Of all the automobiles bought and sold in Pensacola, the Hupmobile is probably the most unknown of all the makes. It was manufactured from 1909 to 1939 by Detroit's Hupp Motor Car Company. The first model, the Hupp 20, was introduced in 1909 and was an instant success. The first cars were built in a small building, but they soon outgrew the space and were forced to build a factory a few blocks away. The company produced 500 vehicles by the end of the 1909 with an increase to 5,000 in 1910. One of its most noted features in 1911 was an all-steel body, one of only two in the world.
So dependable was the car that a dealer in Hibbing, Minnesota used an unsold 7-passenger model as the first vehicle for what became "Greyhound." By 1928, sales had reached over 65,000, but by the Great Depression of 1930, sales and production were already declining. To increase sales, they introduced an 8-cylinder model in 1925, and eliminated the 4-cylinder engine. In 1934, a roadster was introduced and two years later the Aerodynamic, but neither caught on with the public. Three years later, production was suspended. They attempted to introduce a new model in 1938, but by this time there were few dealers remaining so production ceased in 1939.
Pensacola did not enter the market until 1911 and then only a few "used" Hupmobiles at that. The first mention of the car was on April 30, 1911 when Jessie S. Walton of 1100 East Mallory Street asked $650 for his brand-new car. Then came several displays of the car in local races at the fairgrounds in October & November. The first "agent" of the new auto appears to be Benjamin Charles Heinberg of 109 West Cervantes Street, the son of Charles J. and Bertha Heinberg. Ben put the auto on display at the fairgrounds hoping to create interest. But the first actual dealership was Dudley Frisbie Chittenden in 1916 of the Chittenden Garage Company. He and his father-in-law, William A. Rawls leased a new garage built by J. M. Muldon at 16 North Palafox Street. When completed in May 1916, Dudley began stocking up on Cadillacs, the Hudson Super-Six, Wyllis-Knight's, and Overland Motor cars but not Hupmobiles. Most of his work was buying, selling, and repairimg cars in general and dealt with used Hupmobiles when he got them.
That same year, Charles Young Mayo Jr. (1897-1980) initiated the Mayo Motor Car Company at 115 West Garden. Originally from Pollard, AL., he was the son of Charles Sr. (1865-1941) and Mary Watts Avent (1866-1933). However, he didn't stay in business long before George Henry Hayes (1892-1976) showed up around 1918 and opened a dealership at 17 North Palafox most likely taken it over from Mayo. Only two ads ever appeared for the Hupmobile, which implied he wasn't in business long either. Originally, a steamboat engineer in Bagdad, Florida he enlisted in 1918 in the US Army and served during WWI.
The first serious dealer was Thomas Franklin Westmark (1882-1961) who took up business in 1923 as the Westmark Motor Company at 117-119 West Garden Street. Numerous articles professing the workmanship were issued forth from Westmark including testimonials of "Hup" owners from Pensacola, Cantonment, Gonzalez, Bluff Springs, Century, Milton, and Munson (see list attached for your ancestors). Working as his secretary was Charles Lorren Barrineau (1900-1967) who appears to have taken over the Hupmobile dealership by 1924 at the same address as before. He was the son of Thomas Lorren Barrineau and Mary Louise Taylor. However, later that year another dealer appeared at 211 North Palafox Street by the name of retired Navy Commander George Ulysses Bertoniere (1894-1956) He opened The Bertoniere Motor & Repair Company that dealt in the Hupmobile as well as the Rickenbacker autos. Unfortunately, both cars were doomed to extinction as well as the dealership.
Around 1926, the Hupmobile dealership had dropped into the hands of Charles Edwin Abbott Sr. (1890-1974) who began selling the autos at 205 South Baylen Street. The new business was called the Charles Abbot Motor Company and his garage had been open to the public for years. Because of this, he was already a trusted name. Abbott would continue to handle the Hup's until sometime after 1929-1931.
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