GARDNER

Gardner Motor Co. (1919-1932)
St. Louis, Missouri

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (1919-1920)     mjs
Size: 96mm wide 44mm high     MM: None

Russell E. Gardner started to build Banner buggies and then assembled Chevrolet cars in St. Louis. Russell Gardner eventually controlled all Chevrolet trade in the Mississippi River states and made a fortune. After the First World War, Russell Gardner and his sons established the Gardner Motor Company to build the Gardner motor car. The first Gardner was introduced in late 1919 as a 1920 model and was an assembled 35 hp four-cylinder model offered in touring, roadster and sedan body styles.

The Gardner was a good car and sold well from the start. In late 1924, Cannon Ball Baker drove a Gardner from New York to Los Angeles in a new record time. In 1925, six-cylinder and eight-cylinder models joined the Gardner line and the four-cylinder model was dropped by 1926 with eight-cylinder models only offered in 1928 and 1929.

But Gardner had been losing money since 1928 and the stock market crash in 1929 hit the Gardner business. Sales fell and Garner returned to lower priced six-cylinder models in 1930 and 1931. Gardner had entered the commercial vehicle market in 1927 and built ambulances and funeral cars. Gardner passenger car production ceased in 1931. The final Gardner was a funeral car built in 1932 and then it was all over. 

Emblems

Advertisements for the first Gardner cars produced in late 1919 for the 1920 model year showed a representation of a radiator emblem, see example shown below:

Gardner ad showing rad emblem (1919) ma

This is the red and white enamel Gardner radiator shown above at the top of this post. This Gardner radiator emblem is scarce.

This first Gardner radiator emblem is found in two slightly different varieties, seen in the size of the "Gardner" letters, apparently resulting from the use of two different emblem dies, most likely produced by two separate emblem makers, see examples shown below:

Two varieties of the first Gardner radiator emblem (1919-1920) cbc

The thicker sized letter variety has a stamped back side, the thinner letter size variety has a flat back side.

The following red and white enamel Gardner radiator emblem was the second Gardner radiator emblem used from 1921 to 1923. This Gardner radiator emblem is scarce.

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (1921-1923)    mjs
Size: 96mm wide 44mm high    MM: None

As for the first Gardner radiator emblem, there are two varieties of lettering on this second Gardner radiator emblem, again resulting from the use of different emblem dies, see examples shown below:

Two varieties of the 2nd Gardner radiator emblem (1921-1923) cbc

For this emblem, each letter size variety can be found with both stamped backs and flat back. This fact suggests that the letter size may have been requested by Gardner rather than simply be the result of different emblem maker's dies.

The following black and white enamel Gardner radiator emblem was used from sometime in 1923 to 1925. This Gardner radiator emblem is scarce.

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (1923-1925)    mjs
Size: 96mm wide 44mm high    MM: Unknown

The following blue and white enamel Gardner radiator appears to have been used on Gardner Radio Special models briefly in late 1923 or 1924. This Gardner radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (c1924)     mjs
Size: 96mm wide 44mm high     MM: Unknown

There was a change in Gardner radiator emblem design from 1925 to a large letter "G" incorporating a coat of arms with standing griffin bearers and a shield with a chevron design, see black Gardner radiator emblem shown below.  

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (1925-1927)     mjs
Size: 45mm wide 45mm high    MM: Unknown

There was a change in the Gardner radiator design in 1927 to a round emblem containing the same details as the previous radiator emblem, see gold finished black enamel Gardner radiator emblem shown below:

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (1927-1928)    mjs
Size: 48mm diameter    MM: Unknown

There was a similar black emblem on the hubcaps, see examples shown below:

This shows the Gardner hubcap (1929)   conceptcarz

This is a Gardner hub emblem (1927-1931)    mjs
Size: 43mm diameter    MM: None

The following photo shows a small Gardner emblem mounted on the dashboard from 1928 to 1930:

This shows the Gardner dashboard emblem (1928-1930)  conceptcarz

The Gardner radiator emblem received some color in the center shield in 1929, see the following gold finished, black and red enamel Gardner radiator emblem shown below. This gold finished Garner radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (1929-1930)    sam
Size: 48mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The majority of examples of this black and red Gardner radiator emblem design had a silver color finish, see example shown below.  This Gardner radiator emblem was used on all models from 1930 to 1931, except for 1930 front drive prototype models, which appear not to have had an emblem:

This is a Gardner radiator emblem (1929-1931)    mjs
Size: 48mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The following photo shows a Gardner tail light bracket emblem used in 1929:

This shows a Gardner tail light bracket emblem (1929)   conceptcarz

The following photo shows the Gardner tail light bracket emblem used in 1930:

This shows a Gardner tail light bracket emblem (1930)  classicdriver

This is a Gardner tail light bracket emblem (1930)   mjs
Size: 152mm wide 22mm high   MM: None

The following photo shows a Gardner crank hole cover emblem mounted used on most Gardner models from 1930 to 1931:

This shows the Gardner crank hole cover emblem (1930-1931) classicdriver 

Gardner cars from 1930 had an external horn mounted on the center of the headlight bar, with a chrome cover incorporating a griffin motif, see example shown below:

This shows the Gardner external horn cover (1930-1931) conceptcarz

The following metal Gardner Eight emblem is interesting. It shows a clock with the hands at about 3.40pm and inscribed around the border "The Car of the Hour" and "Sperl Square Los Angeles". This Gardner emblem appears to be a hub emblem and was possibly used by a Los Angeles Gardner agency for a sales event.

This appears to be a Gardner hub emblem (date unknown)  eBay
Size: Unknown