Maxim2Eng
Supporting Donor
Rather than hijack another thread, I thought I would enlist the considerable knowledge base of my fellow eLB members on this enthralling topic (my wife, looking over my shoulder commented, "Only y'all would find his enthralling.")
Background:
As a young man growing up in Louisville, KY, I served as a volunteer on two rural fire departments and was most knowledgeable about FedSig products (in high school, I worked for a dealer). In 1975, The Jefferson County Police Dept. (JCPD) changed their patrol units from gold color with FedSig 174s and Q2Bs (on the hood)...
...to a blue & white color scheme and mounted a Dietz bar to the roof (with the humongous Q in the middle!).
Assertions & Assumptions:
In my limited research, I concluded, very tentatively, that Dietz must have preceded Yankee as the Yankee catalogs I found with the 911 were post '75. Not conclusive, admittedly, but somewhat compelling evidence for such a conclusion. That conclusion was recently challenged (in a good natured way in another thread), that got me to thinking about which, truly, came first.
So I did some research and on Yankee (Yankee Metal Products Co. YMPC which is marked in the domes of the Yankee 911 bars) and I came across a very interesting tidbit: "On Thursday, April 07, 1977, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for YANKEE by YANKEE METAL PRODUCTS CORPORATION, NORWALK 06852. The USPTO has given the YANKEE trademark serial number of 73121995.... The correspondent listed for YANKEE is HUGH H. DIETZ of R.E. DIETZ COMPANY, P.O. BOX4833Y., SYRACUSE, N.Y. 13221...."
(http://www.trademarkia.com/yankee-73121995.html)
Inconclusive Evidence:
-The JCPD cop car is a '75 model (made from 75-78)
-Dietz bar is mounted on it
-Both bars are identical in design.
-Yankee was trademarked by Dietz in 1977
This still doesn't prove which bar was first--Dietz or Yankee.
The Call & Challenge:
Did Dietz rebrand Yankee or did Dietz buy Yankee and rebrand their own bar?
So...which bar came first, the Dietz or the Yankee? Operators are standing by....or, ladies and gentlemen, start your search engines!
Background:
As a young man growing up in Louisville, KY, I served as a volunteer on two rural fire departments and was most knowledgeable about FedSig products (in high school, I worked for a dealer). In 1975, The Jefferson County Police Dept. (JCPD) changed their patrol units from gold color with FedSig 174s and Q2Bs (on the hood)...
...to a blue & white color scheme and mounted a Dietz bar to the roof (with the humongous Q in the middle!).
Assertions & Assumptions:
In my limited research, I concluded, very tentatively, that Dietz must have preceded Yankee as the Yankee catalogs I found with the 911 were post '75. Not conclusive, admittedly, but somewhat compelling evidence for such a conclusion. That conclusion was recently challenged (in a good natured way in another thread), that got me to thinking about which, truly, came first.
So I did some research and on Yankee (Yankee Metal Products Co. YMPC which is marked in the domes of the Yankee 911 bars) and I came across a very interesting tidbit: "On Thursday, April 07, 1977, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for YANKEE by YANKEE METAL PRODUCTS CORPORATION, NORWALK 06852. The USPTO has given the YANKEE trademark serial number of 73121995.... The correspondent listed for YANKEE is HUGH H. DIETZ of R.E. DIETZ COMPANY, P.O. BOX4833Y., SYRACUSE, N.Y. 13221...."
(http://www.trademarkia.com/yankee-73121995.html)
Inconclusive Evidence:
-The JCPD cop car is a '75 model (made from 75-78)
-Dietz bar is mounted on it
-Both bars are identical in design.
-Yankee was trademarked by Dietz in 1977
This still doesn't prove which bar was first--Dietz or Yankee.
The Call & Challenge:
Did Dietz rebrand Yankee or did Dietz buy Yankee and rebrand their own bar?
So...which bar came first, the Dietz or the Yankee? Operators are standing by....or, ladies and gentlemen, start your search engines!
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