Sunday, March 27, 2022

Douglas B 23, not a hit with the military, but were a big hit with corporate executives who bought them cheap as WW2 surplus. This B 23 was owned by Rexall, Howard Hughes, and Gar Wood

sent to the Tennessee boneyard in 1944, it was snapped up by Howard Hughes months later, then he sold it to Gar Wood Industries, and by 1950 was owned by Rexall. 

You might recall that Rexall had a train in the late 1930s https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/03/this-is-about-biggest-advertising.html

in 1959 Rexall had a B 26 


In 1959, the Rexall Drug Company in Los Angeles purchased a plastics company in Chippewa Falls , Wisconsin . They wanted an aircraft that could provide fast and nonstop service between Chippewa Plastics and the Rexall home office in Los Angeles.

the flight from Van Nuys to Wisconsin could be flown nonstop in six hours, just about as fast as anything could fly in 1959. However, once the managers discovered how fast the airplane was, they began crisscrossing the country daily with it.

 Rexall purchased this B 26 from Minnesota Airmotive in April 1959 and sent it to On Mark for updating. 

On Mark went through the entire airplane and also added the 103" nose with radar, installed the DC-6 landing gear with Hytrol anti-skid, and added the 165 gal, wingtip tanks. Nothing else was done to the cockpit or interior. The airplane was repainted in the colors of the Rexall company. The orange arrow, or dart if you will, on the side of the fuselage, was made part of the color scheme at the request of the president of Rexall Drug, Mr. Justin Dart.  Rexall sold it in 1962







In 1958, the Rexall Drug Company was the largest U.S. drug store franchise, with 11,158 stores. 

Dart had acquired stakes in West Bend, Duracell, Hobart Corporation, Tupperware, Ralph Wilson Plastics, and Archer Glass, which were collectively known as Dart Industries. 

By the late 1950s, Rexall's business model of unitary franchised stores, with each store owned independently by the local pharmacist, was already coming under attack by the discount chains, such as Thrifty Drug and Eckerd.

 By 1977, the value of the Rexall business had deteriorated to the point that it was sold to private investors for $16 million.

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