The Glide automobile was an American automobile manufactured by the Bartholomew Company in Peoria Heights, Illinois beginning in 1902. Founded by John B. Bartholomew, the company continued to produce automobiles until 1920, when the company began manufacturing trucks for the Avery Company, of which Bartholomew was also president.
Company origins
J. B. Bartholomew started with the Avery Company in Galesburg, Illinois on December 8, 1879 driving a team to haul lumber for a US$1.10 per day. In 1882 the Avery company purchased 18 acre in Peoria, Illinois and moved the business there to North Adams and North Jefferson Streets. In 1892, Robert Avery, the president of the Avery Co., died and Bartholomew was made vice-president.
He had for the prior ten years been in Des Moines, Iowa, managing one of the Avery Co. plants, and where he also built up a small side business, the Bartholomew Company, to manufacture popcorn and peanut roasters and wagons. Upon his return to Peoria to become vice president of the Avery Company, he continued his side business. In 1900, he moved the company's manufacturing facility to a new facility on the 300-500 block of Glide Avenue in Peoria.[1][2]