Charmaine Zoe wrote down this foto:
Vintage Advert for KRIT Motor Car Co 1913
K-R-I-T (or simply "Krit") was a small automobile manufacturing company (1909-1916) based in Detroit, Michigan.
Its name probably originated from Kenneth Crittenden who provided financial backing and helped design the cars. The emblem of the cars was a swastika. Krit occupied two different sites during its history, the first one it took over from the Blomstrom car and in 1911 moved to the works that had been used by R. M. Owen & Company who had moved to become Owen Magnetic. The cars were conventional 4 cylinder models and many were exported to Europe and Australia. The outbreak of World War I seriously damaged the company and it failed in 1915. A few cars were subsequently assembled from left over parts.
This advert is for their British distributor.
Great post. Krit Motor cars are part of the story of how Americans popularized swastikas and nazi salutes worldwide. You would enjoy the work of the historian Dr. Rex Curry (author of "Swastika Secrets").
ReplyDeleteDid nazis adopt the swastika and nazi salutes from American national socialists?
The swastika was on American cars (e.g. the Krit Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan from 1909 to 1915) years before it was associated with German cars and the Volkswagen VW. http://rexcurry.net/krit_motor_car_company_detroit.html
Earlier, the use of the swastika by American national socialists began with Edward Bellamy (in 1888 or before). http://rexcurry.net/theosophy-madame-blavatsky-theosophical-society.html
Edward Bellamy was the cousin and cohort of Francis Bellamy, author of the "Pledge of Allegiance" (PoA), the origin of the stiff-armed salute in 1892. http://rexcurry.net/pledgetragedy.html
Did Krit and the Bellamys influence use of the swastika by the National Socialist German Workers Party? Many Krit cars were exported to Europe and Australia. On December 29, 1914, a New York Times newspaper article states that WWI was responsible for the bankruptcy of the Krit Motor Car Company, to wit: "Lack of business, due to the European war, is given as the cause of the failure."
That means an American car company was the first to put swastikas on cars in Europe. Krit produced bus / truck models that could carry 15 people. Were Krit buses / trucks used in WWI by German military, by the free corps (freikorps), or the Ehrhard Brigade? Did Hitler see Krit cars or even ride in them?