The Holmes Little Giant - Linda Higgins

Were you aware that once upon a time, Port Clinton was home to a giant, albeit a little one? In the early 20th century, George Hiram Holmes, working at the Garfield Paper Company in New Jersey, developed a fascination with the horseless carriage. In 1910, when a relative told him about a garage for sale in Port Clinton, he bought it and moved here with his family. The garage was called the Port Clinton Garage at that time, although George called it the “Garage in the Fruit Belt.” It became the Standard Garage, then the Hersberger Building (Madison Street).

George operated a successful business, repairing automobiles and selling gas and auto parts. He did so well that he was able to employ other mechanics. This gave him free time, during which he developed plans for a special project that he felt would sell well in this land of fruit orchards. The tractors being built at that time were large and difficult to maneuver. By 1911, George had built a small tractor. It was 54 inches high, could turn in a 24-foot circle, and move easily around the orchards. The driver sat behind the engine. He called it the Holmes Little Giant and The Holmes Manufacturing Company began manufacturing his tractors.

In September of that year, he sent a postcard to his father in West Avon, Connecticut:

“Dear father;

I have stole a few days from the garage this week and am showing my tractor at the Sandusky County Fair. Perhaps it will not pay but the tractor attracts lots of attention and I hope someday to get an order or two but not until I have shown people what it can do.

GHH”

Some of the tractor’s features: 11½ feet long, six feet wide and 4,060 pounds; two forward speeds and one reverse speed, each controlled from the seat, as was the brake. It boasted a 12-hp, 750-rpm, 2-cylinder “horizontal opposed engine”; low speed was ¾ mph and working speed 2½ mph; powered by “a double cylinder opposed gasoline motor developing 13-brake horse power. Ignition is from battery and nonvibrating coil. . . . with a 14 inch belt pulley for driving farm machinery.” It had a 25-gallon gas tank and an enclosed cooling tank with circulating pump. It was priced at $1,200, about $39,460 today. 

A local farmer bought the first Little Giant and George finished his second within a year. He chose to sell it in New England, so he packed it up and he and his son Frederic joined it on a train to Avon, Connecticut. It sold quickly. A salesman then contacted George and convinced him that mass production was the path to success: If George gave him the plans and specs, the salesman would have it produced by a large company, giving George the royalties. George handed over all his paperwork and designs. There no doubt is more to the story, but George heard no more about his tractor and certainly received no royalties. He and his family left Port Clinton in 1918 for New England to be near family.

There seems to be no information regarding George’s Little Giant being built and/or sold after this sad episode. However, I happened upon a tidbit while I was doing research about George’s tractor. A forum called Smokstak, an “Antique Engine Community,” presents an inquiry about a Little Giant tractor made by the Mayor Brothers Company of Mankato, Minnesota, shipped from the factory on December 14, 1918, to a dealer in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I’m not a member and can’t log on to have a closer look at the photos included, but let’s just say I’m a bit curious, as the depicted tractor rings a bit familiar. Coincidence?