Object Details
- Description
- This radiator emblem belonged to a Stephens automobile that was manufactured by the Moline Plow Company of Freeport, Illinois from 1917 until 1924. Like many automobile makers, the Moline Plow Company was originally in the business of building plows, wagons, and buggies, but sought to diversify their output as traditional sales began to wane in the 1910s. The Stephens automobile was produced by Moline Plow in 1917, taking the last name of the company’s founder as its flagship model. By 1919 the company has been bought by Willys-Overland, but kept as a separate entity with its previous corporate governance intact. The company was renamed the Stephens Motor Car Company in 1922, before ending production in 1924 with an output estimated at around 25,000 cars. This circular silver emblem has a white enamel background that reads “STEPHENS” in blue lettering, with a blue circle underneath that has the overlapping letters “MPC.” in silver.
- 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.325528.227
- accession number
- 260303
- catalog number
- 325528.227
- 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_840221
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-69f5-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
