CUNNINGHAM (1)

James Cunningham, Son & Co. Inc. (1907-1936)
Rochester, New York

This is a Cunningham radiator emblem (dates unknown)  mjs
Size: 67mm wide 60mm high    MM: Unknown

James Cunningham, Son & Company was incorporated in 1882 and became one of America's leading manufacturers of horse-drawn vehicles. Cunningham experimented with an electric car in the late 1890's but entered the automotive market in earnest in 1907 with gasoline cars powered by Buffalo or Continental engines and custom coachwork built to order. Regular production Cunningham models appeared in 1911 when Cunningham also began to build their own engines. The first Cunningham in 1911 was a 40 hp four-cylinder car offered in a variety of body styles. From 1917 all Cunningham cars were eight-cylinder models.

Cunningham cars gave excellent performance, were well built and had handsome coachwork. Cunningham motor cars were huge vehicles and among the most expensive on the market. Cunningham ceased production of motor cars in 1931 and concentrated thereafter on the hearse and ambulance business, which had started as early as 1909. All Cunningham automobile activity ceased after 1936.

Emblems

The first production Cunningham cars in 1911 displayed the "Cunningham" name on a large brass script mounted on the radiator core, see example shown below. 

Cunningham car with radiator script (c1911)    dpl

This is an unusual script style and original "Cunningham" scripts with this design are extremely rare. The better known "Cunningham" script logo appeared in Cunningham advertisements also in 1911, see example shown below:

Cunningham ad showing script logo (1911)  ebay

It is likely that this "Cunningham" script logo was used for radiator scripts around 1911 to 1913, although I cannot confirm this. Original "Cunningham" scripts of this design would be rare.

Original photos of Cunningham cars in the 1914-1916 period show no sign of radiator scripts or emblems. However, radiator emblems are seen on original photos from 1917, see example shown below:

Cunningham car showing a radiator emblem (1917)   dpl

This is the nickel plated Cunningham radiator emblem, depicting the front of a Cunningham car, shown below. This Cunningham radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Cunningham radiator emblem (c1917-1929)  mjs
Size: 67mm wide 62m high   MM: Unknown

There is also a blue and white enamel version of this Cunningham radiator emblem, see example shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Cunningham radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Cunningham radiator emblem (dates unknown)  mjs
Size: 67mm wide 60mm high   MM: Unknown

There was a change in Cunningham radiator emblem in about 1929, as depicted in the November 1929 advertisement shown below:

Cunningham advertisement showing new radiator emblem (1929) ms

This is the painted chrome metal Cunningham radiator emblem shown below. This Cunningham radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Cunningham radiator emblem (c1929-1936)  mjs
Size: 94mm high 55mm wide   MM: Unknown

The following is a Cunningham hubcap:

This is a Cunningham hubcap (dates unknown)    dkc

The following Cunningham emblems are believed to be Cunningham hub emblems. These Cunningham hub emblems are rare.

This is a Cunningham hub emblem (dates unknown)  mjs
Size: 57mm diameter     MM: None

This is a Cunningham hub emblem (dates unknown)   mjs
Size: 51mm diameter    MM: None