[Oramca]

I have been looking for information on a radiator ornament; learned they are called a mascot, and came across your article entitled, ?Classics: Man and Mascots? on the web.
I have a friend that has one that came off of a Chandler, vintage before 1927 according to his account. The car belonged to his father and believes that his father sold the car about 1929, minus the mascot. Every time the car was parked his father would take the mascot off to keep it from being stolen and put it in his pocket.
The part that screws into the radiator is about two inches in diameter. A ways above the threads are two arms protruding out to the sides with small balls on the end, then some wings above that and then the round thermometer part.
On the front there is writing: BOYCE MOTO-METER at the top; on the left (facing the front) Patd MAY 13-13, MAR 17-14; on the right (facing the front) Patd JULY 16-18, AUG 13-18; CHANDLER; The Moto-Meter Co. Inc. Long Island City NY USA.
On the side facing the driver: at the top and on the left side of the vertical red-lined thermometer the word ?Danger?, below that ?Summer?, and below that ?a cool motor causes gasoline
waste. Use Radiator Cover?, then below that statement ?Cool?. At the top and on the right side of the vertical red-lined thermometer the word ?Steam?, below that ?Average?, then the statement, ?A sudden Rise indicates Trouble. Stop and investigate?, below that ?Motor?.
I am not an expert on condition of things like this, but, I would say this piece is in excellent condition.
Since few of these vehicles survived, do you think anyone would be interested in purchasing this item enough to make it worth while to put it on eBay?
Orville McArthur

[29 Chandler]

There are a few members of my Chandler-Cleveland Car Club that need one for their car. How much are you asking and can you send a picture?
Thanks

[Oramca]

Price??? In reading a post by TCC Team dated 2001-06-18 Classics: Man and Mascots, by Al Rothenberg; there is a quote: ?hundreds of thousands of antique classic car owners have little hope of ever getting their hands on one of those original mascots. "The mascots of yesteryear were cast in zinc and lasted about two years before they self-destructed," says Donald W. Sommer.? Since Mr. Sommer sells replicas for a fairly substantial price I would think this would be true of an original. I do not know how much the owner wants for it, but I will ask him when I see him tomorrow, Sunday. However, in all fairness to everyone, it would be nice to have some offers. I will try to get some pictures online tomorrow also. Sometimes my digital does not cooperate.
Orville

[Chris Paulsen]

It sounds to me like you have a Boyce Moto-Meter mounted on a "dogbone" radiator cap. It is an extremely common item, but collectible and desireable. They were available as accessories in several sizes. You could get them with "Boyce Moto-Meter" on the front or with just about any car name you wanted. There were literally hundreds of car brands available. The face plates are available new with many, many names to choose from. I believe the face plates are $20-$30 each.

The mascots that many people, though I doubt hundreds of thousands, are looking for are usually zinc like you said. They are very often depict people, figures, goddesses, or animals.

You mentioned ebay. If you do a search for "Moto-Meter", there are usually a few at any given time. I have seen them sell for $25-$200.

I hope this helps,
Chris

[Oramca]

Thanks Chris for the price information.
I managed to get two pictures, which I am sending with this post.
Oops! It says no bigger than 1000000bytes, so may not go through. I do not know how big these jpegs are.
Orville

[29 Chandler]

Click on my name 29Chandler and send them to my email address.
Thanks