Raines and Cox Studio Photograph Collection, PHC.196

Scope and Content:

The Hackney Body Company Series contains black and white prints and negatives of the refrigerated delivery trucks and busses produced by the Hackney Body Company. The purpose of these photographs is thought to be promotional use in catalogs and advertisements. The series spans the years 1946 through 1961 and consists of 950 folders, many of which contain more than one negative and/or print. The earlier years contain mostly 8x10 black and white negatives, while the later years contain almost solely 4x5 black and white negatives. Many of the folders contain black and white gelatin silver prints that accompany the negatives. The vehicles were photographed in a uniform fashion, consisting of front and rear 3/4 views with a right or left side shot. Interior pictures were mainly limited to the interior of the refrigerated body. In many of the photographs signage on the truck body can be seen. The series also contains a small number of folders containing images of the factory in Wilson, North Carolina, aerial views of the factory, factory workers, and the 100th anniversary celebration.

Although it started as a wagon building business in 1854 and turned out about 200 buggies and 100 wagons a year by 1885. The firm began making truck bodies in the 1910s, later expanding the company's product line to include ambulances, house trailers, hearses, portable storage rooms, temporary bleachers, car-top sleepers, and school buses. The company patented the first carbon dioxide-based refrigeration system in 1931. Refrigerated trucks became their most important product. It was sold in 1993 to Hackney and Sons located in Washington, NC. Then in 1997, TTI bought the entire Hackney firm and merged its operations with another subsidiary, Kidron.