STOCK PLAQUES


In the 1950's, generic plaques were sold by various companies that advertised in custom car and hot rod magazines of the day. Clubs were formed using these "stock" names and plaques were ordered for the members. The plaques shown below were pictured in the ads and are listed under their known sellers.


In the February, 1958 issue of Custom Rodder, an ad for J. C. Whitney & Co. in Chicago, IL advertised 10 plaques as "NIGHT-GLO LUMINOUS CAR PLAQUES". These plaques, with glow-in-the-dark paint,  were priced at $3.98 each. These same plaques could also be ordered without the "night-glo" coating. 

Angels  Dragons  Jokers

Pace Makers  Road Knights  Rod Aces  Rod Benders

Sinners  Stockers  Wolves

At least one of the above plaques was also made in two different styles, with and without the extra horizontal lines as shown below.

Jokers (With Lines)  Jokers (Without Lines)

Whitney also advertised a "Plaque Mounting Kit" for $1.00 Postpaid, and the ad stated "Makes the mounting of plaques a quick and easy job. Two lengths of rust-resistant chain & 4 chrome plated hooks can be adjusted to any length by raising or lowering hooks." This kit was used to hang the plaque under the rear bumper and in some areas of the country plaques were called drag plates because they often drug on the ground if the car was lowered.


The following plaque wrappers are from the Gem Manufacturing Company in Chicago, IL and are for the Hot Sparks, Night Prowlers, Pace Makers, Red Devils, Rod Aces and Rod Benders plaques. Note that the Pace Makers, Rod Aces and Rod Benders plaques were also being marketed by the J. C. Whitney Company and that the some of the wrappers had pictures of  the same plaques that were featured in Whitney's ad.

Hot Sparks Plaque  Hot Sparks Wrapper

Night Prowlers Wrapper  Pace Makers Wrapper  Rod Aces Wrapper  Rod Benders Wrapper

Red Devils Plaque  Red Devils Wrapper


These plaques were shown in a J. C. Whitney ad in the August, 1958 issue of Hot Rod magazine and the heading said "SIX BRAND NEW CAR PLAQUES".  The price for a plaque in 1958 was $2.98 each. 

Beast Builders  Have Goodies - Will Travel  Night Fliers

No Club Lone Wolf  Piston Knockers   Ruff Riders


A later ad by J. C. Whitney in both the June, 1959 issue of Hot Rod magazine and the June, 1959 issue of Rod & Custom, was advertising CAR PLAQUES and Matching Jacket Emblems with a "Choice of 10 New and Different Designs". The ad went on to say "If you are proud of your club, here are club plaques and jacket emblems that will reflect your pride. Dress up your car - dress up your jacket with these new plaques and emblems. Beautiful shield design makes these car plaques and jacket emblems real stand-outs." Prices for these 5-3/8" x 9-3/4" plaques were $4.95 each and Felt Emblems were $1.50 each while Silk Emblems were $1.98 each. In addition to the six plaques shown below, there were also pictures of plaques for the Crusaders, Hot Heads, Outlaws and Vampires.

Aristocrats  Black Widows  Coachmen

Nomads  Rebels  Road Runners

The  Whitney ad in the Hot Rod issue also had some other plaques shown under the heading "SIX BRAND NEW CAR PLAQUES" but actually had 10 plaques pictured. They were the following eight plus "It's A Peach" and "Goes Real Good Downhill". The price for these 5"x 9" plaques was only $2.29 each compared to $4.95 for the above plaques. The price for these same plaques, advertised in their August, 1958 ad, had dropped from $2.98 each.

Boy! Are You Close  God Bless This Lousy Car  Have Goodies - Will Travel  I'm From Dixie Made In Detroit By Idiots  No Club Lone Wolf  Not In A Rut - In Orbit  Now - Eat My Dust


Other companies selling plaques during the 50's and 60's were Chicago Metal Craft  in Port Chicago, CA, Speed Gems in Minneapolis, MN and Stylized Emblem in Hollywood, CA. Some of the plaques being sold during this period were actually manufactured by the Koehler Foundry in Bell, CA. Here are some examples of the stamps these foundries used to identify their products.

Chicago Metal Craft - Port Chicago, Calif.   Koehler Foundry - Bell, Cal   Speed Gems - Mpls   Stylized Emblem Co - Los Angeles

There were also smaller foundries that made plaques for local clubs. Some of these also stamped the reverse side of the plaques to identify where they were cast.

Custom Engraving   Gordon Wight - Wight's Cast Signs   By Hayward Shop   Johanson Mfg - Coventry, RI

 

Speed Gems Promo PlaqueSpeed Gems furnished this plaque to auto parts stores to promote the sale of car club plaques.  It was hung on the wall of the store to let customers know that custom made plaques could be ordered from them.

 

Hangers-SpeedGems.jpg (46322 bytes)Here is a package of Speed Gems' SG 100 Universal Car & Club Plaque Hanger Set which sold for "Only $1.95 Pair". The package has instructions on how the hangers could be mounted and a picture of the "Have Goodies - Will Travel" plaque that was advertised in a J. C. Whitney ad (shown above). 

 

Ad-ShellSpeedShop.jpg (321916 bytes)This ad for "CUSTOM CLUB PLATES" was in the September, 1956 issue of Hot Rod magazine and featured pictures of four plaques. The ad says "These are heavy, quality plates - not funny paper cartoons on tin." and the plaques (plates) could be ordered through Shell Speed Shop in Los Angeles, CA. They also offered "Free Data" about how you could form a car club in the ad. The ad had photos of plaques for the Jesters (Van Nuys), Saints (Westchester), Headers (Venice) and Rod Knockers (Culver City).

 

Stylized Emblem AdThis ad for the Stylized Emblem Co. in Hollywood, CA appeared in the November, 1957 issue  of Hot Rod magazine. It was advertising the "FINEST CLUB PLAQUES IN THE NATION". No prices for plaques were mentioned in the ad. The Hot Heads (Culver City) plaque was pictured.

 

Stylized Catalog Front CoverStylized also had a catalog for their products. This one, titled "Catalog 29", sold for 25 cents and had pictures of many products they had produced or sold through their store on No. Wilton Place in Hollywood, CA.

Stylized Catalog - Custom PlaquesOne page, titled "Club Plaques of Cast Aluminum" shows 66 different custom designed club plaques.

Stylized Catalog - Royal Lancer PlaquesThis page pictured their New Royal Lancer line of plaques, which are the same 10 plaques advertised by J. C. Whitney in their June, 1959 ad (shown above).

Stylized Catalog - Stock PlaquesThe page showing their "Stock Plaques of Cast Aluminum" had pictures of plaques for Aces, Angels, Devils, Knights, Stockers and Wolves.

 

Ad-ChicagoMC.jpg (81301 bytes)This ad for Chicago Metalcraft (Metal Craft) appeared in the August, 1958 issue of Hot Rod magazine.  Their 5"x 8" plaques were selling for $2.00 each and there was no pattern charge if you ordered 10 or more plaques. They also offered a 5"x 9-1/2" plaque for $2.25 each in the ad. The plaque shown is the Exterminators (So. Cal.).

 


Plaques were, and still are, displayed on cars to make a statement for the owner. The plaques shown below are the cast aluminum equivalents of bumper stickers and tell something about the car, the owner or the owner's interests. 

