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Historical Servi-Car Commercial Users: Bear Photo Service

HISTORICAL SERVI-CAR COMMERCIAL USERS: BEAR PHOTO SERVICE

Vintage photo of Bear Photo Service motorcycle
Vintage photo of Bear Photo Service motorcycle
March 10, 2025

In November 1931, Harley-Davidson President Walter Davidson unveiled the Servi-Car in a statement to stockholders.

It became a popular model for commercial uses, from pharmacies to bakeries and car dealerships, who could use the three-wheeled vehicle for quick and convenient cross-town deliveries.

It became popular for businesses to customize their Servi-Car for added recognition and advertisement of their goods and services.

LARGEST ORDER OF SERVI-CARS

During that first year the model was available, the largest order of Servi-Cars (sold by one dealer to one business) went to Bear Photo Service.

San Francisco Dealer Dudley Perkins was responsible for the sale of eight Servi-Cars to Bear Photo Service, the largest photo service and supply company in San Francisco (and one of the largest in the country).

THE BEAR PHOTO SERVICE SERVI-CAR FLEET

Their fleet was outfitted in a dark blue paint scheme, and each custom-made box was crowned with the company's trademark bear (measuring 24 inches long and 17 inches high).

“Bear Photo Service has used Harley-Davidson delivery service for many years,” reported the January 9, 1933, issue of News Bulletin, a publication for Harley-Davidson dealers.

“The fleet of Servi-Cars is used to pick up and deliver films and other photographic work from drug stores and others and covers not only the city of San Francisco, but the surrounding cities for a considerable radius.”

Photographs produced by Bear Photo Service still exist in archives and family photo collections today; the Bear Photo legacy includes images documenting the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco and construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

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