Eric Wickman

{{Infobox person

|name = Eric Wickman

|image = Eric_Wickman.jpg

| image_size = 200 px

|caption = Carl Eric Wickman

|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1887|08|07}}

|birth_place = Våmhus, Sweden

|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1954|02|05|1887|08|07}}

|death_place = Daytona Beach, Florida

|other_names = Erik Wretman (birth name)

|known_for = Founder of Greyhound Lines

|occupation =

|nationality = Swedish

}}

File:E Wickman staty.jpg

Carl Eric Wickman (born Erik Wretman; 7 August 1887 – 5 February 1954) was a Swedish-born businessman who was the founder of Greyhound Lines.{{cite web

|url= https://snl.no/Greyhound_Lines_Inc.

|title= Greyhound Lines Inc.

|publisher= Snl.no

|access-date= 15 December 2015}}

Background

Wickman was born Erik Wretman at Martisgården, a family farm located near the small village of Limbäck in the parish of Våmhus, 15 km north of Mora in the province Dalarna, Sweden. He was the son of farmer Karl Viktor Wretman (1858-1947) and Anna Matsdotter (1862-1943) and the maternal grandson of hair jewelry artist Martis Karin Ersdotter. He was the eldest of five siblings and was commonly known as Martis Jerk ("Martis" is the farm name and "Jerk" is the dialectal form of the name Erik).{{fact|date=April 2025}}

He changed his name to Carl Eric Wickman in 1905, when he arrived in the United States as a Swedish emigrant.{{cite web|url= http://www.alsing.com/greyhound/|title= Martis Jerk - Busskungen från Våmhus|website=Alsing.com|access-date= 15 December 2015}} His father Victor had earlier used the surname Wickman when he worked in the United States.{{fact|date=April 2025}}

Career

Wickman worked in a mine as a drill operator in Hibbing, Minnesota until he was laid off in 1914. In the same year, Wickman became a Hupmobile salesman as a partnership-owner. When he could not sell the first Hupmobile he received, he began operating a livery route from Hibbing and Alice, Minnesota. By using the seven multi-seat Hupmobile, he drove his former colleagues between the mines and homes. This was the start of what would later become the largest bus line in the United States, renamed "Greyhound Lines" in 1914.{{cite web|url= http://busdigest.blogspot.com/2013/08/in-1914-laid-off-miner-named-carl.html |title= Wickman Opened a Hupmobile Dealership |publisher= Bus Digest Magazine |date= 1 August 2013 |access-date= 15 December 2015}}{{cite web|url= http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/sweden/6634/|title= The Swede behind the legendary Greyhound bus |publisher= Nordstjernan|date= |access-date= 15 December 2015}}[https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/54273/100-years-dirty-dog-history-greyhound 100 Years on a Dirty Dog: The History of Greyhound], by Gary Belsky, 19 December 2013. Mentalfloss.com

In 1925, he bought a small line operating out of Superior, Wisconsin that was owned by Orville Swan Caesar (1892–1965).

Within a year, the duo formed Northland Transportation Company. The company formally changed its name to The Greyhound Corporation in 1930.

By 1934, he had expanded to 50 buses and had revenues of $340,000. Wickman retired as president of Greyhound Corporation in 1946. In 1952, he sold his interest in the business for $960,000.{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930864-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026033124/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930864-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 October 2012|title=Transport: Bus Race |magazine=Time|date=10 March 2001|access-date=30 June 2021}}

Personal life

In 1916, Wickman married Olga Rodin (1897–1977). They had two children Robert (Bob) and Peggy (Margaret). In 1940 King Gustav V of Sweden awarded Wickman with the Order of Vasa, first class.{{cite web|url= http://www.alsing.com/greyhound/sida3.html|title= Martis Jerk - Greyhound|website=Alsing.com|access-date= 15 December 2015}}

He died aged 66 in 1954 and was buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.C. Wickman Dies; Headed Bus Line (The New York Times. 6 February 1954)

Companies founded

Mesaba Transportation Company – 1915
Motor Transit Corporation – 1922
Northland Transportation Company – 1925
Greyhound Pacific – around 1930
The Greyhound Corporation – 1930

References

Additional sources

Jackson, Carlton (1984) Hounds of the Road: A History of the Greyhound Bus Company (Popular Press) {{ISBN|978-0-87972-271-5}}
Lundell, Kristin (2014) Busskungen- Svensken som grundade Greyhound (Stockholm: Norstedts) {{ISBN|978-9-11306-121-4}}
Sundquist, Nils (1969) Martis Jerk, Eric Wickman 1887-1954: Våmhuspojken Som Blev USA:s Busskung (Malung: Malungs Boktryckeri AB)