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Introduction

My name is Mike Shears and my interest in auto emblems arose through my autistic son, Murray John Shears, who was excited by motor cars since he was about two years old.

One cold night in February 1982, when Murray was ten, a motor car driven by a drunk driver crashed through our garden wall, crossed the garden and smashed into the front of our house. Luckily, the driver was largely unharmed but, after the house was propped up and the car was pulled out, the blue plastic Ford emblem from the car radiator fell off and was given to Murray as a souvenir. This was the start of his emblem collection and, over the following thirty-five years or so, I have helped him with his hobby. As a result, we have met many wonderful and interesting people, Murray has built a fine emblem collection and I became interested in early American motor vehicles and the development and use of the nameplates and emblems on these vehicles.

This web-site is intended as an aid to other researchers and collectors of American auto emblems. The posts in the web-site include photos of emblems or nameplates used on automobiles and commercial vehicles made in North America, including Canada, and give brief details of the vehicles that used these emblems.

A list of the vehicle makes included in this web-site to date is shown on the right together with the state or province where manufacture took place. Click on a vehicle make or location of manufacture to see the details.

The caption under each emblem photo consists of a brief statement followed, when known, by the dates of use and a reference mark to identify the source of the photo. The photo reference marks are listed in the References page. The second line under the emblem photo gives details of the emblem size and any visible emblem manufacturer's mark. The size given is the longest dimension, unless stated otherwise. Dimensions are given in millimeters for accuracy, see below to convert millimeters to inches. Where it is not possible to identify a manufacturer's mark, this is stated as "Unknown". Where it is clear that there is no manufacturer's mark, this is stated as "None".


Conversion from mm to inches

In the text describing the emblems used for each vehicle make, I have tried to grade the rarity of the emblem. This is difficult, as there is no established way to do this and there is insufficient data on actual numbers of particular emblems available for collecting. This is discussed further with an explanation of the rarity grading system I have used in the Emblem Collecting in America page. 

A brief history of the development and use of auto emblems and nameplates is given in the American Auto Emblems and Nameplates page.

Details of emblem manufacturers and their marks are given in the Emblem Manufacturers and their Marks page.

A brief review of emblem collecting in America is given in the Emblem Collecting in America page.

Comments and corrections are invited and, please, offer photos of other American auto emblems and, if known, the dates when emblems were used. My aim is to make this web-site as comprehensive as possible as an aid to auto historians, researchers and collectors, and for the enjoyment of anyone interested in motor vehicle emblems.

You can comment on a post directly or contact me by email at murraysbadges@gmail.com. If you leave an email address, I will reply to you as soon as I can.


This note was written by Mike Shears
March 2017

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