WAYNE WORKS

Wayne Works (1914-1992)
Richmond, Indiana

This is a Wayne Works emblem (c1950)   mjs
Size: 179mm wide 102mm high

Wayne began as the Wayne Agricultural Works in 1837 and was incorporated as Wayne Works in 1868. Wayne Works moved to Richmond, Indiana in 1876. By 1886 Wayne Works was known to be manufacturing horse-drawn school carriages or "kid hacks", which was to become the main business of Wayne Works in later years.

Wayne Works produced a few gasoline motor cars around 1901-1902 and in 1904 began production of the Richmond automobile, which ceased in 1917 (see Richmond). In 1914, Wayne Works mounted a wooden "kid hack" wagon body on an automotive chassis to create the first modern motor school bus and by 1927 Wayne Works was building all-steel bus bodies.

During World War II Wayne Works produced military ambulance bodies in large numbers as well as some other vehicle bodies. Wayne Works acquired the Meteor Motor Car Company to build ambulances and hearses. In 1957 Wayne merged with Miller Company to form the Miller-Wayne division of Wayne Works. That year Wayne Works was bought by Divco and became Divco-Wayne Corporation (see Divco). Several ownership changes followed until 1992 when bankruptcy brought Wayne Works production to an end.

Emblems

The following round logo was used by Wayne Works as an emblem from around 1939:

This is a Wayne Works emblem (c1939)    coachbuilt

The same Wayne logo appears in the following painted Wayne Works serial plate. This Wayne Works serial plate is scarce.

This is a Wayne Works serial plate (c1940's)    mjs
Size: 83mm diameter

There was a new Wayne logo and emblem from about 1950, see the following Wayne Works bus advertisement:

Wayne Works ad showing logo (1956) coachbuilt

This is the Wayne Works emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Wayne Works emblem is scarce.

This is a Wayne Works emblem (c1950)   mjs
Size: 179mm wide 102mm high

The following shows the front of a 1961 Wayne coach which displays a Wayne emblem:

Wayne coach with emblem (1961)  coachbuilt

This is a similar Wayne coach emblem and is rare:

This is a Wayne coach emblem (1960s)   coachbuilt