RAUCH & LANG
Version 2.8
For more information about Rauch & Lang models, please see the P – R webpage.
1914 Rauch & Lang J 4 Coach with Dual Controls
Rauch & Lang is German for smoke & long, an ironic name for cars that emitted no fumes and had limited range. The company was predominantly run and financed by the sons of German immigrants, which made up 40% of Cleveland’s population in 1900.
Of the well-known early electric cars, Rauch & Lang developed a reputation for having the finest coachwork.
Jacob J. Rauch set up a blacksmith shop called the West Side Smithy on Columbus Road in 1853. He grew the business from shoeing horses, metal forging, and repairing wagons, to include manufacturing vehicles. His 15-year-old son Charles Rauch, Joined the company in 1860, and they relocated to the more heavily traveled West Pearl Street (now West 25th Street), just over a block from the popular Westside Market and about a mile from the Ox Bow Bend in the Cuyahoga River.
The Civil War, which Killed Jacob at Gettysburg in 1863, helped transform Cleveland into a great industrial center.
On January 8, 1878, Charles E. J. Lang joined the company as bookkeeper, and in 1885 he bought a quarter interest for $75,000. Lang’s father owned the popular Market Saloon at 86 Lorain Street. Lang’s in-laws, Fred & Katherine Schweitzer, made a fortune in Cleveland’s real estate boom.
In 1885 the partners incorporated as the Rauch & Lang Carriage Co, with Charles Rauch as President and Charles E. J. Lang as secretary and treasurer. Henry Heideloff, Herman Kroll, and John Kreifer filled out the board of directors. Lang & Rauch had salaries of $1,800 per year while the other directors drew $1,000 each. They leased a modest factory building on West Pearl Street for $1,650 per annum, employing 40 men & 3 minors.
With Lang’s capital and management skills, work shifted from wagon repair with some manufacturing, into being a full-fledged wagon and carriage maker, which did all work in-house except tanning and weaving. In 1888 the company re-formed with capital stock of $100,000, and they built the business into a leading maker of buggies and fine carriages in the region. The new capital was used to build the first permanent factory, consisting of two buildings on either side of a short alley, which bisected the block. To the west of the alley they built a two-story/four-story factory with a footprint of 32’ x 64’ at 2164 and 2168 West Pearl Street. It was an attractive building designed by Bohemian immigrant Andrew Mitermiler, featuring brick piers with cut stone footings and accents. A glass front showroom was at the sidewalk facing Pearl Street. The first two stories filled both lots, while the third and fourth floors covered about two thirds. There was a full basement.
Offices were on the ground floor, storage on the second, painting and varnishing on the third, and polishing on the fourth. Heating was by forced air from the basement, delivered through ducts in the piers.
This building was joined by a tunnel in the basement, and an enclosed ramp on the second floor, to the smaller four-story “L” shaped sister factory built across the short alley at the east side. It also had a full basement, housing four drying kilns and lumber storage. This building was also 64’ deep, but only had 18’ of frontage on Pearl, with 37’ along the alley, where an 18’ wide section wrapped behind the original single-story building. In 1900 an addition was made at the far eastern end of this factory complex, with a forge and blacksmithing on the first floor, carriage assembly and gluing on the second and third floors, painting was on the fourth.
A year after Elmer J. Lang joined his fathers company in 1902, and became the sales manager; Rauch & Lang had success selling Buffalo Electric cars from their carriage showroom. They decided to make their own brand of electric carriages the following year, and built a prototype with motors and controllers from the nearby Hertner Electric Co. Production began in 1905 with a Stanhope. They added coupés and depot wagons, selling about 50 electric vehicles the first year.
The initial series of cars were of the conventional single motor design of the time, using jackshafts with a differential at the center, driving the rear wheels through twin chains. This design had a light rear axle, isolated from the driveline mass, with the wheels rotating at the ends. The chassis & mechanical parts were from outside vendors. They seemed to go out of the way to avoid components used by their established cross-town rival Baker.
In 1906 Hertner was gearing up to make their own electric car, and published an elaborate brochure with drawings and descriptions, probably intended for prospective investors. Rauch & Lang management decided that motorcars were their future, and that carriage trade customers would prefer the quiet reliability of a battery electric to the messy, unreliable, gasoline alternative, especially for enclosed cars, where there were windows to rattle.
