Returning to Waterloo.( )

Byline: BOB TOMAINE

When Vern Sessler bought his 1942 GMC woodie in 1998, a small metal tag on the body played a big part in the deal.

"When I was a kid,'' Sessler remembers, "I lived a block away from where these woodies were made, and I'd see them being driven by, day after day after day. I'd see them come one way, and all they'd be was the chassis with a windshield and, literally, an orange crate. Then I'd see them coming back the other way with the body on.''

The tag documents body No. 6837 was "Campbell Built'' by Mid-State Body Co. of Waterloo, New York. And it is to this town that Sessler brought the GMC home from California so Waterloo could touch a piece of its history.

In brief, Mid-State was formed when Robert Campbell of Hercules-Campbell Body acquired Waterloo Body in 1932. An independent supplier, Mid-State handled wood bodies, producing everything from station wagons under contract with Chevrolet to 24-passenger bus bodies.

During World War II the company promoted replacement bodies. "The Campbell Commuter,'' it advertised, "permits the conversion of small wasteful cars like coupes into 15-passenger vehicles. The materials removed-such as doors, seat, back, deck, glass, etc.-can be used to repair other cars.''

Mid-State completed custom orders, small batches of export models and one-off conversions until the Waterloo operation closed in 1957.