NELSON

E.A. Nelson, Mechanical Engineer (1917)

E A Nelson Motor Car Co. (1917-1920)
E A Nelson Automobile Co. (1920-1921)
Detroit, Michigan

This is a Nelson radiator emblem (1917-1920)    mjs
Size: 50mm diameter    MM: None

Emil A Nelson had been an engineer with Packard and Oldsmobile and, as Chief Engineer at Hupp Motor Car Company, had designed successful models for Hupmobile before his own venture into automobile manufacture. 

The Nelson was a well-designed, light weight, high speed, 29hp four-cylinder automobile, with a unique engine construction which offered excellent performance. The only problem was the timing of the enterprise. Emil Nelson did almost everything himself, he provided all the finance, built his own factory in Detroit and set up a production capacity of 10 cars a day. Production began in early 1917, before the E. A. Nelson Motor Car Company was established later in 1917.

But then came the post First World War depression. Nelson was in receivership in March 1920 and reorganized as the E A Nelson Automobile Company later that year. Final bankruptcy arrived a year later after building just over 1,000 cars.

Emblems

The first Nelson cars were built by Emil Nelson in his own factory, see early 1917 advertisement shown below:

Nelson ad (May 1917)  detroit free press

These first Nelson cars carried a round metal radiator emblem, see surviving example shown below:

This is a Nelson radiator emblem (1917)  pwc

This is the Nelson radiator emblem inscribed "E. A. Nelson Engineer" shown below. This Nelson radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Nelson radiator emblem (1917)     sac   
Size: 51mm diameter   MM: Unknown

After the formation of the E. A. Nelson Motor Car Company later in 1917, there was a new radiator emblem, see example shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Nelson radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Nelson radiator emblem (1917-1920)   mjs
Size: 50mm diameter   MM: None

There is a Nelson wire-wheel hubcap with a black painted hubcap emblem, see below:

This is a Nelson wire-wheel hubcap (c1917-1920)  tcc

The following Nelson advertisement appeared in the Automobile Trade Journal in 1920. This advertisement shows a dark colored Nelson radiator emblem, whereas the Nelson radiator emblems in use up to that time had been plain metal emblems, as shown earlier above:

Nelson ad with dark color emblem (1920) ebay

The same dark colored emblem is shown in the Nelson brochure that appeared in 1920, see the cover sheet and internal detail shown below:

Nelson brochure cover sheet (1920)  sfam

Detail from Nelson brochure showing dark emblem (1920)  sfam

Close-up showing the colored Nelson radiator emblem (1920)

Examples of this colored Nelson radiator emblem, inscribed "E. A. Nelson Motor Car Co. Detroit", have not been found.  

I suspect that, at a time when the Nelson company was struggling to survive, with falling sales and lack of finance, Emil Nelson may have decided to produce a brightly colored emblem to enhance the appeal of the Nelson, which had a rather drab metal emblem, and possibly to make the Nelson appear to be a new model without the expense of making any other material changes to the car. The 1920 Nelson was much the same as the 1917-1919 model. Putting a new emblem on a car to give the appearance of a new model was not uncommon for motor car companies in financial trouble. The new emblem shown above was clearly designed before the September 1920 reorganization and a small batch of emblems may have been made before going into receivership in March 1920.

Some new Nelson radiator emblems may have been made for use on at least some models after the September 1920 reorganization, see the following original photo of a 1921 Nelson Model E, which appears to have a dark colored radiator emblem, although this cannot be confirmed absolutely from this photo:

Nelson Model E appearing to show a dark colored radiator emblem (1921)   wiki

We cannot tell if this radiator emblem is inscribed "E. A. Nelson Motor Car Co. Detroit", as shown in the brochure printed in 1920, or "E. A. Nelson Automobile Company Detroit" and to date (December 2024) no genuine, original dark colored Nelson radiator emblem has been found and no Nelson radiator emblem of any kind has been found inscribed "E. A. Nelson Automobile Company".

If a genuine, original colored enamel Nelson radiator emblem, or any emblem inscribed "E. A. Nelson Automobile Company" could be found, they would be extremely rare and possibly ultra rare.

Emblem collectors should beware, however, as there are blue and red enamel Nelson emblems, but these are usually Pulfer reproduction emblems.They all have flat shiny backs, whereas the earlier metal Nelson radiator emblems had mounting cups attached for fixing through a hole in the radiator shell.

This is a reproduction Nelson radiator emblem   ms

This is a reproduction Nelson radiator emblem   ms

The following illustration shows Harry Pulfer's plans in 1969 to have his first reproduction colored Nelson emblems made:

Pulfer sketch showing ideas for reproduction Nelson emblems (1969)

It is not clear why Pulfer selected the blue and red enamel colors, as the illustrations of the dark colored Nelson emblem shown earlier are shown in a uniform intense black with no shade of color difference on the emblem. It is possible that Pulfer's rubbing shown above was made using an original colored Nelson emblem but this cannot be confirmed.

It is interesting to see the proposed Pulfer reproduction of a "E.A.Nelson Engineering" emblem, which was to be finished in red, white and blue enamel. I have never seen this reproduction Nelson emblem. Possibly it was decided not to proceed with this emblem. However, it is possible that some copies of this Pulfer reproduction emblem do exist somewhere. A reproduction "E.A.Nelson Engineer Detroit" emblem was made in the blue and red enamel proposed for the "regular" Nelson emblem, as shown earlier above.