The way forward was to add both the Hertner Electric Company, and a new metal fabrication factory, to the coach building shops and old smithy. This allowed them to make almost everything in-house; manufacturing complete rolling chassis on which to put their luxury bodies. After the buyout, John H. Hertner, and his chief engineer De Witt C. Cookingham, ran the motor vehicle division.
Horse-carriage manufacturing went down by 75% & wagon repair work by 80%, except for heavy truck & refrigerated wagons (with polar bears painted on the sides), which went up by 30% for the next two years.
Cleveland renamed east-west streets with numbers; West Pearl St. became West 25th St.
Employees could arrive at the factory by the electric trolley cars running on W. 25th Street.
Rauch & Lang Factory on West Pearl Street, Cleveland
1907-1911 was a period of rapid expansion. Charles L. F. Wieber, who inherited a merchant tailoring company, and built it into the largest of its kind west of New York, was brought in as a new partner. Wieber was associated with Lang’s in-laws, as president of the Lakewood Realty Co. With his investment, Rauch & Lang was recapitalized at $175,000.
They constructed three new factory buildings on land directly across the West 25th Place alley, fronting West 26th Street. The factory campus grew to seven buildings, some contiguous, and some separated by the alleys bisecting the block in both directions.
Most of the coachwork was done in the amalgamated buildings along 25th Street. The new 26th St. factories covered more land than the 25th St. buildings, with street numbers ranging from 2161 through 2203.
They initially built a four-story building of 38’ x 64’ designed by the Osborne Engineering Co. The first floor had an Iron and steel shop, the second a stock room, the third had upholstering, and the fourth was for polishing and paint drying.
It was connected to the original Pearl (25th) Street factory by an enclosed bridge, three stories up over the alley.
Around the same time, they constructed a 60’ x 64’ two-story building to the east, housing a metal works and a power plant, walled off in brick, with 3 coal-fired boilers powering a pair of 250 hp steam engines driving dynamos. Smoke from the boilers was vented through a 90’ tall brick chimney placed against the wall of the four-story factory. The entire second floor was taken up by a machine shop. Machine tools were driven through shaft and belt systems by large electric motors in each work area.
The main part of the first floor was used for assembly of the platforms, with a steel fabrication shop tucked into the southwest corner. A freight elevator and stairs went up through the two floors on the outside of the contiguous four-story building, giving access to all floors of both buildings.
Rauch & Lang opened a fancy new showroom at 623-631 Superior Avenue, near Cleveland’s town square.
In December of 1909 they reincorporated at one million dollars. The metalworking facility was extended further east along W. 26th St., doubling the metal-craft floor space. Across the short alley to the west of the four-story factory on W. 26th St. they built a similar 38’ x 64’ four-story building with the stairs & elevator on the inside. At street level was a garage and charging room, on the second floor was electrical testing, the third floor expanded the trimming and upholstery space, and the fourth was for varnishing. It was connected to the eastern and northern buildings across the alleys by two enclosed bridges at the third-floor level.
Before the introduction of solvent based lacquer in the mid 1920s; paint coatings, especially color, took a long time to dry. A good deal of interior factory space was taken up with paint and varnish drying on nearly complete vehicles. The finishing six coats of varnish were applied over a period of fifteen days. Ads stated that each car took three months to build and trim.
1910 Stanhope (left) and 1911 Coupé (right)
With the 1911 models, R & L introduced shaft drive, employing a straight-cut bevel ring and pinion gear rear-axle unit made in their own machine shop.
This set-up was rather similar to the one used on Baker Electrics, which located the rear axle in shaft drive cars by the method of attaching the leaf springs to the frame, keeping the rear axle in alignment with the motor and frame without the need of reach rods or a ridged driveshaft tube, such as that used in Ohio Electrics. All models were available with either chain or shaft drive. The Stanhope was equipped with a 48-Volt battery. Victorias, Coupés, & Broughams were available with either 48-Volt or 80-Volt batteries. Shaft drive, or the larger battery, each added $100 per car. Prices ranged from $1,900 for the 48-volt chain drive Stanhope to $2,800 for the 80-Volt shaft-drive Extension Coupé (later called a Brougham.) The battery was in series at all speeds, with a continuous torque controller.
