Ex-Servicemen’s Purchasing Association, incorporated in 1924. The purpose was to buy and sell merchandise and obtain discounts from merchants “upon purchases made by men who have been in the military or naval service of the United States”. Directors were Homer K. Wiley – retail merchant; Oscar E. Scruggs – a salesman, and H. Earl Brown.

Ewald Spring Service Co., incorporated on May 22, 1923. The objective was “particularly the replacing of springs and spring parts for automobiles”. The directors were Louis C. Ewald – and employee of the Studebaker Corporation in South Bend, IN; Norman J. Bolton – a machinist; Anne E. Miller – bookkeeper.

Exlo Products Co., incorporated on February 28, 1923. The objective was “the manufacture and sale of a device relating to steering post controls for Ford Motor Cars”, at 10-12 N. Oriental. The directors were A. Hough Adams – president of Adams-McCullough Co.: an auto parts manufacturer; Roscoe R. Mills – purchasing agent for an auto company; Cressah L. Hindbaugh – bookkeeper.

Excel Film Co., incorporated on December 21, 1915. The objective was “to manufacture, lease, rent, buy, sell and distribute films for moving picture shows”. The directors were Cecil A. Patrick -salesman; Mildred Patrick – bookkeeper; Harry J. Brooks – motion picture film distributor (Harry did this work through the 1950s).

The Exhibitors Service Co., incorporated on February 8, 1912. The objective was “to buy sell, rent, lease and deal in theatres, moving picture shows, films, slides & supplies; to illustrate songs, to book plays, vaudeville sets”. The directors were William H. Cleveland and Glen O. Dixon – salesmen.

Indiana Coca-Cola Bottling Co., incorporated on June 19, 1902. The objective was the “buying and selling of Coca-Cola and other liquids. The said liquids to be bought in bulk, bottled in convenient bottles and sold in that form”. The directors were S.B. Tinsley – a teacher in Louisville; Louis K. Webb – a telephone company manager in Louisville; S.B. Overton – a teacher in Louisville; E.C. Toner – a newspaper reporter in Anderson, IN.
The first City Directory listing of a Coca-Cola Bottling Works in Indianapolis was in 1905 at 724 E. Washington St., with J. Bornscheim as manager; in 1910 it was located at 101 S. Cruse St. In 1934 an art-deco style Coca-Cola Bottling Plant was built in Indianapolis at 858-862 Massachusetts Ave; this building is still standing and has had different uses.

Charles Edison’s Auto Laundry, incorporated on April 13, 1938, at 1134 N. Meridian St. The objective was the “washing, polishing, servicing and storage of all kinds of motor vehicles”.

Em-Ten Tavern, Inc., incorporated on July 9, 1934 at 5108 E. 10th Street. The owners were William E., Ada & George Youngman : all of Indianapolis. This building is still at the southeast corner of 10th Street and Emerson Avenue, and is now known as Greene’s Pub.

Casmire Manufactory Co., incorporated from 1912 to 1922, “to manufacture ice cream freezers”. Directors were William C. Bobbs – President of the Bobbs-Merrill Co., a famous Indianapolis publisher of many bestseller books in the first half of the 20th Century: his company started as a bookstore in 1850; C.B. McCulloch – a general practice physician; Bert A. Casmire – an attorney and manufacturer. Their office was at 316 Board of Trade Building.

Cher-ee Cola Co., incorporated in 1908 at 129 W. Market St. Henry D. Tutewiler, an undertaker, was the owner. This drink did not sell!

Dunes Highway Realty Co., incorporated on November 7, 1927, by E.C. Doering, an optician located in Gary, Lake County, Indiana, at 692 Broadway. This company was formed two years after the Dunes Indiana State Park was established, and 21 years after the city of Gary was founded by the U.S. Steel Company.

Chemical Products Co., incorporated in 1911. The objective was “to manufacture polish”. Its vice-president was Meredith Nicholson. This Hoosier author had best-selling books in the early 1900s and later had diplomatic posts in Paraguay, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

Electric Machine Corp., incorporated from 1921 to 1928, at 236 E. 15th St. The objective was “to manufacture electric parts for automobiles and appliances”, and was part of the W.J. Holliday & Co. According to the historical sketch for the W.J. Holliday & Co. Records at the Indiana Historical Society, “Holliday & Co. had entered the auto accessory business, but the focus was dropped when the company began wholesaling mill, mine, and industrial supplies”. Maybe they had contracts with local auto manufacturers like Stutz, Duesenberg, and Cole, whose sales were dwindling by the late 1920s.
The directors were Joseph C. Schaf, Jr. – he was earlier a realtor, but he then became vice-president of this company; his father owned an Indianapolis brewing company; Burrell Wright – an Indianapolis attorney; William J. Holliday – secretary of the W.J.Holliday Co: he succeeded his father in this company which was originally a hardware store.

Excelsior Manufacturing Co., incorporated from 1912 to 1914, at 526 E. Washington St. The objective was “to manufacture horseshoes and non-slip attachments for horseshoes”. The directors were Frank F. Jacobs – an Indianapolis veterinarian; J. Frank Young – owned a livery stable; Robert E. Woods – hardware store; George V. Coffin – the Sheriff of Marion County; William H. Kershner – manager of the American Engineering Company. I’m not sure why they would form a company to make horseshoes when automobiles were becoming so popular, unless they had a specific contract with someone like the Sheriff Department.

