WARD LAFRANCE

Ward LaFrance Truck Corp. (1918-1979)
Elmira, New York

This is a Ward LaFrance radiator emblem (1930-c1950's)   mjs
Size: 203mm wide 62mm high  MM: Unknown

The Ward LaFrance truck business was founded by Addison Ward LaFrance, who was a member of the family that built American LaFrance fire engines but there was no other connection between these companies. The Ward LaFrance was introduced in 1918 and was an assembled truck initially offered in a range of sizes from 2-1/2-ton to 5/7-tons capacity. The range was increased in 1926 and six-cylinder engines were introduced in some models and bus chassis were introduced in 1929.

In 1931, Ward LaFrance built their first fire engine. Ward LaFrance vehicles were primarily sold to customers in New York State and the 1930's saw an emphasis on custom-built products. Very large tractors for loads up to 20-tons were also built in the 1930's.

During World War II, Ward LaFrance built heavy-duty wreckers, as well as army trucks for the US government. By the mid-1950's, Ward LaFrance production was concentrated on fire engines, bodies, trailers and shipping containers. Ward LaFrance fire engines were conventional open-cab ladder trucks up to 1960, by which time more modern forward-cab fire appliance vehicles were offered. Fire equipment was also built on other chassis such as Ford, International and Chevrolet. In 1971, Ward LaFrance started to produce fire engines in yellow rather than red. Ward LaFrance ceased production in 1979.

Emblems

The first Ward LaFrance trucks from 1918 had cast iron radiators with a ribbed tank top, which carried a large radiator emblem bolted to the radiator tank top and a similar, perhaps identical, Ward LaFrance nameplate mounted on the sides of the truck by the driver's seat, see example shown in the following advertisement illustrations:

Ward LaFrance ad with rad emblem (1918) tcv

Ward LaFrance truck showing radiator emblem & body side nameplate (1918)

This is the Ward LaFrance radiator and radiator emblem:

Ward LaFrance radiator & emblem (1918-c1926)  moroz

The following Ward LaFrance advertisement from 1920 includes an illustration of the Ward LaFrance logo, which was later used to provide the shape of Ward LaFrance emblems:

Ward LaFrance ad showing logo (1920) ebay

The Ward LaFrance radiator emblem continued in use to the late-1920's, but the large body side nameplate was replaced by a narrow rectangular hood side nameplate, see examples shown below:

Ward LaFrance charabanc showing rectangular hood side nameplate (1920's)  flickr

Ward LaFrance heavy duty truck showing hood side nameplate (1921)   flickr

The Ward LaFrance radiator was changed to a conventional radiator with a new radiator emblem in the late 1920's for light and medium duty trucks and from about 1930 for Ward LaFrance fire engines, see example shown below: 

Ward LaFrance 58F fire truck with radiator emblem (1931) flickr 

The new emblem was the blue and white enamel Ward LaFrance radiator emblem shown below. This Ward LaFrance radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Ward LaFrance radiator emblem (c1928-1935)   mjs
Size: 204mm wide 62mm high    MM: Unknown

Later models used a slightly different radiator emblem, which was mounted either on the top front of the radiator or in the center of the radiator grille. On some models, the same emblem was also mounted on the sides of the hood. This Ward LaFrance radiator and hood side emblem continued in use into the 1950's, see some examples shown below:

Ward LaFrance fire truck 152R with hood side nameplate (1936)

Ward LaFrance fire truck showing radiator & hood side emblems (1939)   flickr

The following is an example of a Ward LaFrance radiator showing this new radiator emblem:

Ward LaFrance radiator & emblem (1930's) spaamfaa

This is the black enamel, chrome finished Ward LaFrance radiator and hood side emblem shown at the top of this post and again below:

This is a Ward LaFance emblem (c1935-1950's)   mjs
Size: 203mm wide 62mm high   MM: Unknown

Some Ward LaFrance fire truck models also displayed the "Ward LaFrance" name on a painted chrome hood ornament, see example shown below:

Ward LaFrance hood ornament (dates uncertain)   spaamfaa

If you can give more detailed date ranges for any of the Ward LaFrance emblems shown above, please let me know, in order to update this post.