DE MARTINI

F. J. Martini
De Martini Motor Truck Co.
San Francisco, California (c1916-1955)

This is a DeMartini truck radiator emblem (1925)   hatm
Size: Unknown

An application to incorporate the De Martini Motor Truck Company was filed in San Francisco in October 1916 with Frank J. De Martini listed as one of the Directors. 

Frank J. De Martini was the early force behind the company and some records suggest that he was producing trucks under his own name before incorporation. However, Frank clearly had problems with his board of directors, as an article published in Motor West in January 1919, announced that the Italia Motor Truck Corporation was to produce a high grade truck in San Francisco and named F. J. DeMartini "late of the DeMartini Motor Truck Company" as president. There was a spate of advertising later in 1919 both by the Italia Motor Truck Corporation to publicize their new business and by the De Martini Motor Truck Company to show how they were doing well without Frank De Martini. In the event. the Italia Motor Truck Corporation did not succeed and was bankrupt by late 1924.

De Martini trucks were conventional assembled trucks usually with dump bodies, although some were flatbed trucks and fire trucks. 

De Martini advertisements in 1919 offered a range of seven truck sizes, 1-1/2-ton, 2-ton. 2-1/2-ton, 3-ton, 3-1/2-ton, 4-ton and 5-ton capacity. This range was reduced to four models by the mid-1920's, a 1-ton Model A, a 2-ton Model C, a 3-ton Model E and a 4-ton Model G. Pneumatic tires were introduced in the late 1920s.

When municipal garbage collection services began in San Francisco, the  De Martini management saw an opportunity to build specialized motor garbage trucks. The De Martini refuse collection trucks had high-sided dump bodies with stairs leading to the top from both sides of the cab.

Production of De Martini trucks fell after 1931 but some very limited production continued until 1955 with later models using bodywork made by International Harvester. 

Emblems

There are very few original photos of early De Martini trucks and those I have seen are of poor quality and do not clearly show the radiator emblem or any body side nameplates, see examples shown below:

De Martini truck advertisement showing possible body side nameplate by diver's door (1918)  wiki

De Martini Mill Valley fire truck from advertisement (1919)    la voce del popolo

De Martini motor trucks at factory in San Francisco (1919)   L'Italia

De Martini flatbed truck with no sign of a body or hood side nameplate (c1920)   justoldtrucks

The earliest clear photo showing the De Martini motor truck radiator emblem is from a surviving De Martini truck from 1921 with a cast iron radiator tank top and a painted cast iron radiator emblem:

De Martini truck (1921)   classic cars

De Martini radiator emblem (1921)   classic cars

This radiator and emblem design is likely to have been used from about 1919 to near the end of production. The surviving 1925 DeMartini 2-ton flatbed truck shown below displays the same painted cast iron DeMartini radiator emblem:

DeMartini 2-ton flatbed truck with radiator emblem (1925)  hatm

DeMartini truck with rad emblem (1925) forums.aths

The painted cast metal DeMartini radiator emblem is more clearly shown above at the top of this post and again below. The painted cast iron De Martini radiator emblem is extremely rare.

De Martini truck radiator emblem (1925)    hatm
Size: Unknown

The following DeMartini refuse truck dates from 1951 but shows a similar radiator to that used in the mid-1920s:

DeMartini refuse collection truck (1950)   recology