PALMER-SINGER

Palmer-Singer Manufacturing Co. 

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (1908)

Long Island City, New York (c1908-1914)

This is a Palmer-Singer radiator emblem (c1912-1914)    hsc
Size: 52mm high 42mm wide    MM: Unknown

Henry U Palmer was a barrel maker and Charles A Singer came from the Singer sewing machine family. They started together as motor car dealers in New York, including for Matheson, but in 1908 they also became automobile manufacturers. Initially, in 1908, their cars were built in the Matheson plant at Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania and were known as both P&S and Palmer-Singer but by 1909 manufacture had moved to Long Island and the cars were called Palmer-Singer only. 

The first Palmer-Singer was a short-wheelbase 28hp four-cylinder roadster called the Skimabout, followed shortly after by a 60hp six-cylinder model offered in runabout and toy tonneau body styles. Palmer-Singers were big, powerful and finely built automobiles.

In 1914 a new Palmer-Singer called the Magic Six was announced but the company was bankrupt by March 1914. The Palmer-Singer assets were eventually sold to Charles Singer, who introduced the Singer car later that year (see Singer).

Emblems

It is not clear when the first Palmer-Singer radiator emblem appeared.

The earliest original photos that I have found showing the Palmer-Singer with a radiator emblem were taken in 1909, see example below:

This is a Palmer-Singer with a radiator emblem (1909)    dpl

The Palmer-Singer company logo was used as the basis of the radiator emblem and Palmer-Singer advertisements in 1908 show the company logo, see example below:

This is a Palmer-Singer Skimabout ad showing the logo (1908)     ms

It is possible that the Palmer-Singer carried a radiator emblem in 1908 but I cannot confirm this. The 1909 Palmer-Singer brochure includes an illustration of the radiator showing the radiator emblem and a large (presumably) brass radiator script, see below:

This is a Palmer-Singer brochure illustration showing the radiator emblem and script (1909)   ms

The Palmer-Singer radiator script does not appear in later documentation and I have not seen it in original Palmer-Singer photos. As a result, I suspect that the first Palmer-Singer cars in 1908 may have displayed the radiator script only but I cannot confirm this. Original Palmer-Singer brass radiator scripts are very rare.

The original 1909 photos and company illustrations of the Palmer-Singer shown above show a radiator emblem with a light, probably white, background color. 

This leads me to believe that the white and red enamel radiator emblem shown below was the first Palmer-Singer radiator emblem probably dating from 1909. This Palmer-Singer radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Palmer-Singer radiator emblem (c1909-c1911)    alt
Size: Probably 52mm high 42mm wide    MM: Unknown

The Palmer-Singer radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post is attached to a radiator and does not appear to have been restored. It has a quite different color arrangement with a darker (red) background. I suspect that this Palmer-Singer radiator emblem may be from a later Palmer-Singer model but I cannot confirm this. This Palmer-Singer radiator emblem is extremely rare.

The Palmer-Singer radiator emblem shown below is a very different design variation. It has a light color background but the letters "P & S" and some elements of the border design are finished in dark blue enamel. This Palmer-Singer radiator emblem may have been restored, so the colors may have been changed, but, even so, the emblem is clearly designed so that the areas now in blue enamel were intended to be finished in enamel. This Palmer-Singer radiator emblem is also extremely rare.

This is a Palmer-Singer radiator emblem (dates unknown)    src
Size: 52mm high 42mm wide     MM: Unknown

The Palmer-Singer emblem shown below is a hub emblem and is rare:

This is a Palmer-Singer hub emblem (c1910-1914)   mjs
Size: 57mm diameter   MM: None

The P S radiator emblem shown below was in the Al Thurn emblem collection, and later in the collection of John Weis from which it moved to John Webster and then to Murray Shears. The emblem was believed to have been from a 1908 P&S car but this has not been confirmed.

This P S emblem was believed to have been from a P&S car (1908)   mjs
Size: 70mm high 47mm wide    MM: None