BIEDERMAN

Biederman Motors Corp. (1920-1955)
Cincinnati, Ohio

This is a Biederman radiator emblem (c1936-1955)    mjs
Size: 258mm wide 73mm high   MM: None

The Biederman Motors Corporation produced special application trucks in relatively small numbers, and trucks for the military. 

Biederman was one of the first truck builders to use six-cylinder engines, the first being introduced in 1921. By 1922, the range of trucks included four-cylinder trucks of 1-ton and 1-1/2-tons capacity, and six-cylinder trucks from 2-tons to 3-tons capacity, but from 1923 only six-cylinder trucks were offered. In 1932, 5-ton and 7-ton capacity trucks were offered and a 7-1/2-ton model was available by 1936.

Biederman received its first military contracts in 1937 and, from 1938, Biederman was offering a wide range of vehicles, including buses, refuse and snow removal trucks, and fire engines. Large military orders and wartime profits allowed Biederman to enter the postwar market in good shape with a new model called the National Standard. However, the slump in truck sales in the 1950's hit the company badly and Biederman was finished by 1955.

Emblems

A 1925 Biederman sales catalog includes illustrations of a Biederman truck showing a radiator carrying the "Biederman" name and a large "Biederman Six" nameplate mounted on the front bumper, see below:

Biederman truck illustration showing the radiator (c1925)   rg

Biederman truck radiator & bumper nameplate (c1925)  rg

The Biederman radiator was a patented design with six cooling cores made of copper encased in cast  polished aluminum in which the "Biederman" name is impressed into the top face, see 1926 Biederman catalog illustration shown below. It seems likely that this radiator and impressed Biederman emblem was used from 1920, but I cannot confirm this. 

Biederman radiator and emblem (c1920-1930)   rg

There appears to have been a change in the radiator emblem by 1930. The following photo of a Biederman Six truck on the cover of the 1930 Biederman sales catalog shows a smaller "Biederman" impressed into the aluminum radiator top and a hood side nameplate:

Biederman Six truck with smaller radiator emblem & hood side nameplate (1930)    rg

The following photo shows the hood side nameplate in better detail. Original "Biederman" hood side nameplates of this design are rare.

Biederman Six showing hood side nameplate (1930)     rg

The Biederman radiator and emblem had changed by about 1936, see example shown below:

Biederman Model 110 radiator top & emblem (c1936)  offroadvehicle

This is the painted cast metal radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Biederman radiator emblem is scarce.

This is a Biederman radiator emblem (c1936-1955)   mjs
Size: 258mm wide 73mm high    MM: None

The Biederman hood side nameplate was also changed around this time, see example shown below. This painted chrome Biederman hood side nameplate is scarce.

This is a Biederman hood side nameplate (c1936-1940)   mjs
Size: 305mm wide 50mm high

The National Standard truck model introduced by Biederman in 1946 carried the same radiator emblem as before but had a redesigned hood side nameplate inscribed with "National Standard", see example shown below:

Biederman National Standard truck (1947)     forums.aths 

Biederman National Standard hood side nameplate (1947)