# What were the Auto Service Shop Bear Wheel Alignment signs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2014, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263 "2014-01-08T09:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/1 "2014-01-08T09:36:54Z")
Back in the 60’s and 70’s it seemed like all the small auto service shops had this Bear logo on a sign. I can recall seeing it in many towns and in different states. It seems to be advertising wheel alignments. Was it the brand name of the front end alignment equipment? Or was it a franchise chain of auto service shops? From what I remember these were small independently owned auto service shops. I’ve wondered about this for years. The Bear signs seemed to disappear sometime in the 1970’s. Whats the story behind this bear? heres three vintage examples painted on a brick building [![](https://www.fadingad.com/blog/canada/toronto_wheel_alignment-close.jpg) ](https://www.fadingad.com/blog/canada/toronto_wheel_alignment-close.jpg) porcelain signs [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-die-cut-Bear-Alignment-gas-station-metal-sign-double-sided-non-porcelain-/400567520389?pt=LH\_DefaultDomain\_0&hash=item5d43af4c85](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-die-cut-Bear-Alignment-gas-station-metal-sign-double-sided-non-porcelain-/400567520389?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d43af4c85) [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Bear-Wheel-Alignment-Chichester-Garage-Neon-Sign-non-Porcelain-Gas-Oil-/400561021950?pt=LH\_DefaultDomain\_0&hash=item5d434c23fe](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Bear-Wheel-Alignment-Chichester-Garage-Neon-Sign-non-Porcelain-Gas-Oil-/400561021950?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d434c23fe) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/2 "2014-01-08T09:45:44Z")
heres two Bear manuals. I’m starting to think Bear was the wheel alignment equipment that the shops used. I just wonder why it disappeared in the 70’s. [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bear-Manufacturing-Co-Operating-Manual-1957-1958-Wheel-Steering-Alignment-/370972162377?pt=Motors\_Manuals\_Literature&hash=item565fa9f949&vxp=mtr](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bear-Manufacturing-Co-Operating-Manual-1957-1958-Wheel-Steering-Alignment-/370972162377?pt=Motors_Manuals_Literature&hash=item565fa9f949&vxp=mtr) [http://www.ebay.com/itm/1961-BEAR-PRESENTS-FUNDAMENTALS-OF-WHEEL-ALINEMENT-/261358010865?pt=LH\_DefaultDomain\_0&hash=item3cda26c1f1](http://www.ebay.com/itm/1961-BEAR-PRESENTS-FUNDAMENTALS-OF-WHEEL-ALINEMENT-/261358010865?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cda26c1f1) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/3 "2014-01-08T09:54:06Z")
Ok, I found my answer. It was the wheel alignment equipment the shop used. Gosh this brings back memories from when I was a kid. > **[SHIM AND BEAR ITNOW IN HIS 70S, THE HAPPY LITTLE WHEEL-ALIGNMENT MASCOT IS...](https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/shim-and-bear-itnow-in-his-70s-the-happy-little-wheel-alignment-mascot-is-still-an-endearing-species-6424579)** > > Moe Allen was a character. He was the kind of man whose girlfriends were invariably described as "floozies" and who drank a fifth of Seagram's every day. He flew his own airplane. He fished for--what else?--bass. He'd spent a few years in prison for... > [@](#): > > Since the 1920s, wheel-alignment businesses using equipment made by Bear Manufacturing have displayed the company’s trademark bear. Guys would open a shop, hang a double-sided metal bear over the sidewalk or plaster a couple on the front wall. Their customers knew the logo the way they’d know the Texaco star. > [@](#): > > The Happy Bear, his official name at Bear Manufacturing, never had any clothes to put on, which shows a primal innocence that contrasts nicely with Smokey’s perverted modesty. Smokey is a middle-aged white guy, and has just about that much fun. > > Bear signs began to disappear from the landscape in the 1960s and 1970s, partly because of more restrictive sign laws, and partly because of internal changes at Bear Manufacturing that would ultimately reduce it to a division of a larger company with the bland name of Automotive Diagnostics. The disappearance of a sign that had been so well-known prompted coverage a couple of years ago on Good Morning, America. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/4 "2014-01-08T12:24:53Z")
As soon as I read the thread title I could picture the bear. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/5 "2014-01-08T12:45:55Z")
