Cadillac Radiator Emblem
notes: label: Description
content: This Cadillac radiator emblem belonged to an automobile that was manufactured by the Cadillac Automobile Company between 1920 and 1925. When Henry Ford left the Henry Ford Company in 1902, the financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen asked engineer Henry M. Leland to appraise their factory for liquidation. Instead, Leland persuaded them to produce his single-cylinder engine automobile. This car was named the Cadillac after Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac, the French explorer who helped founded Detroit in 1701. The Cadillac Automobile Company adopted Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac's coat of arms as their logo in 1905, and registered it as a trademark in 1906. By using a coat of arms, the company suggested their car was connected to luxury, elegance, and an aristocratic tradition. In actuality, Antoine Laumet was not of noble berth and had no “real” heraldry to speak of. Instead, he appropriated the three black martlets of the Lord of Lamothe in his first and fourth quarters, while creating his own second and third quarters.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
label: See more items in
content: Radiator Emblems
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content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: Road Transportation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Hubert G. Larson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.325528.261
label: accession number
content: 260303
label: catalog number
content: 325528.261
objectType: label: Object Name
content: emblem, radiator
label: Other Terms
content: emblem, radiator; Road; Automobile