DOUGLAS TRUCK

Douglas Motors Corp. (1918-1923)
Nebraska Auto & Truck Mfg. Co. (c1923) 
Douglas Truck Mfg. Co. (1923-1935)
Omaha, Nebraska

This is a Douglas heavy duty truck radiator emblem (1918-1935) moroz

Douglas Motors Corporation began operations in early 1918 in the plant previously used to build the Drummond motor car. The company started by building an 8-cylinder passenger car (see Douglas), as well as commercial vehicles, but the Douglas passenger car was unsuccessful and production ceased in 1919.

Douglas trucks were built to suit the particular requirements of the US Midwest and South-west. Regional weight restrictions resulted in an interest in rigid six-wheeler trucks, and these became a special market for Douglas to exploit before the larger truck companies took an interest in the same market.

The first Douglas trucks were conventional assembled 1-ton, 1-1/2-ton, 2-1/2-ton and 3-ton capacity models powered by four-cylinder Buda or Weidely engines. The company was in receivership in 1923 but managed to recover and production continued. By 1927, the Douglas range included four-cylinder 1-1/2-ton capacity trucks and six-cylinder 2-ton and 3-ton capacity express truck models, as well as a six-cylinder street car bus. In 1928, Douglas introduced the F66 six-wheeler 6-ton capacity truck intended for long-distance transportation.

Douglas sales suffered from the Great Depression and Douglas could not compete with the larger truck manufacturing companies. Very few Douglas trucks were built in the 1930's and Douglas truck production ceased completely in 1935.

Emblems

The light duty 1-ton and 1-1/2-ton four-cylinder Douglas trucks had a conventional sheet metal radiator shell, see the early Douglas truck photo in the 1919 advertisement shown below:

Douglas truck ad (1919)
Evening World Herald

Douglas light duty truck showing radiator (1919)

Unfortunately, the radiator emblem cannot be identified in this grainy photo.

I can find no photos of light duty Douglas trucks showing a radiator emblem. It is possible that the earliest light duty Douglas trucks built in the 1918-1923 period may have carried a radiator emblem similar to one of the examples shown below, but I cannot confirm this:

Possible light duty Douglas truck rad emblem (c1918-1923) tcc
Size: 63mm wide 61mm high    MM: None

Possible light duty Douglas truck rad emblem (c1918-1923) sam
Size: 56mm diameter   MM: Unknown

Possible light duty Douglas truck rad emblem (c1918-1923) sam
Size: 56mm diameter    MM: Unknown

Another candidate for the light duty Douglas truck radiator emblem is the rectangular "Douglas" emblem finished in black seen in the rather poor quality photo shown below:

This is a Douglas radiator emblem (dates unknown)     pwc
Size: Unknown   MM: Unknown 

This particular Douglas radiator emblem may have been used for later light duty Douglas trucks built after 1923 but, again, I cannot confirm this. 

All the candidate emblems for possible use as Douglas light duty radiator emblems shown above are extremely rare. 

If you have better information about any emblems used for light duty Douglas trucks, please let me know, in order to update this post.

The following photo shows a surviving light duty Douglas truck from 1932 with a conventional radiator and a rectangular hood side "Douglas" nameplate. The radiator emblem, if one existed, is not visible.

Douglas light duty truck with hood side nameplate (1932)
Durham Museum Omaha

Douglas light duty truck hood side nameplate

Original Douglas truck hood side nameplates are very rare.

Heavy duty Douglas trucks had a cast iron radiator with the "Douglas" name cast into the ribbed radiator tank top, probably painted white, see original 1919 Douglas side-dump truck photo shown below:

Douglas dump truck showing radiator emblem (1919) northomahahistory

Close up showing Douglas truck radiator & emblem (1919) 

The Douglas heavy duty truck cast-in radiator emblem is shown above at the top of this post and again below:

This is a Douglas heavy duty truck radiator emblem (1918-1935) moroz

From 1920, Douglas trucks used the following logo in advertisements but I have no evidence that this logo was used on any emblems:

Douglas trucks logo (from 1920)

The following Douglas trucks advertisement from 1920 shows that the "Douglas" name was also displayed above the driver's cab:

Douglas trucks ad (1920)    americanicons

Douglas truck showing nameplate displayed above driver's cab (1920)

The following surviving Douglas truck from 1920 on display in Lincoln, Nebraska also shows the driver's cab roof frame nameplate and the cast-in radiator emblem:

Douglas heavy duty truck showing nameplate and radiator emblem (1920)  americancarhistorian

The following Douglas truck advertisement also from 1920 shows an illustration of an oil tanker model with a different, oval shaped "Douglas" nameplate in the roof frame above the driver's cab:

Douglas trucks advert (1920)

Douglas oil tanker with roof frame nameplate (1920)

If they could be found, Douglas truck cab roof frame and hood side nameplates would be very rare.

The Douglas oil tanker roof frame nameplate shown above may possibly be similar to the oval shaped front bumper nameplate shown in the following illustration of a heavy duty Douglas truck. The same illustration is found in Douglas truck advertisements from 1927.

Douglas truck ad showing bumper & hood side nameplates (1929)
Omaha World Herald

Douglas heavy duty truck showing emblem & nameplates 

It is interesting to see this note in the Douglas truck advertisement shown above at the time of the February 1929 Omaha Auto Show:

Douglas Trucks Notice (Feb 17 1929)

Unfortunately, I cannot find any reference to this new Douglas Trucks emblem introduced at the February 1929 Omaha Auto Show. If you have any further details, please let me know, in order to update this post.