Yellow Cab Company
Encyclopedia
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
company in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
which was founded in 1914 by John D. Hertz
John D. Hertz
John Daniel Hertz, Sr. was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist.-Biography:...
.
History
The Yellow Cab Company was founded in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1914 by John D. Hertz
John D. Hertz
John Daniel Hertz, Sr. was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist.-Biography:...
and started business in 1915.
In 1920 the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company
Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company
The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was established in 1920 by John D. Hertz and was associated with the Yellow Cab Company which Hertz also owned.-History:The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was established in 1920 by John D...
was formed to manufacture taxicabs.
During the 1910s and 1920s there was considerable illegal activity relating to mobsters
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
and in particular to the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
. Yellow Cab was involved in a bitter rivalry with Checker Taxi
Checker Taxi
Checker Taxi was an American taxi company. It used the Checker Taxi Cab produced by the Checker Motors Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Both Checker Taxi and its parent company Checker Motors Corporation were owned by Morris Markin....
at the time which a number of shootings, deaths and firebombing
Firebombing
Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....
s.
By 1925 the company was a subsidiary of the 'Chicago Yellow Cab Company', a public holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
with shares equally divided amongst Hertz, Parmelee and a small group of other investors. Hertz sold the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company
Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company
The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was established in 1920 by John D. Hertz and was associated with the Yellow Cab Company which Hertz also owned.-History:The Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was established in 1920 by John D...
to General Motors in 1925. He sold his remaining interest in the Yellow Cab Company in 1929. Yellow Cab Co. (of Chicago) was bought by Morris Markin
Morris Markin
Morris Markin was a Russian-born American entrepreneur and businessman who founded the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company .-Early years:...
, who had established Checker Cab Manufacturing Company, with the Checker Taxi
Checker Taxi
Checker Taxi was an American taxi company. It used the Checker Taxi Cab produced by the Checker Motors Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Both Checker Taxi and its parent company Checker Motors Corporation were owned by Morris Markin....
, a driver's cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
.
In 1929 he sold his remaining share of Yellow Cab to concentrate on car rental (later Hertz Rent-a-Car which incidentally still uses a yellow logo). The sale was prompted by the violence associated with the business that culminated in 1928 in his racing stables being destroyed in a $200,000 fire in which 11 thoroughbred horses were burned.
Yellow Cab Co. was sold again in 1996 to Patton Corrigan, who in turn sold controlling interest in 2005 to Michael Levine, a third-generation taxicab operator from New York City. The Levine/Corrigan group has also purchased the Checker Taxi Affiliation in Chicago, to reunite the two companies once again. Yellow Cab Co eventually split into multiple companies across the nation bearing the Yellow Cab name