Brask Brothers - Oakland

Carl Brask, Sam Brask, and H.A. Mehrmann

The Brask Brothers were twins Carl Brask (September 6, 1882 – 1970) and Samuel (Soren) Brask (September 6, 1882 – April 8, 1976). They started in the bicycle business, moved to auto repairs, and later had a Chevrolet dealership.

Carl and Samuel were born in Tisted, Denmark. They arrived in the U.S c.1904.

Carl Brask married Hannah Martha Moller (Brask) (May 28, 1893 – December 24, 1952), daughter of Peter Moller, in 1918. They did not have any children.

Samuel Brask married Anna Andersen (Brask) (1884 – May 11, 1964) in 1911. They had a daughter, Edith Marion Brask (March 13, 1913 – June 1991). Edith worked for Modoc High School in Alturas, CA in the 1940s and 1950s. Beginning in 1961, she worked at the schools in Martinez, retiring in 1975.

After marrying in 1911, Samuel and Anna were living at 2325 E14th St., which was also where the bicycle shop was. On the morning of February 20, 1913, they were roused by the firefighters when a fire started spreading from the Mitchell brothers' poolroom next door. (NB: the article says 2225, but that was a typo.)

Bicycles

From at least 1908, Brask Brothers bicycles was at 1165 E14th St. (2325 E14th St. after renumbering.) A 1923 article ¹ suggests they started business in 1905, but no listings have been found yet.

bicycle shop... ¹E12th St. -- 1911 Sanborn excerpt

Automobiles

The first mention of the auto business is Samuel Brask and Jack Bowers attending a meeting of Alameda County auto dealers in October 1917. A 1918 ad for S. Brask & Co. mentions automobile and motorcycle repairs, but no mention of bicycles. By 1919, it was listed as Brask Brothers and Bowers. By 1920, they had moved to larger quarters at 2264 E12th St.

...to auto shop ¹

A 1922 ad lists them as a Chevrolet dealer. By April 1923, it was just Brask Brothers.

1922 ad1923 ad

There was a lot of competition. A 1924 Chevrolet ad lists 5 dealers in Oakland, plus ones in Berkeley, Alameda, and San Leandro. One thing early auto dealers did was sponsor events to show off what cars could do; Brask Brothers sponsored a day trip to the top of Mt. Diablo; ² they later upped that by setting a speed record to the top.

1924 ²1924

In 1924, they opened a separate location at 2905 E14th St. for selling used cars.

19241925

Bankruptcy and Beyond

Things continued like this until March 1926, when the manager H.A. Mehrmann, and the bookkeeper H.W. Watchers, were arrested when creditors found there were more than $100,000 in discrepancies in the books. Investigations showed that they had been forging documents claiming that the dealership owned more cars than it did. Three different credit companies were shorted a total of $112,000. Just as Mehrmann and Watches were about to go to trial, they plead guilty. They were sentenced to 1 to 14 years for forgery, and sent to San Quentin. ^3,4

The Brask Brothers continued business for a while, but declared bankruptcy in 1927.

The brothers then went to work at the Chevrolet factory in Oakland. They retired in 1952.

Death and Burial

Sadly, Hannah died a few months after Carl and Sam retired in 1952. Both Brask brothers and their spouses are buried in Mountain View Cemetery. Edith Brask may be buried there as well; her name is on the marker with Sam and Anna, but without a death date.