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Stevens Duryea radiator emblem
Catalog #: 325,528,
Accession #: 260,303
Currently on display
From the Smithsonian Collection
Brothers Frank and Charles Duryea are frequently credited as manufacturing America's first gasoline powered commercial car, which was successfully tested in public on September 20, 1893, in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1901, Frank Duryea joined with the Stevens company, a well-known armaments firm, to build high quality touring vehicles. |
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Physical Description |
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Dimensions (in mm): 4.4 L x 11.9 W x 1.1 D
Inscriptions: STEVENS DURYEA (with image of a dragon)
Materials: metal
Colors: silver, yellow, red
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Details |
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Note: | Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts |
Credit: | Gift of Hubert G. Larson |
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History |
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Radiator emblems were colorful metal plates with a manufacturer's name or logo that attached to the radiators of early automobiles. Varying in shape and size, but never more than a few inches across, the emblems were small branding devices. As vehicles became more popular in a national market, people began associating the company name and logo on different vehicle models with a specific manufacturer. Radiator emblems sometimes indicated the type of engine or place of manufacturing. Other times they appealed directly to a driver’s sense of style and class by using iconic images or a catchy motto.
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Related People, Places, and Events |
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Donor
Hubert G. Larson
In 1964 Hubert G. Larson donated a collection of 278 radiator emblems to the Smithsonian.
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