BICKLE

R. S. Bickle Co. (1906-1915)
Winnepeg, Manitoba
Bickle Fire Engines Ltd. (1915-1956)
Woodstock, Ontario

This is a Bickle-Seagrave radiator emblem (1948)   custom_cab
Size: Unknown     MM: Unknown

The R. S. Bickle Company began by building two-wheeled horse-drawn chemical carts in 1906 but soon started to produce motorized fire engines. The company was reorganized as Bickle Fire Engines Ltd. in 1915 and henceforth built motorized fire apparatus only.

In the 1920's, Bickle built pumper units on commercial chassis. Bickle became the Canadian sales agent for Ahrens-Fox in 1923. Bickle also began to produce custom fire apparatus using its own chassis under the slogan "Strictly Canadian-Built By Canadians". In 1928, Bickle introduced a new range of fire apparatus featuring a gabled hood and an aluminum Rolls-Royce type radiator, similar to the design used by Ahrens-Fox. Bickle also had an arrangement with Godfredson and built fire apparatus under the Gotfredson-Bickle name.

In 1936, Bickle acquired the rights to produce and sell Seagrave fire apparatus in Canada using the Bickle-Seagrave name, which continued for the next twenty years. The Bickle company suffered difficulties after the Second World War but managed to survive until 1956.

Emblems

Bickle fire apparatus built on commercial chassis carried the chassis manufacturer's emblems.

The Bickle fire apparatus built on their own chassis from 1928 using the gabled hood and "Rolls-Royce" type radiator had the "BUCKLE" name cast into the aluminum radiator tank top, see example shown below:

Bickle fire engine showing radiator emblem (1928)  g.wayne.prout

Close up showing Bickle radiator emblem (1928-c1936)

The following photo shows a surviving Bickle fire engine supplied to the Melfort Fire Department in 1931. This Bickle fire engine was built on a Bickle built chassis and has a conventional radiator design with a black painted flat triangular radiator emblem. Original Bickle radiator emblems with this design are very rare.

Bickle fire engine showing radiator emblem (1931) melfortjournal

Close-up showing the triangular Bickle radiator emblem (1931)   facebook

If you have a better photo and details of this triangular Bickle radiator emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.

Bickle fire apparatus built under license with Godfredson displayed the "Godfredson-Bickle" name cast into the aluminum radiator tank top, see example shown below:

Gotfredson-Bickle radiator emblem (1927) flickr

The Bickle-Seagrave fire apparatus built under license by Bickle from 1936 carried Bickle-Seagrave emblems. I do not have full details of these Bickle-Seagrave emblems but from about 1940 to about 1950, the Bickle-Seagrave carried a brightly colored oval shaped radiator emblem, see example shown below:

Bickle-Seagrave fire truck showing radiator emblem (1946)  wiki

This is the red, white and green enamel Bickle-Seagrave radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Bickle-Seagrave radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Bickle-Seagrave radiator emblem (c1940-1950)  custom_cab
Size: Unknown   MM: Unknown

The following is a Bickle-Seagrave body side nameplate, which was usually located under the entrance to the driver's cab. This Bickle-Seagrave nameplate is scarce.

 

This is a Bickle-Seagrave body side nameplate (1936-1956)  worthpoint
Size: Unknown     MM: Unknown