Kriss Auto Bus

 

In the 1920s and 1930s, Randall F. Kriss ran a trucking and moving business. The vehicle pictured above is a Kriss Auto Bus that was built by J.A.Loeffler. Mr. Kriss’s early advertisements stated that “auto busses” were available for hire for any occasion. In 1922 the Kriss Auto Bus took passengers from Sandusky’s Washington Park to the Rye Beach Dance Pavilion on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with free rides for ladies on Wednesdays. The ad from the  November 2, 1922 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal indicated that the Kriss Auto Bus had had a heating system installed, for the comfort its pasengers.

For a time Mr. Kriss also operated an automobile garage and restaurant, but after 1936, he was no longer operating any businesses in Sandusky. 

At the time of his death in 1957, Randall Kriss had been been employed at Bargain Fair. He was married to the former Vera Starr, the sister of Beryl Starr.

When the Lake Shore Coach Lines Ran from Sandusky to Cleveland

From 1938 until well into the 1940s, the Lake Shore Coach Lines transported passengers by bus from Sandusky to Cleveland, as well as from Sandusky to Toledo. The Lake Shore Coach Lines was created after the Lake Shore Electric Railway lines ceased operations. Several of these buses were manufactured by the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company. The buses that served Sandusky were Model 742s.  Pictured below is bus number 157.

    

Here is a side view of bus number 153.

Time tables which appeared in the December 2, 1942 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News indicated that buses traveled daily from Sandusky to Cleveland at 7:30 and 10:05 a.m., and 12:05, 2:05, 3:35, 6:05, 8:35 and 9:55 p.m. daily. Another 6:20 a.m. route ran from Sandusky to Cleveland every day except Sundays and holidays. The Lake Shore Coach Lines also ran several trips to and from Toledo every day. Having such frequent bus stops in Sandusky would have enabled local residents to work or shop in Cleveland or Toledo quite easily. Many Christmas shoppers enjoyed the convenience of taking the bus to the big city, without having to drive their own vehicle. 

A procession of buses at the Northwest Territory Celebration parade, April 30, 1938

In September of 1943, the Sandusky routes of the Lake Shore Coach Lines were taken over by the Sandusky Rapid Transit. The Lake Shore Coach Company was eventually sold to Greyhound. Today most people drive their own vehicles to and from Toledo and Cleveland, but it is fun to see these images from a time gone by in our community.

View of Columbus Avenue from Sandusky Bay, Circa 1938

The picture above was taken from an unidentified boat (possibly the Chippewa) as it was approaching the dock from Sandusky Bay about 1938. At that time, the Moose and VFW both had their club rooms in the building at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Water Street, in the former Post, Lewis and Radcliffe building, now home to the Water Street Bar and Grille.

Buses can be seen transporting people to the busy downtown and waterfront of Sandusky. In the early 1940s, two bus lines were in operation in Sandusky, the Greyhound line and the Lake Shore Coach Company. The Lake Shore buses succeeded the interurban trolley line that disbanded in 1938; their office was at 129 Columbus Avenue, in the former interurban station.The Greyhound station was across the street, at 124 Columbus Avenue.

Jay Meek ran a drugstore in the old Graham drugstore building, at 102 Columbus Avenue, now home to Daly’s Pub. Across the street were the Seitz State Theatre building and the Stone’s Grill Restaurant just to the north of the theater.