Did You Wear a badge to work in a factory?

[bmcb]

Did you wear an employee badge when you worked in a Detroit factory? I'm interested in Detroit area/Auto industry badges worn by workers, convention participants, municipal workers, tourists, etc. If you or a relative has a story or picture of these types of badges, I love to hear from you.

[Jimaz]

People sure collect some interesting things around here.

Here's a related thread from a couple years ago:
DetroitYES Home » Discuss Detroit » Detroit Badges-, Factory ID badges, Public Employee Badges, Tool Checks, Service Pins

[lpg]

I remember my dad had one from Michigan Malleable Iron Company on Crossley in Delray. I have his last one from McLouth Steel in Trenton. I worked at Scott Paper for a short time but had to turn it in when I left. I do have my aunt's from Scott Paper. I also worked at Chrysler Trenton Engine, but I think we just had a blue card to show at the gate.

[smallferret]

Is that a Star of David on the Dodge badge?
If it's denoting that that worker was Jewish, it certainly wouldn't fly today!

[bmcb]

The Star of David was pre-1938. The SOD symbol wasn't widely associated with Judaism but events in Nazi Germany changed this. One interpretation of the symbol is it's the combination of two Greek letters Delta [[triangle) which means change. Two brothers two deltas. Don't know if this interpretation is true.

[bmcb]

I think I have a Michigan Malleable Iron badge, but not the other two. If I can find the MMI badge, I'll post it. I have many Chrysler badges, but none from Trenton.

[Tramhamck]

The Star of David was pre-1938. The SOD symbol wasn't widely associated with Judaism but events in Nazi Germany changed this. One interpretation of the symbol is it's the combination of two Greek letters Delta [[triangle) which means change. Two brothers two deltas. Don't know if this interpretation is true.

Spot on based off of everything I've ever heard about it. Definitely had nothing to do with Judaism. It does seem like the reasoning behind the usage of the symbol were never clarified, I remember finding this page when I worked at Chrysler and wondered myself about the origins. Nobody who was in my group could ever give me a more comprehensive answer.

http://www.dodgebrothersclub.org/faq#7

[Packman41]

If anyone has a Packard badge, then we should talk. Thanks

[lpg]

I think I have a Michigan Malleable Iron badge, but not the other two. If I can find the MMI badge, I'll post it. I have many Chrysler badges, but none from Trenton.

I saw one a while back on e-bay. Would like to get one if the price is reasonable.

[Smirnoff]

Rouge Plant: No
Cadillac Clark St: Yes [[ID badge)
Hydramatic: Yes [[ID badge)

[EastsideAl]

If anyone has a Packard badge, then we should talk. Thanks

I wonder if my dad still has his. He worked at Packard late in WWII and just after, as did my grandmother. I know he still has a Hudson Motorcar badge from either his time working there or my grandfather's buried somewhere in the vast mounds of stuff, along with his Chrysler and Budd ones. We also have my other grandfather's IDs from Ford Highland Park and Rouge. By the time I worked at Oldsmobile such things were long gone.

[jiminnm]

I wonder if my dad still has his. He worked at Packard late in WWII and just after, as did my grandmother. I know he still has a Hudson Motorcar badge from either his time working there or my grandfather's buried somewhere in the vast mounds of stuff, along with his Chrysler and Budd ones. We also have my other grandfather's IDs from Ford Highland Park and Rouge. By the time I worked at Oldsmobile such things were long gone.

I have my dad's Hudson Motor Car Co. employee badge. He worked there for 6-8 months in 1946. I think that time convinced him that a factory job was not for him, as he never worked in another one.

[EastsideAl]

Interesting about that Dodge six-pointed star insignia.

Before its identification with Judiasm [[as the Magen David) was set, first by its use by the early Zionists, and later by its horrifying use by the Nazis, a six-pointed star was often used as an occupational symbol by brewers. Many of whom were, in an irony of history, German. This was mostly because of the symbol's association with Bohemia and its brewing center of Pilsen. If you look at old pre-prohibition photos of saloons you will often see the six-pointed star used in signs, which can give modern viewers a mistaken impression that Judaism was somehow involved.

However, the Dodge Brothers family was of English heritage, insofar as I'm aware, and were not involved in the brewing trade, so its use by them is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps it was related to Masonic practice [[where the six-pointed star was used), or, most likely, just a choice of a memorable design.

[bmcb]

Packman41- I have an employee badge plus three WWII "Work to Win" pins which were specific to Packard. One is for employees who produced marine engines [[anchor) and two for those making aircraft engines [[stylized wings).

[Sandhouse]

Very cool badges. I grew up in Mount Clemens, but had never heard of the Covered Wagon Co. Google and Google Maps tells me it was a large producer of house trailers between 1935 and the war, but never reconverted and died after 1945. The factory was flattened in 2013, but it was one I remember well at 332 Cass, just west of the railroad. It may have had an auto trim firm in it at the end.

The origin of the Dodge Bros. interleaved triangles was new to me, too.

I've got my dad's badge from the J.L. Hudson Co. from the Dayton-Hudson period; not a factory badge, of course.

[bmcb]

LPG- Mich Malleable Iron...great pin. African American employee and War Worker designation.

[bmcb]

SandHouse. You're right about factory location. Sometime in 60's it was a bicycle factory ...Robbins? [[i grew up in Utica). I dont have any JL Hudson Badges of any era

[lpg]

LPG- Mich Malleable Iron...great pin. African American employee and War Worker designation.

Thanks for the pic. My dad worked there from 1927-55. Drafted in March 43 and returned to work in early 1946. Stayed until 1955 when he was laid off [[I have his layoff notice). He went to work at McLouth in Trenton until his retirement in 1975.

[Richard]

Then there was Krit

[Honky Tonk]

Then there was Krit

I remember their slogan, "Today Detroit, tomorrow the world..."

[bmcb]

I wonder if my dad still has his. He worked at Packard late in WWII and just after, as did my grandmother. I know he still has a Hudson Motorcar badge from either his time working there or my grandfather's buried somewhere in the vast mounds of stuff, along with his Chrysler and Budd ones. We also have my other grandfather's IDs from Ford Highland Park and Rouge. By the time I worked at Oldsmobile such things were long gone.

If you could post a picture of the Hudson Motocar badge, I would love to see it since it's one that I don't have in my collection.

[bmcb]

I remember their slogan, "Today Detroit, tomorrow the world..."

This must be a radiator emblem since it doesn't have an employee #. Beautiful design. The swastika was a good luck symbol before it was appropriated by the Nazi's.

[bmcb]

I wonder if my dad still has his. He worked at Packard late in WWII and just after, as did my grandmother. I know he still has a Hudson Motorcar badge from either his time working there or my grandfather's buried somewhere in the vast mounds of stuff, along with his Chrysler and Budd ones. We also have my other grandfather's IDs from Ford Highland Park and Rouge. By the time I worked at Oldsmobile such things were long gone.

If you could post a picture of the Hudson Motocar badge, I would love to see it since it's one that I don't have in my collection.

[EastsideAl]

If you could post a picture of the Hudson Motocar badge, I would love to see it since it's one that I don't have in my collection.

If I ever run into it again I will. But don't hold your breath, as it's buried somewhere in the incredible amount of stuff a 90 year old man will keep when he's lived in the same place for decades.