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Mike,
Not a strong lead, but a lead nonetheless. Perhaps they have the hood ornament laying around?
http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/pts/4485849920.html
Mark
Rare hood ornaments show up on Ebay every now and then. A (mint) '37 Desoto hood ornament sold this April for almost $1200.00.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1937-DeSoto-S3- ... 0239939917
Looks like the seller might be the type who could maybe find you another one, albeit more likely a well used one.
Or at least you could refer to this Ebay listing as an indication of what your hood ornament was worth.
It's a heartbreaking loss for you. 
Best of luck with finding a replacement; I'll keep my eyes peeled!
Contacting these guys might be worth a try?
Waiting to hear from Milwaukee Craigslist ad...can't hurt to try. Already emailed a few of the others with no success. Emailed a few of the ebay sellers who have sold one in the past and waiting to hear from a few of them. We won't give up. Sent emails all over the Country yesterday so hoping to get somewhere from that.
Thank you all for all of your support and suggestions. Keep them coming and I can't wait until the day we can post that we found one. With your help...it will happen.
Just wanted to post an update to let everyone know we are still searching. Actually found a guy selling a 37 DeSoto that is a mess, no engine or drivetrain, windows all knocked out and the hood ornament is not even on the car but it is laying in the trunk. He won't sell the hood ornament to me despite the fact that I made a crazy offer and he knows the car will become a rat rod at best in the condition it is in. He wants more for the car in this condition than what I paid for mine which was complete and running so buying it as a parts car is completely out of the question. So the search goes on.
Wanted to post an update that we finally got a hood ornament to replace mine. It was a long journey...made lots of phone calls and sent lots of emails, but it paid off in the end. Thanks to everyone on the board and everyone at the DeSoto club who helped. We would not have found a replacement without your help.
1937 hood ornament for the Desoto:
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Hey! I thought this was supposed to be a "family-friendly" forum!
Got the replacement hood ornament back from new chrome shop this week and she is beautiful! Car is almost finished with paint and body should be back on frame this week. Still lots of work to do but making great progress.
Pictures!
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
Have been trying....can't seem to get pictures to upload 
I put a post in the FAQs forum about adding attachments. Maybe it will help?
It's supposed to be fun!
1949 De Soto Custom Convertible (project)
Posting pics of my 37 DeSoto Rumbleseat Coupe. Hope this works...
Her name is Bonnie....our 40 DeSoto Custom Business coupe is Clyde
