Posted by carogator on October 23, 2012 at 15:41:22 from (205.188.116.74):
— The weather was perfect for the 10th annual Model T’s to Olar Festival over the weekend — a nod to an Olar businessman’s unlikely ties to Henry Ford in the early 1900s.
The event showcased Model T and Model A vehicles and antique tractors, along with a Haunted House, a pumpkin carving contest, a Womanless Wedding, a parade, arts and crafts, history exhibits, storytelling, street dances, live entertainment and plenty of food.
In excess of a dozen gleaming Model Ts, from roadsters to flatbed trucks and sedans, competed for prizes at the event on Saturday.
The unique festival honors early entrepreneur C.F. Rizer who started out selling farm supplies and equipment in Olar but discontinued his line of buggies, wagons and harnesses and switched gears to establish Rizer’s Auto Co.
According to historical records, Henry Ford, not having the capital to expand, called Rizer in 1914 asking if he had any money to spare. With full confidence in the future of the automobile industry, Rizer loaned Ford $25,000, which was a sizable sum in those days.
That year, Ford sold half a million cars, and the auto industry was on its way.
Rizer had the first and largest supply and sales of any dealer in South Carolina. His business in Olar required 15 clerks to handle the merchandise and auto trade. The dealership also had the distinction of receiving the largest single train shipment of cars ever to Bamberg County. The delivery from Detroit to Olar required 64 box cars, each bearing four Ford automobiles. The 256 cars arrived in Olar in March, and the last one sold in November.
The cars had to be assembled and put together for a contract price of $15 a car. The first Model T cars sold for $825 for a two-door roadster, a bargain compared to other cars of that era.
Rizer died in 1950 at the age of 81 and is buried in Starr Cemetery in Olar. The former Rizer Auto Co. building housed the Olar Fire Department until the structure was demolished in early 2011 to make way for the new Olar Fire Station.
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