What does the IH logo really mean ?

[Lee_Petrie]

Hello,
Several months ago , while at a "fast food" restaurant , wearing my IH "baseball cap" an older lady said she had worked for IH in the accounting office in Chicago ( in the Chicago metro area) ! She looked at me and said, do you know what that represents , pointing at the IH logo on my hat ? It stands for International Harvester , I said ! At the IH office it was referred to as _ _ _ _ _ _ , she said !
Any ideas out their ? What she said, did make sense , I never heard it put that way ! Thanks to all, Lee Petrie, Joliet,IL.

[Barnyard]

At the IH office it was referred to as _ _ _ _ _ _ , she said !

I have no clue what she said it referred to. Is she saying it referred to a bunch of lines?

[indy61]

Not sure what she said but I've heard the logo was designed by the same guy that did some Coca-Cola and Lucky Strike designs. Supposed to resemble a man on a red tractor.

[JoeB]

Raymond Loewy did one of the designs. http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/6776/raymond-loewy-international-harvester

[Lee_Petrie]

That didn't take long ! "Supposed to resemble a man on a red tractor" , you guessed it quick , indy61 ! That is exactly what the older lady said ! Thanks to all that joined in, Lee Petrie

[Barnyard]

Okay, now I see what you meant.

[cub.bub]

Very interesting! And after reading the history and looking at the logo....I see it!
Great post Lee, and thanks for the history lesson Joeb.

Bruce

[Lee_Petrie]

Another big thanks, JoeB , I figured it was the truth, what the older lady said, but I never knew how that fit into the IH puzzle , thanks for your input ! Lee

[Bus Driver]

I remembered the Loewy work on the post-war Studebaker and well remember when the car was introduced. The IH logo story was a new one on me.
Remarkable fellow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Loewy

[smallfarm]

So when in the 30's was this logo first used? Just curious because the Ohio license plate from 1915 has a logo that looks kind-a like it in a circle. (a combination of the letters O, H, and ). Around the IH (Navistar) truck manufacturing area of Ohio, old car and license collectors call this plate the "IH plate."

[Super A]

The red/black IH man on a tractor logo first appeared in an IH ad in 1944. It probably showed up on tractors as the old hood decals without the IH emblem ran out.

Al

[Barnyard]

The 1919 Ohio plate also had a similar, but a bit different, IH in the center of a circle. Of course, at the time the symbols on these plates referred to OHIO instead of spelling out the state name on the plate.

[Jack]

that was pretty interesting, and darn good marketing.

[muleboss]

I never did know the real meaning. I always just thought it stood for QUALITY.

[Urbish]

I saw the "man on the red tractor" in the logo when I was a little kid and always assumed that was intentional. Here's the old IHC logo that very closely resembles the Ohio logo on the license plate: