By Bruce Kitt, excerpted from the March 2023 issue of REFLECTIONS
Charles Dickinson inaugurated service on Contract Air Mail Route 9 (CAM-9) on June 7, 1926 and terminated his service on September 30, 1926. The next day, October 1, 1926, Northwest Airways’ 84-year history took off. Col. Brittin’s previous work on behalf of the Detroit Ford Motor Company’s selection of St. Paul as Ford’s second automobile plant, coupled with Brittin’s semi-official position as the St. Paul manager (along with William Kidder) of Dickinson’s effort, enabled him to quickly secure the financial backing of Detroit businessmen to get Northwest Airways into the air so quickly.
Through these Detroit connections, Brittin was introduced to Eddie Stinson, a successful aviation businessman (barnstorming, racing, and airplane design and construction), who was recently enticed to relocate from Wichita, Kansas, to Northville, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. At Northville, Stinson began the design and construction of an enclosed cabin airliner, subsequently designated the Stinson SB-1 Detroiter. This connection resulted in Northwest Airways purchasing three Detroiters, one month after Northwest inaugurated its Twin Cities-Chicago route with William Kidder’s rented biplanes.
I was told by two early Northwest mechanics that the three Detroiters were referred to as “Blackbirds”, in reference to their all black fuselages (no mention of any color on their wings). The Blackbirds flew mail, packages, and an occasional un-official passenger, from their November 1, 1926 introduction until July 5, 1927, when Northwest Airways inaugurated revenue passenger service.
Photos show a striking change between the Stinson’s liveries before and after July 5, 1927. In aircraft photos from November 1926 to the spring 1927, the Blackbirds’ carried what is Northwest Airways’ unacknowledged first logo – colors unknown but likely gold or white, with white text. The logo was positioned aft of passenger doors 1 Left and 1 Right, and the central globe contained the aircraft’s company number (in this case with the above photos, ship “2”). By July 5, 1927, the Detroiters sported both a new, colorful livery, and Northwest Airways’ officially acknowledged “first” logo.
To date, any written explanation why the 1926 logo was replaced has not been located. My research at the archives of the Northwest Airlines History Center, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Michigan State archives (with fellow director Mike Vetter), and the National Archive and Record Administration in Washington, D.C., have not answered this question. Hoping the logo may have been registered as a trademark or service mark at the national level, I’ve searched the U.S. Patient and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia…nothing.
On the off chance this first logo was registered as a trademark or service mark at the state level, the filing records for the Secretary of State for both Minnesota and Michigan were also searched, again with no success. The research for corporate commentary continues, as photographic proof clearly documents the existence of an insignia prior to the July 1927 logo.
