Object Details
- Description
- This radiator emblem belonged to a Pan-American automobile that was manufactured by the Pan-American Motors Corporation of Decatur, Illinois between 1917 and 1922. The company produced assembled cars, meaning the car components came from a variety of manufacturers and were merely assembled at the Pan-American factory. The company produced about 4000 cars before bankruptcy came in 1922. This red, white, and blue emblem features a spread-winged eagle at the top who envelops two blue globes, one featuring North America, the other depicting South America. The globes are surrounded by red enamel that reads “PAN-AMERICAN MOTORS CORP/DECATUR, ILLINOIS U.S.A.”
- Radiator emblems are small, colorful metal plates bearing an automobile manufacturer's name or logo that attached to the radiators grilles of early automobiles. Varying in shape and size, the emblems served as a small branding device, sometimes indicating the type of engine, place of manufacturing, or using an iconic image or catchy slogan to advertise their cars make and model. This emblem is part of the collection that was donated by Hubert G. Larson in 1964.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Hubert G. Larson
- ID Number
- TR.325528.186
- accession number
- 260303
- catalog number
- 325528.186
- Object Name
- emblem, radiator
- Other Terms
- emblem, radiator; Road; Automobile
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
- Radiator Emblems
- Transportation
- Road Transportation
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_840395
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-81eb-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
