June 18: Checker Cabs

Morris Markin’s Checker Taxi company rolled its first car onto the streets of Kalamazoo, Michigan on this date in 1923. Markin was an immigrant tailor from Russia at age 19 who became a successful clothier by making pants under government contract during World War I. He became involved in the auto business when a car manufacturer, Abe Lomborg, defaulted on a $15,000 loan from him. Markin’s rivalry in the Chicago taxicab business with John Hertz of the Yellow Cab company became so fierce that his house was firebombed, prompting the move to Kalamazoo. Eventually Markin took over his rival’s company and, by the end of 1932, he had control of the the three largest taxicab companies operating in Chicago and a significant presence in New York City, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis. Eventually Markin sold his manufacturing business to General Motors but remained a taxicab entrepreneur. Checker was the first white-owned cab company to hire African-American drivers and to require all drivers to pick up fares of all races.
“Taxis competed on prestige, size and comfort, as most working folks stuck to taking the streetcar or bus. The Checkers from the late twenties were large handsome cars, and as in the old coach-built tradition, often had a rear roof section that could be lowered in nice weather, as much as to be seen as to see.” —Paul Niedermeyer