49 Lincoln  55 Pontiac Star Chief  Classic 55 Thunderbird  Classic 56 Thunderbird  1957 Thunderbird  500cc GPF3 CSCC  A Model A Booster  A York U.S. 30 Drag-O-Way Timed Competition Vehicle  American Power Boat Assn  Accelerators Drag Team  Accelerators Racing Team  American Vintage  Amputee Veterans of America  Be Ware  Black Widow  California Speed & Sports  Capital City Camper Club  Car Kulture DeLuxe Magazine  Carl's Speed Shop  Cat In A Hot Tin  Century Club  Chevrolet Racing Division Member  Chevy  Chevy 4x4  Chevy II - Nova  Clay Smith Cams  Corvette  Corvette Powered  Da Schnuder Buebe  Deuces Are Wild  Don't Fence Me In   Don't Push Me  Eastern Museum of Motor Racing - Williams Grove Old Timers  Eelco  Flat Crazy  Flatheads Forever  Flatheads Forever  Flatheads Forever  V-8 Flatheads Forever  For Kids Only  Four Ever Four Cylinder  God Bless The Flathead  God Bless The Flatheads  God Bless The Flat Heads  Gondoliers Boat Club  Gunsmoke  Hall's Speed Shop  Harrah's Club  Hell Driver  Hemi  Hemi Powered  Here I Am  Hollywood High  Hollywood Performance Rods and Kustoms  Hot Rod  Hot Rod  Hot Rod 32  Hot Rod 33  Hot Rod Nostalgia  Hot Stuff  I Hate Hot Rodders  I Have A Woodie  Indiana  It's What's Up Front That Counts  Juggers Racing Team  Just Crowning Around  Kaiser-Frazer National Owners Club  Keep On Truckin  King Of The Road  Kustoms Forever  Hilltop High Lancers  Lead Ain't Dead  Lone Wolf  Lost In The Fifties  MCASA  Mamma's Mink   Mars Solar System  Medford Hi (Class of 1965)  Mid-Century Mercury Car Club - 10th Anniversary  Mile High Club  Model A Club Member  Moon Equipped  Mooneyes - 20th Anniversary  Mr. Auto  National T-Bucket Association Charter Member  No Club  No Club - Lone Wolf  No Club - Lone Wolf  No Club - Lone Wolf  No Club - Lone Wolf  No Club - Lone Wolf  Northern Stump Jumpers  O'Brien Truckers  Oakland High School  Offenhauser Equipment  Oldest Teenagers Cruisin' Happy Daz  Oldtimer In Teufels Hand  Oregon Midget Racing Assn  Out Of The Past  Ozzies Eatery  Penn State  Pontiac - Oakland Owner  Powered By Cadillac  Powered By Olds  Pontiac Powered  Praise The Lowered  Purrs Like A Kitten  Rat Rod  Rat Rods Rule  Remember When - Let's Do It Again  Rhode Island Outboard Assn.  Right Coast Member  Road Boss  Roadmaster  Rocket 69  San Diego High School  Save the Salt  Save The Salt  Schneider Racing Cams  Short Fuse  Skull & Crossbones  Sleepers Racing Team -SF  So-Cal Speed Shop  Souped Up To Go 110 in 30 Mile Zones  South Carolina  Standard 1320 Drag Racing Member  Stang  Sundowners Motorcycle Club  Surfin Safari  Sweet Thing  The Big Wheel Auto Store  The Outcast  The Rutters Racing Team  The Syndicate Racing Team  This Is A Lemon  This Is A Sleeper  Throttle Twisters Motorcycle Club  Thunder Mountain Motorsports  Thunderbird  Topless  Tulare County 4WD Club  Vintage Racer  Von Dutch  Von Dutch Still Lives  Y-Blocks Forever  You have just been Volkswagened - Passed by 36 HP


If your club is looking for a source that makes traditional type car club plaques, check out Creative Casting in Tacoma, WA. Their website is www.creativecastingco.com and they have made many of the plaques pictured on this site. Their phone number is (253) 475-2643.

Another source for club plaques is Plaquewerkz in Sun Valley, CA and their website is www.plaquewerkz.com. They have given us permission to use the pictures of the plaques they have made.

Achinback Foundry provided pictures of some of the plaques they have made. They are located in Victoria, BC, Canada and their website is www.achinbackfoundry.com. You can contact Gord Betts at (250) 474-0037 or (800) 474-0037 for additional information about their services.

A plaque source on the East Coast is O'Brien Truckers in Charlton, MA. Their website is www.obrientruckers.com and their phone number is (508) 248-1555. They have a large number of original patterns from the 50's and 60's that they can duplicate or the ability to make a custom designed plaque for your club.

If you're located around Indiana, Grandview Aluminum Products can make plaques for your club. Their website is www.gapalum.com and they can do all kinds of custom work. They also have a line of stock bumper plaques that they sell through their dealer network.

Stan Chersky is a plaque collector in Southern California and is interested in trading plaques or buying plaques that he doesn't have. You can contact him by phone at (310) 605-5080 or by E-mail by clicking here.



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