S. VINCEN BOWLES INC. Forward     The following article on the history on the S. Vincen Bowles Company, replaces two earlier articles previously published at the Classic Refuse Trucks website. The first Bowles Album appeared in the Fall of 2005, providing a basic outline of the company history. Scott Blake, a former hauler from the Los Angeles area and frequent contributor to this site, supplied most of the information for that first album. Scott has provided a wealth of information over the years, and the package of Bowles material was most helpful. Having lived my entire life in the eastern United States, I had very little information on the company. His help was instrumental in launching the original album.     One year later, the Bowles Dealer Album was added as a supplement. It consisted mostly of photo selections from an old sales album that was put together by the H.M. Rattle Company, a Bowles equipment dealer in Denver, Colorado, circa 1960. These photos were an amazing find, offering a glimpse of the Bowles product line in its early prime. There was a wide variety of equipment, and in some cases these photos raised new questions while answering old ones.     In the intervening years, more information has come forth on the history of Bowles. Most of this has been by way of the enthusiastic contingent of CRT readers in the western United States, who are rightfully proud of their region's significance to the development of the front loading refuse truck. I am grateful to all of you for your help and material contributions to Classic Refuse Trucks.     In the summer of 2009, two of our well-known west coast contributors spent a day with Duane Bowles, former President of S, Vincen Bowles Inc., and the son of founder Samuel Vincen Bowles. Zachary Geroux and Bill Tetreault came away from that meeting with a wealth of information on the company, which has necessitated a re-write of the Bowles story.     Interviewing Duane Bowles, Zachary Geroux nailed down some key facts and answers to some long-standing questions, as well as information about Bowles which had been previously unknown. His outline of that information forms the foundation this completely revised album, which also combines elements of the earlier two albums and other new material. Without his efforts, the new album simply would not have been possible. His fanaticism for West Coast equipment history is unrivaled, and I look forward to having Zach as contributing writer for future articles at Classic Refuse Trucks.     I can hardly discount the extremely hard work of Bill Tetreault, who laboriously scanned 650 photos that were made available from the company archives. Speaking from experience, having scanned thousands of pages since 2004, I can say that this is a Herculean task. Bill not only did this in record time, but also made sure to make the highest quality scans. As a result, these historic photos (most of which have never been seen outside of the Bowles company) are now available to the public, a permanent resource for everyone interested in the history of refuse trucks.     Of course, I would have to save my greatest thanks for the Bowles family, particularly Duane Bowles, for his recollections, and for volunteering unprecedented access to his company's history. His contribution has been immeasurable, even going as far as providing live equipment demonstrations, and of course making all of those great old pictures available. We could not have possibly asked for more.     Finally, this writing is dedicated to Vince Bowles, for his creative spirit and inventive genius. His work benefited an industry and the greater public as well. Classic Refuse Trucks is proud to now tell his story. If he was still with us, I could only hope that he would approve of it. Eric Voytko January 16, 2010 CLICK ON THE 'NEXT' BUTTON TO START 1/17/10 © 2010 Eric Voytko and Zachary Geroux All Rights Reserved Logos shown are the trademarks of respective manufacturers Photos from factory brochures/trade advertisements except as noted