Fisk Tire Company History

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Charles Fisk III Quoted from "THE ADVERTISING WORLD OF NORMAN ROCKWELL "
by Dr. Donald Stoltz and Marshall Stoltz
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In 1917 the Fisk Tire Company of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, challenged Norman Rockwell to do a series of advertising paintings for Fisk Tires. The company was producing rubber tires for automobiles and bycicles and did extensive advertising in several magazines. The slogan

"Time To Re-Tire"

was very popular and caught the fancy of Mr. Rockwells sense of humor. The series that he did for the Fisk Company was among the most popular. The Fisk Bicycle Tire advertisements appeared in American Boy from 1817 to 1919. The company started a bicycle club which was extremely popular among young boys, and Mr. Rockwell's ad of kids on bikes increased in its popularity. The advertisements also appeared in the Christian Herald in 1917, the Literary Digest in 1917, St. Nicholas magazine in 1918, and in Youths Companion . Mr. Rockwell was called upon again for another series of advertisements which ran in 1924 and appeared in Country Life, Liberty, Theatre and The Saturday Evening Post. Later, Fisk Tire company became part of Uniroyal, Inc., formerly the United States Rubber Company. Today many of Mr. Rockwells famed Fisk Tire ads still hang in the Uniroyal plant in Chicopee,Massachussets, which was formerly the Fisk Tire plant.
Note From Charles M. Fisk III

I have not been able to pinpoint who founded the Fisk Rubber Company.
Reading the book "Fisk And Fisk Family Record" written by Frederic Clifton Pierce;
it appears that the Fisk Tire Company was founded by Noyes W. Fisk together with his eldest brother George C. Fisk.
Noyes was born May 15, 1839; married August 27, 1862, Emeline G. Adams (b. May 10,1842).
Both held prominent positions in:
George C. Fisk
Wason Company
Fisk Soap Works
Springfield Power Co.
Fisk casino
Paper Manufacturing at Hinddale

Noyes W. Fisk
Fisk Manufacturing Company
Chicopee National Bank
Springfield Woodworking Co.
Hampden Paints Works
Masonic Mutual Insurance Co.

The little Fisk Tire boy first appeared in 1907 when Burr Giffen, a young commercial artist working for Fisk Tire Company, sketched a figure of a yawning boy wearing pajamas. His right arm encircled a tire, and his left hand held a candle. Fisk management was enthusiastic about the sketch, and the clever slogan "Time to Re,Tire" was inked in below the figure. The drawing was copyrighted in 1910 and was registered as a trademark in the u.s. Patent Office in 1914.

The origins of the Fisk Company are somewhat obscure, but, as far as is known, Noyes W. Fisk purchased a company in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1898. The firm he bought had produced bicycle tires and other rubber items. He continued the business under his own name, and branched out with-his first automobile tire in 1899. By 1916 the Fisk plant at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts was making some 5,000 tires a day. The tire business, along with numerous other enterprises, fell upon hard times during the depression. Nevertheless, Fisk introduced its new Safti,Flight tire in 1930, and it proved to be an impressive success.

On June 7 2006 the newspaper The Republican published this (as part of the history of Chicopee Falls): Chicopee's industrial history was highlighted by business leaders who captured national attention at the turn of the century. Noyes Fisk purchased a small soap factory, and in less than 20 years, employed 3,000 people. Fisk was selling the most popular passenger car tire in America - the fabled Red Top.
In 1940 Fisk was acquired by the U.S. Rubber Co. (now Uniroyal, Inc.), which continued to make and market passenger car tires under the respected Fisk name. Among the memorabilia U.S. Rubber took over from Fisk was a greatly retouched oil painting portraying the Fisk Tire boy. Later, the Metropolitan Museum of Art restored the trademark picture to its original form.

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Sourced From fisk-tires.com The yawning boy in his one-piece sleeper was the creation in 1907 of Burr E. Giffen, an eighteen year old artist who worked in the advertising agency employed by Fisk Rubber Corporation. The slogan "Time to Re-Tire" and the drawing of the sleepy boy were copyrighted in 1910 and first appeared in an advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post on March 7, 1914. In 1918, another professional artist, Edward M. Eggleston, made an oil painting of the boy. Fisk spent millions of dollars publicizing the trademark, which was registered in over ninety countries. Publicity releases prior to 1928 said the Fisk boy, sometimes called "America's Favorite Son", ranked among the leading trademarks and was as well known universally as "The Little Dutch Boy". In 1930 the Fisk boy"s yawn was changed to a smile, but in 1934 he was changed back to his sleepy self. The original artwork had been so changed by all the retouching that in 1941 the Metropolitan Museum was commissioned to restore the painting. A number of artists were consulted as to whether a new boy should be painted, but they were unanimous that the charm of the original could not be improved upon.
According to information provided to me by direct descendents of the Fisk Rubber Company founders: It is possible that Noyes Mayo Fisk (1905-1972), was the child that posed for the original oil painting
The Little Boy With The Candle Lloyd Everitt Nelson, born 1877 in MO moved to Boulder County (between 1880 and 1890). The family may have lived in Johnstown or Greeley. He married Mary Alfaretta Stepp in January 1901 in Boulder. He was a photographer and the "Nelson Studio" was on 12th Street Bridge, Boulder (circa 1900-1910). He did some commercial work including the original photo rendition of a little boy wearing a long night shirt holding a night candle. The motto was "Time to Re-tire" and the little boy was Teddy Nelson age 3. Lloyd Everitt died in 1919 and is buried at Green Mountain Cemetery.