What brand made these radiators?

twistysnacks

I just bought a victorian home in northeast Pennsylvania. The original cast iron steam radiators have a design on them that looks super interesting, IMO. I've done a reverse image search on them to try to find other examples, and maybe learn more about what the logo represents, and what company made them, but I've only found two examples - one is an ebay listing, another is a company in MD that refinishes cast iron and used one of these as a portfolio image.

Aside from wondering what brand this is, I also was curious if anyone had guesses as to the meaning of the logo. It looked like a cockatrice to me, but someone else told me it's probably just a wyvern (because, you know, heat). I want to use this emblem as a logo for my website, and I'd just like to figure out where it even came from.

Thank you for any and all help!

Long Beach Ed

"Just" a wyvern? When's the last time you saw a wyvern?

I never came across one of those radiators in fifty years of doing this stuff.

Steamhead

I'm sure I've seen something similar from Reading Radiator Co, which was located in- you guessed it- Reading, PA. Is there any writing around where the pipe connects to it?

twistysnacks

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1826723#Comment_1826723

Well whaddya know, it does say that 😂 I never noticed it before, but there is, in fact, a giant "READING RADIATOR CO" logo around the valve's port. What else have you seen that made you guess that? I looked up the company and can't find any info about them at all, other than this comment on this website lol

EdTheHeaterMan

If you really want to do some research, you can take a trip the the county clerk's office in Reading Pa and look in the old real estate records for information about that company.  Perhaps the Reading public library has some old newspaper articles about that company or perhaps some advertisements of what the Reading Radiator Company sold back in the day. 

Maybe you can find that emblem in an old Dan Brown book on symbols that might lead to to the Holy Grail in Reading PA.

ArthurPeabody

http://www.pagenweb.org/~berks/oldberkssite/library/business/iron.html
https://newspaperarchive.com/uniontown-morning-herald-jun-20-1940-p-18/

GoldenBoy

My guess would be that the emblem is supposed to represent a phoenix, the mythical firebird.

Steamhead

This link is NOT behind a paywall- the other one is:

http://www.pagenweb.org/~berks/oldberkssite/library/business/iron.html

JustinTheCarpenter

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1829672#Comment_1829672

If it's a phoenix it could be from Phoenixville PA. they had an iron industry going in that town.

Dennis

Steam only rads.

random12345

Send an email to the Smithsonian at askalibrarian@si.edu. Reference this item:

https://collections.si.edu/search/detail/edanmdm%3ASILNMAHTL_9655?q=Reading+Radiator+Company&fq=object_type%3A%22Trade+catalogs%22&fq=data_source%3A%22Smithsonian+Libraries%22&record=3&hlterm=Reading%2BRadiator%2BCompany

They'll send you a pdf scan. It's probably in the public domain. They may know more.