Mechanics Needed!

Travel by automobile and truck meant the demise of jobs that utilized horses. McLean County needed workers for auto sales and service.

Carl “Swede” Anderson (1901 -1967) had only an eighth grade education. But in 1918 he began an apprenticeship as an automobile electrician with the Bloomington Battery Service Company. The repair shop, founded that year, was one of the first in Bloomington. Swede learned how to repair electric motors and batteries on the job.

6 men stand in a workshop looking in the camera.

Swede (middle with apron) posed with other Bloomington Battery employees in this circa 1930 image of the business.

6 men stand in a workshop looking in the camera.

Ford Model T ignition coil, circa 1925

a small device that has a threaded piece on one end and a few nuts and longer pieces with facets in the middle.

Swede would have learned how to repair and install ignition devices, like this one from a Ford Model T.

Donated by: Jim Kater
908.925

a small device that has a threaded piece on one end and a few nuts and longer pieces with facets in the middle.

Splitdorf spark plug, circa 1924

a wooden box with metal pieces coming out of the top.

Spark plugs were another component he learned about. This one was used in a Stutz automobile.

Donated by: Jim Kater
908.959

a wooden box with metal pieces coming out of the top.

After 18 years with Bloomington Battery, Swede asked himself the question, “Should I stay or should I go?”

Would you stay at the same job more than 18 years, or would you look for work elsewhere?

newspaper clipping describing the announcement

In 1936 Swede and Thurlo Little opened Anderson & Little. The new partners worked in competition with Bloomington Battery. When that partnership dissolved it became Anderson Auto Electric.

Bloomington Pantagraph advertisement, Sunday, August 16, 1936
newspaper clipping describing the announcement

Automobile engine timing light, circa 1934

a long, narrow, fluted brass colored object and rubber tubing coming out one end

View this object in Matterport

Donated by: Jim Kater
908.956

a long, narrow, fluted brass colored object and rubber tubing coming out one end

Swede ran Anderson Auto Electric until he retired in 1957, when he sold the shop due to ill health.

Previous: Building Better Roads Next: Selling Cars and Taking Flight