Electric braking was standard on all models, and a backwards pull on the controller handle actuated both electric braking and the mechanical brake, while disconnecting the battery from the motor circuit. A foot-pedal “emergency” brake operated roller cam actuated expanding internal shoes at both rear wheels. The sidelights had special reflectors to “eliminate” the need for headlights; the ceiling lights were from Holophane. The advertised range was 50-150 miles depending on battery, speed, and road conditions. There were many other options; An ESB Exide battery was standard, but an ESB “Ironclad” or the Edison alkaline battery were available at additional cost, as were Motz cushion tires.
Rauch & Lang Coupés had reached their classic phase; the bodies would remain similar for the rest of their history.
In 1911 the original building was demolished and a new 46’ x 30’ four-story factory was built, filling in the gap between the newer four-story factories on W 25th.
The Baker Motor Vehicle Company filed a suit of infringement over Emile Gruenfeld’s similar rear axle suspension patent.
In 1912 Charles Rauch died, and Charles Wieber became president. Charles E. J. Lang was VP & treasurer. Francis W. Treadway, who was Lt. governor of Ohio from 1909 to 1911, joined the company. He was a graduate of Yale Law School, who became state senate president, and was a close friend of Warren G. Harding. He would eventually become Baker R & L president.
About five hundred cars were made in 1912, compared to seven hundred Bakers and slightly over a thousand Detroit Electrics. The new inside-drive Broughams were available with lever steering from the rear bench seat, or wheel steering from the left front seat.
In 1913 R & L built a new 21,700 square foot factory on West 26th St., 85’ x 64’ in area, and four stories tall, of brick and steel construction.
A freight elevator was at the far west end of the building to facilitate future expansion to the end of the block; this never happened, as they merged with Baker two years later, giving them all the additional factory space they would need.
Rauch & Lang dropped the noisy, less-reliable, straight-cut bevel drive gears, and adopted a worm drive for all seven 1914 models.
The disadvantage was that the new rear axle had to be outsourced, cutting into margins. Although straight-cut worm gears were not under patent, the machines to cut them with speed and accuracy were.
The cars were advertised as being “faster than the law allows.” The body styles included a three passenger Roadster, available with a Coupé top or a faux radiator, and Broughams in three sizes, accommodating four or five passengers. For those with a staff chauffeur they made a Town Car, with wheel steering in front of the cabin. Prices ranged from $2,600 for the basic Roadster to $3,800 for the Town Car. The Broughams had interior lights that lit when the doors were open, and a cigar lighter. The doors still had lift-up windows, with a strap. The Victorias, once popular for social summers in posh resort towns, were phased out.
Roland S. Fend, staff engineer at Woods in Chicago, designed a duplex drive system for R & L, as did in-house engineer De Witt Cookingham, which was incorporated into the large “Coach” model. The two patents were not enough to prevent a lawsuit from Ohio Electric, which had been the first to introduce duplex
drive. They claimed previous art in Fay Farwell’s 1903 patent.
Ad for 1914 Rauch & Langs, Featuring the New Worm Drive
On June 7th, 1915, the Rauch & Lang Carriage Co, with a capitalization value of $1 million, merged with The Baker Motor Vehicle Co, valued at $600 thousand. The new company was called Baker Rauch & Lang. The reasons given for the merger were to consolidate the manufacturing, marketing, and advertising costs. They intended to become the dominant electric carmaker, but war intervened. The merger also settled the suit over Baker’s patent for the rear suspension of a shaft drive car.
The officers were; Charles Wieber president, Frederick White 1st VP, Charles E. J. Lang 2nd VP, R. C. Norton treasurer, and G. H. Kelly secretary. F. W. Treadway remained as counsel, and Rollin Charles White, who had just celebrated his 78th birthday, was a director. The Whites were from Baker.
The merged company sold two models of the lighter Baker style Coupé through 1916, after which the brand was retired for pleasure cars, but lived on for industrial vehicles. Walter Baker & Fred Dorn stayed with the American Ball Bearing part of the Baker companies.
General Electric invested $2 million in the Baker R & L Company, getting seats on the board for Anson W. Burchard (VP of GE), D. C. Durland, and Richard H. Swartout. In February of 1916, some of the new funds were used to bring the Owen Magnetic Car Company into the mix, with Raymond Owen becoming VP of sales.
The Baker factory manufactured the Owen Magnetic platforms, and the bodies were made at the R & L plant. The Fort Wayne facility of General Electric continued to make the drive units.
In August of 1917, Charles E. J. Lang left Baker R & L to start an independent business called the Lang Body Company, with his surviving son Elmer J. Lang.
