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.

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

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 sold 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.

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 these plaques in 1958 was $2.98 each.

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." The price for one of these 5-3/8" x 9-3/4" plaques was $4.95 each. Felt Emblems were $1.50 each while Silk Emblems were $1.98 each. In addition to the eight plaques shown below, there were also pictures of plaques for the Hot Heads and Vampires.

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 the 10 plaques shown below. The price for these 5"x 9" plaques was $2.29 each compared to $4.95 for the above plaques. These same plaques, advertised in their August 58 ad, had dropped from $2.98 each.

Some companies selling plaques in 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 marks these foundries used to identify their products.

There were also smaller foundries that made plaques for local clubs. Some of those also marked the back of the plaque to identify where they were cast.

Speed 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.

Stylized Emblem Company 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.

One page, titled "Club Plaques of Cast Aluminum" showed 66 different custom designed club plaques.

This 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).

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

Stylized Emblem also placed ads in car magazines. This ad on the left appeared in the November, 1957 issue of Hot Rod magazine and stated they sold the "FINEST CLUB PLAQUES IN THE NATION". No prices for plaques were mentioned in the ad. The Hot Heads (Culver City) plaque was pictured.

This decal for the National Hot Rod Association is an example of some of the other things Stylized was selling.

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).

The ad for Chicago Metalcraft (Metal Craft), that appeared in the August, 1958 issue of Hot Rod magazine, advertised that 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.).

Other Speed Shops, that had printed catalogs, would often have information about ordering club plaques from them. The following is an example of this type of ad and all 10 of the plaques shown are pictured on this site. Notice that the price was $2.97 each..

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).

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, the owner's opinion or the owner's interests.

I CRUISE AROUND IN MY .....

THE ENGINE IN MY CAR IS A .....

MY CAR IS EQUIPPED WITH .....

I BUY MY PARTS FROM .....

ABOUT ME AND MY CAR .....

I'M A MEMBER OF .....

I'M A .....

I'M A FAN OF .....

I'M FROM .....

THE REST .....

O'Brien Truckers in Charlton, MA has made thousands of plaques for thousands of clubs. 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 new club. Their website is www.obrientruckers.com and their phone number is (508) 248-1555.

If your club is in the northwest and looking for a source that makes traditional type car club plaques, check with 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.

Achinback Foundry in Canada provided pictures of some of the plaques they have made. They are located in Victoria, BC 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.

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