DeKalb Commercial Body Corporation
The DeKalb Commercial Body Corporation, formerly known as the Sycamore Wagon Works, DeKalb Wagon Company, and DeKalb Commercial Body Company, is a defunct manufacturer of wagons and vocational truck bodies.
History
Pre-Truck years
The Sycamore Wagon Works was officially founded in 1904 in Sycamore, Illinois by brothers Charles and Samuel Bradt, and partner Madison D. Shipman in Sycamore, Illinois. The trio had previously been involved in a glove manufacturing business in Gloversville, New York. Their first products included milk wagons, delivery wagons, and wagons designed specifically for the transport of pianos, likely for the nearby Melville-Clark Piano Company factory. The first manager of the company was a Mr. Will Smith, who had experience as the former manager for both the Kalamazoo Wagon Company and the Montgomery Ward buggy factory. The company later began to produce the Sycamore One-Step Wagon, with a low floor for easy access. In 1912, Sycamore Wagon Works moved to a former shoe factory in DeKalb and was renamed DeKalb Wagon Company. They continued to produce wagons.Trucks
In 1913, the DeKalb Wagon Company purchased the Randolph Motor Car Company from General Motors, who had owned it since 1908 but had discontinued all Randolph models. In 1913, DeKalb officially announced that it would begin production of Randolph trucks, and later that year they were renamed to DeKalb.As the years progressed, DeKalb ceased to produce wagons or their own vehicles, instead building vocational bodies onto existing truck chassis, especially Dodges.
One of DeKalb Commercial Body Corporation's more famous models was the Lumberjack, a truck that was almost entirely a large, flat surface designed for hauling lumber. Over the years, there were more modifications to the design, such as a larger version and a similar model designed for hauling metal. While DeKalb did not claim to be the only company making bodies in this style, they became very popular in the Midwest.