“You can trust your car to the man who wears the star...”

It is a line from one of the most successful ads of one of the most successful gas companies in the history of North America. So now, you ask, “What does the Cranbrook Wheeler Motors Texaco Service Station have to do with a Brownie camera?” What an odd question.

Hollis Eugene Wheeler was born in Stanstead, Quebec, in the year 1900. Moving to Alberta in 1917 he began his career as a driving instructor before becoming an employee of the Ford Motor Co., a used car salesman and eventually co-owner in “Slim and Dick’s Garage” in Edgerton. When the business burned down in 1929 “Slim” Wheeler, his wife Helen and their young family headed to Cranbrook.

Slim purchased Progress Motors Ltd., a garage facing 2nd St. between 9th and 10th Ave. He discontinued the previous Chrysler-Plymouth-Hupmobile line and became the local Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealer under the name of Wheeler Motors.

With a head for business and a profitable line of automobiles, he soon decided to construct new premises on the v-shaped section of land bordering Van Horne St. and 7th Ave. The general area, ravaged by fire the previous year, was a hub of construction as the replacement Italia (King Edward) Hotel and Dezall’s Garage arose directly across the street. With the demolition of the old two-story Canadian Cafe and Rooming House (not to be confused with the old Canadian Hotel), construction began of what was to become an iconic example of North American commercial architecture.

The corporation that was to become Texaco began in 1901 as the Red Star Oil Co. near the small town of Sour Lake, Texas. As the company grew so too did their desire to create a strong international image. The Texaco star ‘banjo’ logo worked well as did the later popular ad jingles but the company went a step further and in 1934 commissioned industrial designer Walter Teague to develop a contemporary service station design. Mr. Teague was, in fact, a designer of cameras for Eastman Kodak, most notably the enormously popular (here it comes) ‘Brownie’ camera. The result of his venture into the world of automotive architecture was to become a sublime study in art-deco lines framing sleek yet practical, workspaces, much the same principals he brought to his cameras.

Opening for business in August, 1937, the $25,000.00 Wheeler Motors building featured an ‘ultra modern’ look that, in conjunction with the nearby Dezall Garage, created a unique and memorable architectural statement along the west highway of the city. Constructed of steel and cement and finished in white stucco (porcelain tile was another option of the day) the building had a combined street frontage of 140 feet. The garage section featured seven 8x8 foot windows and two main entrances leading into the service area.

The front of the building exhibited the red letters of the Texaco Co. highlighted by rows of green pin striping. A distinctive canopy supported by heavy pillars and adorned with the large Texaco “white star” logo covered the three ‘automatic computing’ gas pumps centred between the driveways. A General Motors neon sign, in combination with floodlights mounted on the Italia Hotel and the opposite side of Van Horne St. created an impressive nighttime appearance. Outdoor broadcasting equipment supplied CFCN Texaco News Flashes each day at noon with an indoor microphone available for live use. Even the spacious washrooms strove for style by featuring green and black tile, tinted plaster and woodwork, sleek modern fixtures, and comfortable easy chairs. It was, overall, the very picture of a very modern service station.

Mr. Wheeler continued to expand his business interests. In 1939, he built a second Wheeler Motors garage in Kimberley, later sold and renamed Sullivan Motors. In 1949, he set up the Propane Gas Service warehouse and plant where now stands the Sandman Inn.

Upon retirement in 1954, he sold his business to R.H. Nelson who continued to operate the service station for a number of years as Nelson Motors before moving to a location on Cranbrook St.

The present day occupants of the property may not realize it but the structure they inhabit pays allegiance in a small way to the vision of architect Walter Teague, not so much to his service station designs, but more as a cement prototype of the Brownie camera. Except, of course, the building isn’t brown.

With thanks to Cranbrook and District Key City Chronicles

Comments, photos or questions? Contact Jim Cameron at janusthenandnow@shaw.ca.