Henry Ford had a fear and resentment for the Dodge brothers, Horace and John. He was superstitious about their red hair, disapproving of their rambunctious lifestyles, and embittered over their considerable contribution to the success of the Ford Motor Company. In the early days of the Company the Dodges produced most of the Ford cars, everything except the bodies and tires and contributed ten thousand dollars toward the initiial capital of Ford, while Henry failed to contribute a cent. Ford planned to squeeze the Dodges out of the Company by diverting income to produce increasing portions of parts in house.
After the Dodge brothers left the Ford Motor Company to produce their own cars in 1914, they adopted as their logo two interlocking deltas with the initials DB in the center. The logo in place resembled the Star of David, giving rise to the rumor around Ford that the brothers were Jewish. Ford notoriously disliked and distrusted the Jewish race.
The interlocking delta design was actually an ancient middle eastern insignia, that was popular among masons, including the Dodge Brothers. To the Dodge brothers, it also reflected the unity, fidelity and brotherhood shared by the brothers who were so close that they refused to accept any mail not addressed to both of them. The Detroit Saturday Night magazine commented on the Ford rumors that ‘[T]he theory that they [the Dodge brothers] were Jews is quite as sane as any other we have seen in the anti-semitic antics of Ford’s paper [The Dearborn Independent]” The Dodge brothers both died in 1920 and were laid to rest in a shared mausoleum of an Egyptian Revival Architecture to their liking.
I have in my possession an incense burner them to my grandfather, who worked for the Dodges. It contains the design of the interlocking deltas, (without the DB) capped with Egyptian style metal latticework and a crescent moon on the top. The Dodge brothers were determinedly Protestant in their religious affiliations, with masonic pride and proclivities.
Gregory R. Piche’s new book, The Four Trials of Henry Ford, will be published on October 15, 2019. Pre-order: http://www.open-bks.com/library/moderns/the-four-trials-of-henry-ford/order.html