After World War II, the company fractured into separate pieces. Baker Rauch & Lang retained the industrial truck and contract body building parts, while spinning off their interest in electric cars. The Owen Magnetic business returned to R. M. Owen, in exchange for his stock. He made some cars in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania for a couple more years.
Baker Rauch & Lang was reorganized in 1919, with a body division using the Raulang brand, and an electric industrial vehicle division under the Baker brand. Electric pleasure cars retained the Rauch & Lang name.
Owen Magnetic Transmission Diagram
Harry H. Doering had been sales manager for Ohio Electric before heading sales at the Philadelphia branch of Rauch & Lang. When W. G. Pancoast left his sales manager role at R & L in 1916, to distribute Owen Magnetic cars in Chicago, Doering was elevated to sales manager for the entire company.
Doering saw the opportunity to own one of the most respected luxury car brands, and started organizing successful dealers to buy the company.
On January 6th, 1920, the electric car business was sold to the coalition of Rauch & Lang dealers that Doering put together. They decided to set up production next to the Stevens-Duryea factory in Chicopee Falls Massachusetts, which had recently been acquired by Ray S. Deering, a partner in the Chicago dealership with Paul A. Frank, who became Rauch & Lang Incorporated’s first president. The move was pitched to the press as a way to increase production, claiming there was a shortage of skilled workers and commodities in post war Cleveland.
Former Naval electrical engineer Ray S. Deering had recently purchased Stevens-Duryea. Deering and Frank had five years experience selling rebuilt electrics in Chicago, and as agents for new Rauch & Langs. They had introduced the “Deering Magnetic” – essentially a “Dorris” with an Entz/GE transmission – as a competitor to the Owen Magnetic. These were built in small numbers during the summer of 1918. Deering was mentioned in a few trade publications in January of 1920 as “buying” Rauch & Lang. He was a likely cheerleader of the R & L purchase, and influential in the choice of re-location, but no contemporaneous document (including stock & business filings) mentions him as an officer or director of Rauch & Lang Inc. The similarity between the names Doering and Deering probably contributed to the confusion.
For the initial stock offering, Paul Frank shared management credit with George M. Berry, John G. Perrin, and Marion R. Leathers, all of Stevens-Duryea. The filing for a million dollars of 7% cumulative preferred stock, which financed the purchase from Baker Rauch & Lang, stated that executives, foremen, & department heads involved with the electric car part of Baker R & L were to be continuing with the new company. The offering stated Rauch & Lang made profits of $2,250,000 In the 12 years since 1908 and valued the company at $771,770.70.
The management gelled with Frank as president and Doering as VP of sales and advertising. Nathaniel Platt was VP in charge of New York sales and worldwide exports. Leathers stayed on a little longer as treasurer.
Engineering and factory management was primarily from the Owen Magnetic part of Baker R & L. What they all lacked was experience running a full manufacturing enterprise.
It did not help that they started business into the headwind of the 1920-1922 post-war recession, with a decline in business activity of more than 28%. Inflation initially peaked in November of 1918 at 20.7%, with a higher peak in June of 1920 at 23%. After that rates fell off dramatically, January of 1921 through February of 1923 was a period of disinflation, dipping to -15.8% in June of 1921; an all-time record, not even matched during the great depression of the 1930s.
On March 4th, 1921, the new factory was put into operation. It was a one-story brick structure, with a nine section saw-toothed roof, 300 by 320 feet with slightly less than 100,000 square feet of well-ventilated, electrically lit, floor space, at a cost of about $350,000. The factory employed 300 workers, with the announced intention to hire 200 more. Platforms were manufactured at the new plant, while the classic Brougham bodies continued to be made by Raulang in Cleveland. The nearby Chicopee Falls satellite of the Springfield Coachworks made some contemporary looking cab bodies.
Sales never met minimal expectations. The plant was said to produce about 8 cars a week (400 annually). They announced plans to produce 1,800-2,000 units per annum with 800 workers. As so few cars were registered, or remain, compared to those produced from 1914-1919, this pace was clearly not met. Serial numbers suggest only around 60 new classic Broughams were made.
Rauch & Lang Inc. went into receivership September 24, 1923, and the assets of both Stevens-Duryea and R & L Inc. were sold to the rather persistent Raymond Owen for $446,857.28. Beginning August 25, 1925, he made a few more electric and magnetic transmission cars under the Rauch & Lang brand, putting Robert W. Stanley back in charge of R & L Inc. These companies all failed in 1932.