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August 29, 2022

HALLADAY

Streator Automobile & Manufacturing Co. (1904-1907)
Streator Motor Car Co. (1907-1913)
Barley Manufacturing Co. (1913-1916)
Streator, Illinois
Halladay Motor Car Co. (1917-1919)
Mansfield, Warren &Attica, Ohio
Halladay Motors Corp. (1919-1922)
Attica & Newark, Ohio


This is a Halladay radiator emblem (1911-poss 1916)    mjs
Size: 63mm diameter    MM: Ford Metal Speciality

L. P. Halladay bought the Erie Motor Carriage & Manufacruring Company in 1902 and set up the Streator Automobile & Manufacturing Company in 1903. The first Halladay motor car was built in 1904 and was on the market in 1905. The company was renamed the Streator Motor Car Company in 1907. 

The Halladay was a well built assembled four-cylinder touring car and was the only car to finish the 250 Mile Free-for-All race at Atlanta without a stop in 1910. "Every Day a Halladay" was the slogan in 1911 but the company was in trouble. By September 1911, the company was in receivership, although a Halladay was chosen as the press car for the October 1911 Glidden Tour.

In 1913, the Halladay assets were bought and then sold to Albert C. Barley, who set up the Barley Manufacturing Company and Halladay production continued with a six-cylinder model joining the line. All Halladays were six-cylinder models by 1915. Things went well and Halladay production grew but Albert Barley lost interest in the Halladay and left in 1916 to build another car called the Roamer (see Roamer). Production of the Halladay fell after 1915 following the lack of interest of Barley. 

A new group of investors bought the Halladay business in late 1916 and moved the Halladay to Ohio, initially incorporating as the Halladay Motor Car Company in Mansfield, Ohio in May 1917. Plans to build a factory in Mansfield were announced but much time was spent trying to sell stock. These efforts were apparently unsuccessful and the company in Mansfield was in receivership by September 1917. The Halladay business and assets in Mansfield were sold in March 1918 and the new owners announced that they would seek a new location to manufacture the Halladay. 

The Halladay was moved several times to different Ohio locations between 1917 and 1920 but details of where actual manufacture of the Halladay took place are difficult to establish. Some references suggest that the only real production of the Halladay in Ohio before 1920 took place in Warren and Attica. Production numbers were in any case very low.

The company was reorganized in Attica in May 1919 as the Halladay Motors Corporation and following an abortive attempt in late 1919 to set up business in Bucyrus, Ohio, the Halladay found its final home in Newark, Ohio in 1920. The Halladay was now a 46hp model offered in a variety of body styles. A companion four-cylinder car called the Falcon was introduced in January 1922 but was unsuccessful. Production of the Halladay grew briefly for 1921 but it was all over by March of 1922.

Emblems

The first Halladay cars did not carry an emblem but would have displayed the Halladay and Streator company name on a small maker's nameplate attached to the body or under the driver's seat. The "Halladay" name was also displayed on the sill plates and on the hubcaps, see example shown below:

This is a Halladay sill plate (c1908)    sam
Size: 290mm wide 34mm high

The first cars to display the "Halladay" name using a brass script mounted on the radiator grille appeared in 1910, see the following original Halladay photo taken at a trade show:

Halladay car displaying a radiator script (1910)   dpl

However, the Halladay radiator script was most likely offered as an optional extra as not all cars carried a radiator script, see the attached original photo taken at a Chicago trade show in 1911 showing Halladay cars with and without a radiator script:

This shows Halladay cars at a Chicago trade show (1911)   dpl

The following is an example of a brass Halladay radiator script. Original Halladay radiator scripts are rare.

This is a Halladay radiator script (1910-1912)   mjs
Size: 230mm wide

The Halladay carried a round radiator emblem from 1911, see original photo of the Halladay press car taking part in the 1911 Glidden Tour:

Halladay Glidden press car with a radiator emblem (1911)  dpl

This emblem is the white enamel Halladay radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Halladay radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Halladay radiator emblem (1911-poss 1916)    mjs
Size: 63mm diameter   MM: Ford Metal Speciality 

The Ford Metal Speciality emblem maker's mark is inscribed around the bottom metal edge of the emblem, see close-up shown below:

Ford Metal Speciality Company maker's mark

There is a blue enamel version of this Halladay radiator emblem in the Smithsonian Institute collection, see below, but it is possible that this emblem has been restored in the wrong colors.

Halladay radiator emblem believed to be in wrong colors  sac

It is not clear when the white enamel Halladay radiator emblem ceased to be used. A round Halladay radiator emblem is seen in original photos from 1913, see example shown below:

Halladay Model 32 Roadster with radiator emblem (1913)  flp

The Halladay was taken over by Albert C. Barley in 1913 when the company became the Barley Manufacturing Company. There is no evidence of a change in radiator emblem and it is possible that the white enamel Halladay radiator emblem shown earlier continued to be used until 1916, but I cannot confirm this.

In early 1917, the company was reorganized as the Halladay Motor Car Company and production of the Halladay was planned to take place in Mansfield, Ohio. The following Halladay advertisement has a illustration of a new and very different radiator emblem, depicting an owl inscribed with the slogans "Not Asleep", presumably a reference to a period of no advertising before the business was sold, and "Not Born But Raised Here", presumably a reference to the move of production of the Halladay from  Illinois to Ohio. 

Halladay ad showing new radiator emblem (1917)   khc

Halladay Mansfield radiator emblem design

This new Halladay radiator emblem inscribed with the Mansfield location has, so far, not been found. It is unlikely that any Halladay manufacture actually took place in Mansfield but, if this was the case and an original Halladay emblem with this design could be found, it would be ultra rare.

However, it appears that some Halladay production did take place in Attica, Ohio, because the same Halladay radiator emblem design but inscribed with the Attica location does exist, see the all metal Halladay radiator emblem shown below. This Halladay radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Halladay radiator emblem (c1918-1919)    mjs
Size: 58mm high 52mm wide     MM: Fox

Emblem collectors should beware as there are good quality reproductions of this Halladay radiator emblem, see example shown below. The front face of the reproduction emblem shows good detail in depth but the reverse side is quite different from the original and does not have a maker's mark.

This is a reproduction Halladay emblem   facebook

The reorganization to the Halladay Motors Corporation in 1919 resulted in a new radiator emblem, see the red/purple and white enamel Halladay radiator emblem shown below. This Halladay radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Halladay radiator emblem (1919-1920)    jtc
Size: 51mm high 47mm wide    MM: Unknown

The following is a Halladay hub emblem for the Halladay Motors Corporation. This Halladay hub emblem is very rare.

This is a Halladay hub emblem (1919-1920)    mjs
Size: 51mm diameter    MM: None

The Halladay moved to Newark, Ohio in early 1920 and there was an upsurge in production in 1921. This did not last and it was all over in 1922. I have not seen a Halladay radiator emblem inscribed with the Newark location, except for the following advertisement illustration of a Halladay Six Manhattan Special, which shows a new radiator emblem design. 

Halladay Six Manhattan Special ad showing rad emblem (c1921) ebay

Halladay Radiator Emblem design (c1920-1921)

An original Halladay radiator emblem with this or any other design showing the Newark location, if it could be found, would be extremely rare and possibly ultra rare. 

If you have details of this or any other Halladay radiator emblem inscribed with the Warren or Newark locations, please let me know, in order to update this post.






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