This 8" x 10" photograph was acquired at an estate sale in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. It depicts an artist's rendering of the Bowser Model 241-H. This gasoline pump bears the logo of LINCOLN HIGHWAY. Logo was red on top, white in center and a blue stripe across the bottom. Several early national highways were named/lettered prior to numbering. The Lincoln Highway ran through the Midwest and the city of Fort Wayne. Model 241-H "Long Distance" Pump had an exposed hose; the exposed hose model first became available in 1904 by the S.F. Bowser & Co. of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lightly stamped on back: Herb Harnish Collection. History of Fort Wayne (2006, ed. Beatty, p. 189): "Sylvanus Bowser became the first local entrepreneur to step out of the shadows through the importance of his invention: the first modern gasoline dispenser. The pump made Fort Wayne a world center of cutting-edge technology. Bowser himself was almost as legendary as the auto moguls of Auburn, Indianapolis or Detroit. Like Ford, he had a knack both for marketing and public relations. His Bowser pumps proclaimed his name up and down the Lincoln Highway, and his marketing catalogs reflected the high quality of workmanship that he motivated his staff to produce in all aspects of their work. Having become the preeminent leader in a rapidly growing field, the industry attracted competition by both Tokheim Corporation and Wayne Pump, both of which were also headquartered in Fort Wayne." Note: The digital i.d. (jbk archive) is not printed on the actual photograph.

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Last edited by tokig; Mon Jan 08 2018 08:02 PM.