Topical Guide 333
Mark Dorset
Historical Events, Real and Fictional
Historical Personages, Real and Fictional
ON THE FIRST of July in 1933, Albert Erskine, who had been president of Studebaker when it went into bankruptcy, killed himself. The news sent a shudder through Garth, who imagined, unrealistically, that he might have felt driven to such an act if Herb hadn’t halted his downward slide. Herb and Garth heard the news about Erskine while they were in Boston, picking up a supply of coarse goods from Uncle Ben.
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 12
Albert Russel Erskine (1871-1933)
Erskine was born 24 January, 1871, in Hunstville, Alabama. After holding positions with the American Cotton Co. (1898-1904), Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co. (1904-1910), and Underwood Typewriter Co. (1910-1911), Erskine joined the staff of the Studebaker Corporation in South Bend in 1911. In 1915 he became its president.
Under his leadership, Studebaker enjoyed high levels of sales and profits. He pursued a broadly conceived plan to make Studebaker one of the industry giants during the 1920s. However, when sales slumped in 1929 and 1930, he was slow to cut Studebaker's managerial costs and profit sharing. As such, both he and Studebaker closely followed the downward course of the national economy. As a result, Studebaker found itself short of cash to meet immediate obligations. With banks unwilling to lend more funds, Studebaker was placed into receivership in March 1933.
Seemingly left with no other options, Erskine shot himself through the heart on 1 July, 1933, at the age of 62.From Horses to Horsepower: Studebaker Helped Move a Nation (via Smithsonian Libraries)
See also: Fact and Fiction TG 30; Reality: Real and Fictional TG 127; Real Objects in Fiction TG 132
Have you missed an episode or two or several?
You can begin reading at the beginning or you can catch up by visiting the archive or consulting the index to the Topical Guide.
You can listen to the episodes on the Personal History podcast. Begin at the beginning or scroll through the episodes to find what you’ve missed.
You can ensure that you never miss a future issue by getting a free subscription. (You can help support the work by choosing a paid subscription instead.)
At Apple Books you can download free eBooks of “My Mother Takes a Tumble,” “Do Clams Bite?,” “Life on the Bolotomy,” “The Static of the Spheres,” “The Fox and the Clam,” “The Girl with the White Fur Muff,” “Take the Long Way Home,” “Call Me Larry,” and “The Young Tars,” the nine novellas in Little Follies, and Little Follies itself, which will give you all the novellas in one handy package.
You’ll find overviews of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy (a pdf document) and at Encyclopedia.com.