PATERSON

W. A. Paterson Co. (1909-1923)
Flint, Michigan

This is a Paterson radiator emblem (1916-1918)     mjs
Size: 78mm wide 57mm high   MM: Unknown

The W A Paterson Company had a successful carriage making business when he decided to build motor cars. 

The first Paterson automobile was introduced in December 1908 and was a 14 hp two-cylinder motor buggy with double chain drive. In 1910 the Paterson had become a standard 30 hp four-cylinder motor car. A six-cylinder model was added in 1915 and the four-cylinder model was dropped after 1916. The Paterson was a well-built motor car and was sold across America. Sales began to fade after 1920, due to the post First World War depression, and production ceased in 1923.

Emblems

There are very few original photos of early Paterson cars but it is possible that early Paterson cars had the "Paterson" name in a small script soldered to the radiator tank, see example shown below:

Paterson radiator with script radiator emblem (date unknown) hcg

This type of radiator emblem using a small script soldered to the radiator tank top was used from about 1906 on some other early American cars, so it is possible that this Paterson radiator emblem was used from the first cars from December 1908, although I cannot confirm this. The brass Paterson script attached to the radiator core may also have been used from this time.

The following surviving Paterson also has the small Paterson script radiator emblem. This car is labelled as 1907 but the first Paterson appeared in December 1908 and the "Paterson 30" radiator core script is for a Paterson 30, which first appeared in 1910.

Paterson 30 radiator showing radiator top script emblem (c1909) liverpoolecho 

The following photo of a surviving 1910 Paterson has a "Paterson" radiator core script but does not have the small radiator tank top emblem, which may have been used from late 1908 to early 1910.

Paterson 30 showing a radiator script (1910)     bonhams

The following is a rare example of an original photo of a Paterson car from 1912 showing a radiator script:

Paterson with radiator script at Detroit Auto Show (1912)    dpl

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

This is a Paterson radiator script (1909-1914)      mjs
Size: 177mm wide

The small brass scripts used as radiator tank top emblems, if they could be found, would be extremely rare. 

The following is a plated Paterson radiator script: 

This is a plated Paterson radiator script (date unknown)    mjs
Size: 197mm wide

The Paterson Six appeared in 1915 and carried a round radiator emblem, see surviving example shown below:

This is a Paterson 6-48 showing a radiator emblem (1915)  paul horn

This emblem is the dark blue and white enamel Paterson radiator emblem shown below. This Paterson radiator emblem was used for about one year only and is very rare.

This is a Paterson radiator emblem (1915)     mjs
Size: 54mm diameter    MM: Unknown (some Childs)

The Paterson radiator emblem was changed to a more distinctive shape in 1916, see example on a surviving Paterson Six:

This is a Paterson Six showing a radiator emblem (1916)  Buch-t 

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

This is a Paterson radiator emblem (1916-1918)    mjs
Size: 78mm wide 57mm high    MM: Unknown

The following Paterson radiator emblem shows a variation of the Paterson script, which may possibly be due to some emblems being made by another emblem maker. This Paterson radiator emblem is also very rare:

This is a Paterson radiator emblem (c1916-1918)     sam
Size: 78mm wide 57mm high     MM: Unknown

The following Paterson Six advertisement illustrates the radiator emblem shown above but with the word "SIX" appearing in the illustration. I have not seen this Paterson radiator emblem with the "SIX" included. If you have details of this emblem, please let me know, in order to update this emblem. If such a Paterson radiator emblem does exist is would be extremely rare.

Paterson ad showing radiator emblem (1917) eBay 

The Paterson radiator emblem was changed completely from 1919 until the end of production in 1923 see examples shown below:

Paterson Six showing the new radiator emblem (1919)  sloan museum

This shows the Paterson radiator emblem (1919)  flickr

This is the red and white enamel Paterson radiator emblem shown below. This Paterson radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Paterson radiator emblem (1919-1923)    mjs
Size: 68mm wide 47mm high    MM: Unknown