Douce invasion sur roues: Herr von Schlechtleithner et la caravane à bonbons autrichienne

Adding to the Information Laurent Zoller found, the first Schlechtleithner/Schlechtleitner travelling candy-wagon appeared in the January 1st, 1922, edition of the American Motorist magazine with the caption you printed and then the Deutsch-Amerika illustrated weekly in October, 1922. The January, 1923, edition of the American Confectioners Journal, showed a different view of the same one, with a more detailed caption:

“The world’s only travelling candy store. Austrian Nobleman, Franz von Schlechtleitner of Innsbruck, unable to make a living in his own country, has started on a tour of Europe, under the most remarkable auspices. Being an expert automobilist, with the remnant of his family fortune, he has had a unique motor van built, taking as a model a picturesque Tyrolese cottage. There is a porch on the rear, curtains on the tiny windows and real flowers before them. The interior is divided in a parlor and kitchen, while the bedrooms are upstairs on the second floor. A small trailer attached holds the goods and provisions. By means of a few additional boards, carried on the sides and roof, the van is quickly converted into its real purpose, that of a candy shop, Herr Schlechtleitner and his wife making in the kitchen delicious sweet-meats. In this strange conveyance, accompanied by their three children, they are selling candy in the towns and villages they visit and making an excellent living.”

The story was still of interest in the U.S.A. in May, 1925, by when the Soda Fountain magazine claimed the truck was a Ford. Unlikely, but von Schlechtleitner’s family was reported to be still on the road in the December 3rd, 1927, edition of Deutsch-Amerika, when their candy-wagon was on that shorter chassis with disc wheels, pneumatic tyres and towing a four-wheel trailer. The picture was captioned: “The nobility of labour: Franz von Schlechtleitner, an Austrian nobleman in Innsbruck, who lost all his fortune due to the hardship after the war, had built a mobile confectionery stall and apartment and is now moving with this as a modern nomad from place to place. In this way he feeds himself, his wife, a son and two daughters.”

As to von Schlechtleitner patents, this is from the December 8th, 1931, Commercial Motor magazine of Great Britain: “A Coupling which Increases Road Grip: A coupling for trailers described in patent No. 359,557, by F. von Schlechtleitner, 23, Marktstrasse, Munich, is intended to produce a lifting effect of the front of the tractor, thus increasing the pressure of its rear wheels on the road and giving it greater tractive effect. The rear springs of the tractor are so formed that the stronger the pull on the drawbar, the greater the load on the rear wheels of the tractor. We should imagine that if this principle were carried too far it might result in the tractor rearing up and falling on its driver; cases of the kind have been known, and to avoid it the connection of the drawbar has been carried as low as possible.”

The number-blade is from germany on the picture. IIB is for Kreis Oberbayern: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_deutschen_Kfz-Kennzeichen_(historisch)

Austrian? I always thought this was a Büssing from and in Germany.