 1956 GMC
Stepside
By: Alvin Shier
In 1916 General Motors staged a promotional gimmick by driving a G.M.C. truck laden with a load of Carnation milk from Seattle to New York. It took a total of 31 days to accomplish, and was successful in gaining much needed publicity for the fledgling company which had been formed only five years previously in July of 1911. The timing for this stunt was right because G.M.C. trucks were ordered up to the tune of 21,000 units for participation in the great war of
1914-18
Forty years later, in October 1956, in the picturesque Rocky Mountain town of Blairmore in Southern Alberta, William Halstein had just taken delivery of a new 1956 G.M.C. 9300 Series from Blairmore Motors Ltd. Mr. Halstein kept the truck well over the years, even going to the extremes of wrapping the rear leaf springs in gunny sack material to help preserve them.
It is unknown exactly when in the 60's Mr. Halstein passed away but the truck did remain in the possession of his widow, all the time in a garage until in 1970 it was purchased by a relative of the present owner Audrey Friesen. Now its new home
is Coleman, Alberta, but that changed again when Audrey's father Benjamin Friesen purchased the truck and moved north to Calgary where it was used as everyday transportation and to perform light duty operations.
When Mr. Friesen retired in the early 80's so did the faithful little shortbox. For the next couple of years it sat in the back yard of the Friesen residence until Audrey through persistent nagging was able to claim the truck with restoring it in mind.
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