Cunningham Radiator Emblem
notes: label: Description
content: During the early 20th century, many carriage manufacturers ended up converting their horse-drawn carriage frames for use in automobiles. James Cunningham Son & Company began building carriages in Rochester, New York in 1838. Towards the end of the century the company began to experiment with electric-powered carriages, and by 1908 Cunningham was assembling automobiles that included their carriages chassis. In 1910 the company began producing their own luxury automobiles. In a time when the Ford Model T sold for less than $1,000, Cunningham’s were often priced at $5,000 or more. Cunningham ceased automobile production in 1931, as the Depression made the luxury car business largely unprofitable. The blue and white emblem is the shape of the front of a car and reads “The Cunningham/Car/Rochester, N.Y.” in silver script.
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.325528.067
label: accession number
content: 260303
label: catalog number
content: 325528.067
objectType: label: Object Name
content: emblem, radiator
label: Other Terms
content: emblem, radiator; Road; Automobile