20601 Old State Road, Haubstadt, Indiana 47639
There are two more registered trademarks that were used on
Hercules built engines. These trademarks belonged to Sears, Roebuck
& Company. They were the Economy and Thermoil ‘bow tie or
propeller’ design trademarks. There were also several
unregistered trademarks used too.
The name Economy first appeared on engines Sears marketed in
1908. These engines were produced by the Waterloo Gas Engine
Company, and Economy only appeared on the hopper tag. The Economy
name was continued (of slightly different lettering) on the brass
hopper tag on engines built at the Holm Machine Manufacturing
Company beginning in 1909. Beginning sometime in 1913 the hopper
tag was moved from the side to the front, and these engines then
had a decal with Economy on it along with a team of horses and the
caption ‘Like The Willing Horse.’
When production began at the Hercules Gas Engine Company in
1914, the familiar slanting black and yellow Economy decal came
into use. This type of decal remained in use off and on with minor
variations until at least 1927.
In the fall 1921 issue of the Sears catalog, the Economy
‘bow tie or propeller’ decal made its appearance. Sears had
filed for registration of that trademark on October 8, 1920.
Interestingly, Sears claimed use since July 1, 1910. Where was it
hiding for eleven years? The ‘bow tie’ trademark as
registered shows the symbol of the scales of justice in the
background. This symbol is not visibly shown on illustrations in
the Sears catalogs until the fall 1927 issue. This same decal with
‘justice,’ the open letters and the two line border can
then be seen in catalog illustrations into the 1930s.