I would also suspect that Bear started to lose market share to Hunter during that time period. My impression was that Hunter alignment machines were superior in design, but they didn’t have cool signs to put up. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/6 "2014-01-08T13:10:12Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I would also suspect that Bear started to lose market share to Hunter during that time period. My impression was that Hunter alignment machines were superior in design, **but they didn’t have cool signs to put up**. Or they figured people wouldn’t go to a place that’s pointing a gun at you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/7 "2014-01-08T14:00:16Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Or they figured people wouldn’t go to a place that’s pointing a gun at you. 😃 They could have had a sign of them hunting the bear! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/8 "2014-01-08T15:30:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > As soon as I read the thread title I could picture the bear. Cool. ditto ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/9 "2014-01-08T15:57:29Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I would also suspect that Bear started to lose market share to Hunter during that time period. My impression was that Hunter alignment machines were superior in design, but they didn’t have cool signs to put up. The bear balancers were capable of very precise balancing. The owner of the shop I went to would stick a folded piece of paper in the tread. If that didn’t move the tire hey would rebalance it. You could get tires balanced at high speeds and he’d check it at different speeds to see if anything changed. I suppose a modern computer driven balancer is capable of doing as good a job but I haven’t been to a shop willing to spend any time on it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/10 "2014-01-08T15:58:43Z")
By the 1970s, most of the [Bears had started doing drugs](http://www.gypsyrose.com/products/images/products/ph1213.jpg), and followed the Grateful Dead around on tour. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/11 "2014-01-08T17:55:36Z")
Finding the old Phoenix News Times article last night was a lucky break. I was at a dead end trying to get any history on the Wheel Alignment Bear. I had no idea the bear dated back into the 1920’s. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/12 "2014-01-08T19:50:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > By the 1970s, most of the [Bears had started doing drugs](http://www.gypsyrose.com/products/images/products/ph1213.jpg), and followed the Grateful Dead around on tour. Yes, the Grateful Dead bears are grateful ripoffs of the wheel alignment Bears. Apparently, there is no effort to defend the old trademark. There’s an article somewhere about it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/13 "2014-01-08T20:12:36Z")
I just noticed alignment is spelled _alinement_ on these vintage signs. 😉 I guess they couldn’t spell in the 40’s and 50’s. ---
**Author:** ![Vagabond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/258eb7/32.png) [@Vagabond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vagabond)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/14 "2014-01-08T20:28:14Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I would also suspect that Bear started to lose market share to Hunter during that time period. My impression was that Hunter alignment machines were superior in design, but they didn’t have cool signs to put up. The Hunter Light-A-line. I learned on a combo of bear and hunter machines ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/15 "2014-01-08T21:52:31Z")
This discussion also reminds me of the old [Moon Eyes logo](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xrxAyICGGjY/UGcPaUJGCtI/AAAAAAAAgE8/Ef9AsAWX8q4/s640/dm055.jpg), for Moon brand of auto care products (wax, polish, stuff like that). ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/16 "2014-01-09T14:04:45Z")
Not sure if they’re the same company, but this immediately made me think of these godawful, proto-rap singing, 70s TV commercials… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1TY6vUypz4U/hqdefault.jpg "Great parts great service GREAT BEAR 1980's commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TY6vUypz4U) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/17 "2014-01-09T16:53:24Z")
There was a shop in my town that had the bear logo on the outside of the building until at least the late 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-auto-service-shop-bear-wheel-alignment-signs/678263/18 "2014-01-09T19:50:39Z")
Who the hell wants their wheels balanced or aligned by a godless killing machine anyway?