JEFFERY

Thomas B. Jeffery Co. (1914-1917)

Kenosha, Wisconsin

This is a Jeffery radiator emblem (1914-1917)     mjs
Size: 63mm diameter  MM: Unknown (some Whitehead & Hoag/Childs)

In the early years of the twentieth century Thomas B. Jeffery had constructed the largest and best equipped automobile factory in America and had built the Rambler (see Rambler), which became one of the most successful automobiles in America. Thomas Jeffery died of a heart attack in 1910 while on holiday in Italy and his son, Charles Jeffery, took over as the company president. In 1914, Charles Jeffery took a risky decision and changed the name of his car from Rambler to Jeffery in honor of his father.

The Jeffery of 1914 was an entirely new car offered as two four-cylinder models and a six-cylinder model. Jeffery also built a range of delivery wagons and trucks, the most famous of which was the Jeffery Quad truck. Production for 1914 was 10,417 Jeffery cars and 3,096 Jeffery Quads. Things were going well but, in anticipation that America would be drawn into the First World War, Charles Jeffery decided to concentrate more and more on trucks.

Charles Jeffery left America for a trip to Europe in 1915. He sailed on the S.S. Lusitania, which was sunk by German torpedoes. Luckily, Charles survived but the experience led him to retire in 1916. He sold his company to Charles Nash (see Nash) and by 1917 the Jeffery name was finished.

Emblems

Although the Rambler did not have a radiator emblem, the Jeffery carried a blue, red and white enamel radiator emblem from the start, see example above at the top of this post. This Jeffery radiator emblem is rare, even though there were several thousand Jeffery cars built.

The Jeffery advertisement for 1916 shows a very different radiator emblem, see below: 

This is part of a Jeffery ad showing a new radiator emblem (1916-1917)   ms

The new Jeffery radiator emblem was intended to be used for the Jeffery Six and was advertised as "a symbol of mechanical precision and refinement". The blue, white and orange enamel Jeffery Six radiator emblem shown below is extremely rare.

This is a Jeffery Six radiator emblem (1916-1917)     sam
Size: 70mm high 61mm wide      MM: Unknown

I am not sure what the following Jeffery emblem was used for. It may have been a hub emblem. If you have details, please let me know in order to update this post. This Jeffery emblem is scarce.

This may be a Jeffery hub emblem (1914-1917)     mjs
Size: 60mm diameter   MM: None