ANDERSON (2)

Anderson Motor Co. (1916-1925)

Rock Hill, South Carolina

This is an Anderson radiator emblem (c1919-1923)      mjs
Size: 76mm wide 53mm high    MM: Unknown (probably Bastian Bros)

The Anderson had its origins in the Rock Hill Buggy Company, which built horse drawn vehicles. The company produced a car called the Rock Hill in 1910 but the venture was unsuccessful. In 1913 the company began to build bodies for automobiles and in 1916 the Anderson Motor Company was established.

The Anderson car was a particularly good, assembled car with high quality coachwork offered in a variety of color combinations. The first Anderson model Six-40 appeared in 1916 and was a 25 hp six-cylinder car. The car was well received and some valuable US government contracts helped the Anderson to survive the First World War period.

The Anderson became one of the most successful and long-lived cars produced in the Southern States of America. Production reached a peak in 1923 but thereafter the Anderson began to suffer problems, mainly because the Anderson was a relatively expensive car. Despite the company slogan " A Little Bit Higher in Price, but Made in Dixie!" the Anderson could not compete with the very low priced Ford Model T.

A factory fire in 1924 resulted in a serious production shutdown and by 1925 it was all over for the Anderson, which continued to be sold into 1926.

Total lifetime production of the Anderson was somewhat over 10,000 units.

Emblems

The first Anderson Six-40 automobiles in 1916 did not carry a radiator emblem but did display an "Anderson Six 40" script attached to the radiator core, see advertisement and example shown below:

This is an Anderson Six Forty ad showing a radiator script !1916)    ms

This is an Anderson Six-40 showing a radiator script (c1916-1917)    ms

The following Anderson factory event advertisement shows the detail of the Anderson Six-40 radiator script. Original Anderson radiator scripts are rare.

This Anderson Six-40 ad shows the design of the radiator script (c1916)    ms

The Anderson name was also displayed on the hub caps, see the Anderson Six-40 hub emblem shown below. This Anderson hub emblem is rare.

This is an Anderson Six-40 hub emblem (1916-1918)     mjs
Size: 50mm diameter

By about 1919 and possibly earlier, the Anderson carried a red and white enamel radiator emblem showing the company slogan "A Little Higher in Price, But Made in Dixie", see examples below. This Anderson radiator emblem is very rare.

This is an Anderson radiator emblem and motometer (1920)    hemmings

This is an Anderson radiator emblem (c1919-1923)     mjs
Size: 76mm wide 53mm high      MM: Unknown (probably Bastian Bros)

Beware, as there is a good quality reproduction of this Anderson radiator emblem, see example shown below:

This is a reproduction Anderson radiator emblem     ms

At first sight, the reproduction emblem looks the same as the original but the reproduction is betrayed by some errors in the design. Look carefully at the two head butting goats. The reproduction emblem has eight, non-symmetric lightning flashes above the two clashing goats and none below, whereas the original radiator emblem shows nine, symmetric flashes above the goats and three below. Also, the comma before the word "BUT" in the slogan is missing in the reproduction emblem. 

There is also a blue and white enamel version of this Anderson radiator emblem, see example shown above at the top of this post and again below. I cannot yet confirm the actual dates of use of the emblem. This Anderson radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is an Anderson radiator emblem (c1920-1923)     mjs
Size: 76mm wide 53mm high     MM: Unknown (probably Bastian Bros)

In about 1924, the Anderson radiator emblem design was changed completely, see example below. This Anderson radiator emblem is scarce.

This is an Anderson radiator emblem (c1924-1926)      mjs
Size: 57mm high 45mm wide     MM: Bastian Bros