Does anyone know if the background on this emblem was painted blue? The one on the interior radio grill is painted. If this one was painted originally, the paint was long gone before I had the piece replated. This is the emblem that goes on the hood side panel.
Its my understanding that the background is red
I used parts from four different 1941 wagons to build my car and none of them showed any traces of color in the background of their side hood emblems. However, several years ago I asked the same question on this site. One response I received was from someone who remembered a family member who purchased a new 1941 Plymouth. The car was damaged in an accident and the dealer repaired it including replacing the side hood emblems. The poster specifically remembered the family member returning the car to the dealer because the replacement emblems did not have red backgrounds and she had the dealer find ones that did. I believe that it is possible that the early production cars may have had the red backgrounds but that Plymouth stopped using them as the production year progressed. At least that is what I choose to believe because I like the red backgrounds and painted the ones on my P12 wagon red. I also painted the same emblem that is on the tailgate of my car blue to match the one on the dash. I did that without any evidence that it is correct other than it faces the same way as the dash emblem and I like the look.
Jim Yergin
39 and probably 1940 Chryslers had red or blue enamel on the same badge casting.
Mark,
It is my Great Aunt's car that Jim is refering to in this posting. Gosh, he has a great memory!
That posting was way back on the "old board".
At any rate, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Nothing more really to add. The story was a funny one, and these two old ladies really loved their "baby". They never married, and this 41 was taken care of like a child...Both of them are now gone, but they lived into their 90's (probably because they had no children!).
Stories told about this car I should have paid more attention to as a young adult. But, some of the stories remembered are priceless.
BTW., I have this car, and will pass it down to my daughter who loves it as it should be loved, when that time comes.
BTW, your car looks great!
Thanks for your updates and photos!
Lindsay,
My memory must not be too good since I forgot it was you who related the story. Sorry I didn't give you the credit but I am glad to hear that at least I got the story right.
Jim Yergin
I checked with our '41 tech advisor, Larry Jenkins, and he was adamant that the background was not painted on these particular emblems. He said there was an early run emblem that did have a red line, but the one I have was not painted.
I guess that makes this a question with multiple choice answers. a) blue background, b) red background, c) no paint on background, d) it depends on who you ask.
Thanks for everyone?s help on this. It may just be one of those mysteries where there really is no correct answer because of the vagaries of assembly line production with a variety of parts supplies.
I'd take it as there are a few different things you can do and you can do whatever you think looks best. Pick one of those three and you should be able to fool most of the people. Or if you just really like pink, paint it that!
I believe I am going to take the path of least resistance and not paint it at all.