MOTOR MASCOTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19761, 12 April 1926, Page 10

MOTOR MASCOTS.

QUEER DEVICES. FULL OF SIGNIFICANCE. The motor mascot has become as ful! of significance as the naming of a child or the painting of a house si'Ti. It is no lodger a question of putting a little doll on the bonnet of the motor, or even of adopting the conventional mascot of the maker or nailing a medal of St. Christopher on the car. Each motorist likes his own particular mascot, and these are specially designed with attention to personal characteristics the Manchester Guardian). Centuries hence a good many of th3se mascots may well be mistaken for the crest of the owner. As in heraldry, animals play a large part in the mascot. The greyhound has an obvious significance. Just as newspapers usually take their * names from time or place, so the motor mascot usually has something to do with speed. A Paris motor mascot carried out the idea with the most lethargic-looking tortoise, of which the moral to the many running hares was obvious. Whiskers or hair blown in the wind give the idea of speed, and mice and Loreleis and even Beethoven have here been called into service. The Wingless Victory is another form of mascot, and in some cases figureheads of ships have played their part. Storks in full flight are a favourite device, and from this to the aeroplane is. of course, only a step. Where the speed idea is not carried out something personal to the household generally takes its place. Some people have little silver plaques of their house cut out like a house sign. A man, a woman, and a dog were arranged in a V to make the mascot for the motor. The lucky cat with her back humped and her tail high is also a good deal used. Everything defends upon the method of showing the device, and an attenuated, gusty style seems in keeping with the object for which it is used.