6 thoughts on “Motor City Myths and Legends: Were the Dodge Brothers Jewish?

  1. There was talk out west about the Dodge brothers being Jewish. I remember one old-timer being quite vocal toward that. He drove only Ford/Mercury because he wouldn’t have anything that might be connected with Jews. I don’t know what the Jews did to him; there were friendships between some Jewish families and mine that lasted for multiple generations…

  2. In similar fashion, the Krit Motor Company of Detroit used a swastika on its emblem, with no connection to the Nazis. Sometimes, there simply is no (intended) connection between such symbols and organizations/groups.

  3. Also, the circle in the middle of the Dodge family heraldic crest as it appeared in the ’40s/50s and again in the Brougham ’70s was originally a dripping breast before being bowdlerized to a weeping eye and further to a plain circle.

    Somewhat odd in retrospect that it never appeared as a wheel (road or steering).

  4. There is a LOT of misinformation and information about the Dodge Brothers.
    TRUE:
    1. They were Irish, raised Protestant.
    2.Almost ALL of the movers and shakers in Detroit, from the late 19th century, into the ’30s, were Masons. That is how networking and business got done. There were members of the defunct Palm chapter of Masons.
    3. The interlocking triangles were a Masonic Good Luck symbol.
    4. They got along with Henry Ford fine, took a risky position by supplying his engines and transmissions for a stake in the company. The final falling out was due to HF not paying dividends to stockholders, saving the money to build a new plant. Dodges sued and won, jump starting the Dodge, a better car, in 1914.
    5. The Dodges were generous philanthropists, paying to build schools and churches.
    6. They were paternalistic running their plant, paying for food and beer for lunches. This kept the employees on site and mostly sober in the runup to prohibition in 1917.

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