Friday, October 12, 2012

The Rise of the Corporate Logo
























The cover of Newsweek (March 8, 1965). Paper flags on toothpicks stuck into a map of Europe. Bon appétit. How many of these corporate logos remain intact nearly fifty years later? What about the corporations they represent?

Right off the bat, the logos for Chrysler, General Electric and Westinghouse look pretty much the same in 2012 as they did in 1965. Those for Ford, General Motors, ITT (formerly International Telephone & Telegraph) and IBM (International Business Machines) are perfectly recognizable. NCR (once National Cash Register) has an expanded logo. RCA (Radio Corporation of America) was absorbed by GE in 1986. Sperry Rand truncated to Sperry alone in 1978 and was absorbed into other corporations starting in 1986. How about the red and blue dollar signs? No idea. Generic "flavor," perhaps.

The Big Three aka the Detroit Three nearly half a century later: GM is worth more than $150 billion; Ford Motor Company, about $136 billion; and Chrysler Group (not represented in the 1965 logos), about $55 billion.

General Electric -- approximately $148 billion.
IBM -- about $107 billion.
ITT -- approximately $11 billion.
Westinghouse Electric Company (majority owner
Toshiba) -- guestimate $5-6 billion.

Isn't that something?
 
Today's Rune: Signals.

   

1 comment:

Arden Riordan said...

Cover was designed by Roy Kuhlman. Thanks for sharing this.