Great defunct American companies

[hiimandy1]

I love old logos, signage, etc and especially those of defunct American companies. They just bring back so many memories and thoughts of what was. I know that some share my interests so here are a few of my favorites.

Bethlehem Steel
http://img718.imageshack.**/img718/4717/500pxbethsteellogosvg64.png


Any others you can think of?

Bethlehem Steel definately was the first one I thought of, since Bethlehem is about 20 minutes from my home. Even their old HQ is completely vacant.

Also,

Which has been reduced to this http://www.lehman.com/ . Oh, what a fall it was.

 

[Der Stig]

They had such a cool building and rotating logo out front.

 

[Spectre]

Braniff International/Braniff Airlines, one of the first commercial airlines. At one point, so successful that they were the (now deliberately forgotten by revisionist Europeans) third partner in the Concorde. Yup, Braniff was the American partner in the Concorde's original operations and they technically owned the planes when they were in American airspace.

If you don't know what this was, you need to hand in your geek/techie card. The company still exists, but their kit business has been dead since the 90s. What's left is a software firm of the same name but little to no relation.

Studebaker. Founded 1852, died 1967. The only direct remains of the company still in existence is Studebaker-Worthington Leasing, a subsidiary of Main Street Bank of Kingwood Texas, which provides leasing services for manufacturers and resellers of business and industrial products. However, you'd be surprised at how many brand names you'd know that used to be Studebaker divisions.

Ampex. Invented the first workable video tape recording system. Invented the first commercial audio recording system. With the help of Les Paul (he of guitar fame), invented the first workable multitrack tape recording system. Invented first multitrack tape synchronization system (which allowed tracks to be recorded separately then merged into one synched multitrack recording). Invented sports instant replay. Invented the hard drive video recorder/DVR. Unfortunately, invented the automatic tape library system for playing commercials (later adapted for less annoying purposes such as news production). Current status: Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, likely to become Chapter 7 and be liquidated.

 

[thedguy]

speaking of Enron

MCI Worldcomm

Though technically they are Verizon now.

 

[GRtak]

If you don't know what this was, you need to hand in your geek/techie card. The company still exists, but their kit business has been dead since the 90s. What's left is a software firm of the same name but little to no relation.

I miss putting together the old Heathkit kits.

 

[Phila]

The Pennsylvania Railroad

Most famously known for the SS United States, the fastest ship to cross the Atlantic...

..

Today it's docked up at Pier 82 in the Delaware River in Philadelphia, and it's in this shape:

This picture actually makes it look worse than it really is. Its definitely in very bad shape, but not to the extent of the picture. I heard recently they're finally going through with converting the ship into either a hotel or casino. We'll see.

 

[Gastronaut]

Organ Trails kicks fucking Ass. Wait I may be a bit off.

You died of dysentery.

I was personally a Word/Number Munchers fan, myself.

 

[Cold Fussion]

They had such a cool building and rotating logo out front.

I was going to post it a while ago, however I didn't think Enron was keeping within the spirit of "great companies" though.

 

[JipJopJones]

You died of dysentery.

I was personally a Word/Number Munchers fan, myself.

NumberMunchers was so much fun. Same with Oregon Trail. Was Yukon Trail by them too? Cuz that was also sweet!

 

[marcos_eirik]

This picture actually makes it look worse than it really is. Its definitely in very bad shape, but not to the extent of the picture. I heard recently they're finally going through with converting the ship into either a hotel or casino. We'll see.

Yes, the SS United States Conservancy is working on raising enough money to buy it off the (dirty) hands of NCL. They did get a big donation recently. Now is the problem of what to do with it, as the ship's interior is completely stripped; All of her fixtures and fittings were removed about 15 years ago when she underwent asbestos removal. A hint to how stripped (light) she actually is, is how high she's sitting in the water. The ship is basically a (rusty) floating hull and superstructure with some mechanicals in place. Basically everything in the interior that wasn't structural was removed. Regardless of what they decide to do with her, it's going to be mighty expensive, though less than making her seaworthy and running again.

I regret that I didn't get the chance to see her when I was in Philadelphia last year...

 

[CAPT_Howdy]

https://pic.armedcats.net/p/ph/phoenixsac/2010/09/11/Packard-Car-Logo.jpg

Packard was one of the first luxury brands in the US, and was the only independent luxury car company to survive the Great Depression - unlike Duesenberg, Pierce-Arrow, Peerless, Marmon and others.
During World War II, Packard built the Merlin engines for the P-51 Mustang fighters, under license from Rolls-Royce.
Packard built the first production V12 engine in 1916 - called the "Twin Six". Enzo Ferrari was so impressed by the power and smoothness of the Packard V12 that he decided to put his own V12 engine in his road cars.
Although Packard sales started declining after WW2, the company was still strong enough financially to purchase Studebaker. But Studebaker required a lot of cash to stay afloat; so the Packard and Studebaker lines started sharing more and more parts, until by 1958, Packards were little more than re-badged Studebakers, and Packard was killed off.

Oh, and speaking of Studebaker - how many people here know that if it wasn't for Studebaker, there would have been no Mercedes-Benz in the US? When Daimler-Benz was looking to expand into the American market, it didn't have the money to create its own dealership network. So it partnered with Studebaker to sell its cars in the US. That arrangement lasted from 1958 to 1966, when Studebaker closed its last plant in Hamilton, Ontario. Many dealers converted their dealerships from Studebaker/Mercedes to Mercedes only.