Herschel Davis started the Davis Rubber Company in the spring of 1924, at the age of 23. Since he didn't have money to rent or buy a building for his business, he began manufacturing tire patches (boots) in a derailed boxcar that had been abandoned on the bank of the White River near Cartney, Arkansas.
Herschel's brothers Ray and Henry soon became partners in the business. The three brothers would take turns; two staying behind to make pathches, while the other was out on the road selling. In 1926 the Rubber Company was moved from its' boxcar in Cartney to Little Rock, Arkansas.
In the earliest days of the Davis Rubber Company the only customers were the tire shops and farmers in the hills of Southern Missouri and North Arkansas. Business grew and at one point tire patches, boots and reliners have been shipped to all 48 of the contiguous states, Alaska, Canada and several countries in Central and South America.
Herschel Davis, the man who started it all, was born on May 2, 1990, remained active in the business until the time of his death in 1993. Although, Herschel Davis is gone the business is still ran by three of his sons. Davis Rubber Company will be clebreating its 90th year in bussiness the spring of 2014.