Indianapolis Old-Mill Co., incorporated from September 16, 1920 to 1924. The objective was “to maintain and operate buildings and grounds containing water devices and apparatus, for presenting amusements and entertainments…in the town of Broad Ripple, Indiana”. Incorporators were H.S. Burpee – Banker in Rockford, Illinois; Charles Otto Breinig – Manager and Director of Amusements at the Wintergarden Amusement Co.: lived in Terre Haute, Indiana; George E. Christina – movie house projectionist and lived in Broad Ripple at 1810 E. 62nd Street.

Columbia Creosoting Co., incorporated in 1904. The investors were W.A. Hughes – and Indianapolis lawyer; Stoughton Fletcher – a prominent Indianapolis banker; it’s interesting that Fletcher would invest in creosoting.

Colored Men’s Business Association, incorporated in 1904. The African-American organizers were Mathew B. Allen – a gardener; William H. Clayton – a servant; William Sherry Clayton – a laborer; Aaron Gann – a laborer; Samuel D. Williams – a janitor; Hazzard Wood – a coachman; J.O. Corley – a porter.

Chandler & Taylor Co., incorporated in 1888. They built engines, boilers, and saw mills. According to the Indianapolis Illustrated, published in 1893, this firm was preceded in 1858 by Wiggins & Chandler and organized in 1868 as Chandler & Taylor. Their manufacturing plant and office was located at 370 W. Washington St. and covered three acres. The 1888 directors were Thomas E. Chandler – President; William M. Taylor – secretary; Franklin Taylor – treasurer; George M. Chandler – purchasing agent; Henry G. Werbe – bookkeeper.(I believe Werbe was the son of an early Indianapolis grocer.)

Colfax Refining Corp.,incorporated in 1927. The investor was Schuyler C.(Colfax) Mowrer, an Indianapolis attorney who lived at 728 Middle Drive, Woodruff Place. He was named after a Vice President of the United States from Indiana, Schuyler Colfax, but I’m not sure if he was related to him. Incidentally, Mowrer was overcome by poison gas during WWI and almost died.

County Investment Co., incorporated from1925 to 1927. Their investments were real estate, insurance, stocks, bonds, etc. The directors were J.Voris Tobin, an insurance agent, president; Estes Duncan – a farm manager; F.C. Tucker – president of the F.C. Tucker Real Eastate Co., which was founded in 1918 and is still in business.

College of Musical Art, incorporated from 1907 to 1920, located at 824 N. Pennsylvania. The purpose was to teach “Piano, Voice,Violin, Harp, and Cornet. The directors were Grace Pierce & Oliver Willard Pierce -piano teacher and former President of the Metropolitan School of Music, room 8, 131 W. Market St.

Carriage Builder Publication Co. Incorporated in 1901 by John F. Wood and Labant Wood, printers at 40 1/2 E. Washington St. I wouldn’t think this would be very popular at the beginning of the Automobile Age.

Colored Union Oil Co , incorporated in 1907. The objective was to drill for oil and mining. The African-American stockholders were Elwood C. Knox – secretary and treasurer of the Freeman Publishing Co.; Joseph H. Ballard -a physician; John J. Buckner – a porter; John B. Goins – a waiter; H.L. Sanders – manufactured clothing, mainly uniforms; and Rev. C.H. Johnson.

Indianapolis Athletic Club, Incorporated from June 21, 1920 to 1939, located at 350 N. Meridian St. The objective was “to advance & encourage physical culture and manly sports; to promote social intercourse among its members; to provide for them the convenience of club houses, golf grounds, aviation & athletic fields , trap shooting , tennis and all other out door and indoor sports and amusements”. The original signers were: Henry C. Campbell – President of the Club and V.P of the Charles E. Stutz Sales Co.; Herbert L. Bass- architect located in Suite 801 of the Hume-Mansur Building; Lucius M. Wainwright – First V.P. of the Club and President of the Diamond Chain Co; Soughton A. Fletcher – Treasurer of the Club and President of the Fletcher American National Bank; William H. Oakes – Secretary & Treasurer of the Oakes Co., a manufacturer automobile parts; Harry A. Stutz – founder of the Stutz Motor Car Co.; Arthur B. Baxter – owner of the Keyless Lock Co.; Almus G. Ruddell – President of the Central Rubber and Supply Co.; Charles L. Bushman – V.P. and General Manager of the Lewis Meir & Co.: clothing manufacturers.

By 1939 the officers of the Indianapolis Athletic Club were: Joseph W. Stickney – President of the Club and owner of an insurance agency; Roy W. Adams – First V.P. of the Club and Chairman of the Board of the J.D. Adams Co.: manufactures of road graders; Ralph Reahard – Second V.P. of the Club and Director of the Pharmacy Division of Eli Lilly & Co.; Bowman Elder – Treasurer of the Club and owner of the Bowman Real Estate Agency. Bowman was the great-grandson of John R.Elder, editor of the early Indianapolis newspaper: the Locomotive.