriting on the wall and added a line of bodies especially designed for motor-driven chassis in the interests of modern-thinking funeral directors. The first of these appeared on the White truck chassis. White operations were centered in Cleveland, only 33 miles northeast of Ravenna. Meanwhile, the Riddle company still carried on its operations in the horse-drawn hearse division. The first bodies for motor-driven hearses were made about 1912.

As many funeral directors were slow to adopt motor hearses, and as the Riddle company had been in the horse-drawn hearse business for so many years, it continued its horse-drawn funeral carriage designs with handcraft and carved-to-order designs which rivalled other companies in such a way that for sheer perfection and finish, Riddle took second place to no one.

Meanwhile, an increasing clientele continued to order the White-Riddle combination hearses and ambulances, and between the first mountings and the last in Riddle's association with the White Motor Company, the bodies were primarily if not exclusively coupled with the chassis of White, the big brother to the northeast.

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The Riddle Motor Company, 1916–1926

By about 1916, the business of the Riddle company had reached a point in sales which prompted its management to start assembling complete units and, by use of a Continental motor and other proven standard components, the first all-Riddle motor hearses were built.

There was considerable competition in building motor hearses and ambulances at the time, notwithstanding the considerable number of unconvinced undertakers who still felt that the horse-drawn carriage was far more suitable for the "black line" business. Much of this motor hearse competition centered in Ohio and Illinois. In the decade with which we are concerned — 1916 through 1926 — Riddle was in stiff competition with Sayers & Scoville of Cincinnati; Meteor and Mort (an appropriate name for a hearse), both of Piqua, Ohio; Henney of Freeport, Illinois; and Rock Falls, a Velie subsidiary of Streator, Illinois. There were others as well, such as the highly-regarded and extremely posh Cunningham of Rochester, New York. In the case of Riddle and other specialists in the field, great care and pride in workmanship was the watchword and the guardian of reputations which were never to be sullied by compromise with the commonplace.

The Riddle hearses were well constructed, the components being more than adequate to give the necessary services required. The forte of the company, however, was the bodybuilding talent which was evident in every funeral car or ambulance leaving the factory. It was the Riddle policy to hire workmen whose very pride in their specialty guaranteed continued service with the concern. A good example of this policy may be seen in the hiring of Swiss woodcarvers to tackle the extremely difficult and specialized business of carving the false curtains and filigree work so dear to hearse design. Riddle never split hairs, no matter how difficult the situation, so long as the result could be realized in its finished products.

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Henry Warner Riddle

Henry Riddle was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania — now the north side of Pittsburgh — on February 8th, 1838. Left motherless at an early age, he sold papers, ran errands and at one time carried the mail from Pittsburgh to Bethany, Virginia, as a boy. At the age of 13, he settled down to the serious business of life by apprenticing himself to the carriage builder's trade, serving three years with John South in Allegheny City. He became a skilled workman and for five years after completing his apprenticeship, he remained with Mr. South as a journeyman.

In 1856 he left Pittsburgh and went to New Orleans, stopping en route at Memphis, Vicksburg and Natchez, working in all these cities at his trade. Returning north, he stopped at St. Louis and Cincinnati, going from there to Dayton and later to Florence, Kentucky, also working in the carriage business. He varied this by the purchase of carriages in Pittsburgh which he sold about Florence, Covington and Cincinnati.

In 1861, he located at Ravenna, Ohio, where in partnership with his brother-in-law, he bought the carriage plant of M. D. Clark which had been in business since 1831. As Merts & Riddle, he and his brother-in-law operated this business for thirty years.

In 1891, Mr. Riddle became the sole owner of the business through the purchase of his partner's interest and soon afterward organized the Riddle Coach & Hearse Company, of which he remained president until shortly before his death on December 16th, 1920. The company later became the Riddle Manufacturing Company and sold carriages literally all over the world. Mr. Riddle, known to young and old in and about Ravenna as "Uncle Henry," encountered great obstacles on the road to success, the Riddle plant being twice destroyed by fire — once in 1870 and again in June 1903. Both times he rebuilt and restored his fortunes.

His catalogues included a wide variety of hearses, including children's hearses as well as those intended for the funerals of adults. Other popular carriage styles included landaus, berlin coaches, coupes and rockaways. The Riddle carriages were particularly noted for their fine finish and meticulous detail so often lacking in the products of other firms of the day.

Although the Riddle concern built both hearses and passenger carriages, the former had been a specialty for many years when, with the advent of the motor car, it was decided to concentrate its production on hearse bodies and, under a contract with the White Motor Company, Riddle took over the design and manufacture of most if not all of the bodies which White sold to funeral directors throughout the country.

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The Automobiles, 1920–1926

These 1920 Riddles were powered with the Continental 9-N engine, which had a bore and stroke of 3½" × 5¼" and developed approximately 50 brake horsepower. This same motor was used on several other cars of the period such as Vogue, Bour-Davis, Case "V-22," Comet, Ferris, Jordan "F," and Metropolitan. This engine was retained through late 1921 or early 1922.

A major change in the Riddle design was effected in 1921 when the radiator was flattened to the extent that it resembled the Cunninghams of the mid-1920s. The highly polished nickel radiators on Riddles of the 1921-and-on period set the Riddle equipment off in such a fashion that its hearses, ambulances and the like commanded attention. The design must have been considered a good one by the company for it was retained to the very end of manufacturing operations.

It is sheer speculation to attempt to determine when the first Riddle passenger cars were built, primarily because of the lack of information given in automotive trade papers of the time. The author's guess is that the original passenger models, built as seven-passenger sedans designed for invalids (with special consideration given for the placement of wheel chairs in the rear), were delivered in 1919 or 1920. From the right side, these cars did not differ from any other sedans or limousines of the time. But on the left-hand side, the center pillar between the front and rear doors is missing — allowing a large entrance space for wheel chairs or other invalid paraphernalia when both doors were ajar. Several well-known large automobiles offered such models, but only with custom coachwork which made their purchase an impossibility for all except the well-to-do. Riddle offered a car embodying the same advantages for considerably less.

Prices for the cars ran from $4,850 for the seven-passenger sedan to $5,500 for the nine-passenger limousine. An eight-passenger limousine was available for $4,850. In 1924, an ambulance was added to the regular line of Riddle cars, priced at $5,850 — the highest amount of any of the Riddle models.

In 1923, a Continental motor of somewhat different specifications was adopted on three of the Riddle models. This engine coincided from bore and stroke specifications with the model 9-A, presumably used on the Paige "6-66" exclusively, carrying the bore and stroke of 3¾" × 5". And 1923 was the only year in which it was optionally available in the Riddle. From this time through the end of production in 1926, the same 3¾" × 5" Continental engine was supplied and prices remained the same. The chassis price was $2,800 in 1924, 1925, and 1926, with a new addition to the line, the limousine hearse, available at $5,500.

Another innovation for 1923 and later Riddles was the substitution of disc wheels instead of the earlier artillery wooden-spoked type. Riddle was to retain the Tuarc disc through the end of its production.

MoToR's January 1923 show number listed Riddle as having reported a total of 90 closed cars built during 1922. The company was listed at that time as having 100 employees, with a C. G. Bentley as president and a hoped-for production of 200 closed vehicles for 1923. These figures must have included hearses for both years as well as the passenger cars.

H. Warner Riddle, who followed his father in the Riddle enterprise until the business ceased in 1926, still resides in Ravenna. But as for the product itself, few if any remain today. When one considers that hundreds were built and marketed all over the world, one stops briefly to reflect what must have become of all of them.