showroom banners, window display items and other showroom display stuff

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

How about a department for showroom display materials and related?  Examples include:

1.  Oversize ad proof for the Kaiser Darrin, scheduled for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Volume 1 Number 1
2.  3 foot X 2 foot service poster from 1953 for K-W Anti-Freeze and showing gallon can of K-F branded product
3.  Ad proof for 1949 Frazer and 1948 piece covering Kaiser-Frazer service
4.  Promotional model order information 1953 Aero Willys
5.  1953 Henry J Showroom Window sign
6.  20 foot long 1951 Henry J canvas outdoor banner

[Gordie]

Those are all great collectibles.  The Darrin ads from Sports Illustrated are hard to find because the first edition of the magazine sells for several hundred dollars.  The promotional models from Willys were made by a company named Bird and they must not have been very popular with the dealers as few were ordered and they are very hard to find in any condition.  They were made as a 1953 model as well as 1954.  The Kaiser promotional models are almost as hard to find also and  they seemed to be made in five different colors and only for 1951.

[G.B. (All Vinyl Dragon)]

Wonderful !!!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Here are some more things to be on the watch for.  Dealers could order these items or kits from Kaiser-Frazer Sales Corporation, Dealers Supply Company  or LaFontaine-Detroit.  I don't have the 1949 large banner (last picture of the group) .

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Here's more stuff.  I have the 1948 Willys Station Sedan showroom poster.  It is one of  at least 3 separate posters but this one shows the car rather than its features.  I've also added 2 items from the 1953 Studubaker Uniform Identity Program material showing how a hole in the wall new car dealership could be  upgrades on the outside.  Kaiser-Frazer had similar types of things available to dealers through the K-F architectural service with Kaiser-Frazer signage. 

[Gordie]

In October 1946 Pittsburg Plate Glass Co. sent a spiral bound booklet called "Specifications for Kaiser-Frazer Distributers and Dealers" with drawings and paint chips and suggestions for how to paint and trim the interior of the dealerships sales rooms and service departments.  It includes templates of K-F cars and equipment to help plan where to put cars, front end machines , hoists and wash racks to help plan spacing in the dealership. An unusual booklet for such an early date in K-F history.  Many car manufacturers offered  wall posters of all the different body styles and colors of the cars but K-F did not seem to offer them to the dealers.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I've seen the Pittsburg Plate Glass (PPG) book that Gordie refers to.  PPG was a leader in working out how to curve larger pieces of glass and remove visual distortion that commonly occured with curved glass for commercial applications.  Other units of PPG created various heavy-duty paints and acted as consultants to architects, building contractors among others.  The book was moreorless generic with covers and certain pages "customized" for various lesser makes (as opposed to the books put out by GM, Ford and various divisions of Chrysler Corporation as well as Nash and Packard). 

One of the auto-related things I have an interest is dealership architecture to see how the designs evolved (especially the art deco and "futuristic modern" places ofthe period 1934-1949).  I wish I knew somebody who had one of the PPG books that I could scan for my collection of information.

For those who might be interested, here are some illustrations of dealerships actually promoted to their flag dealerships including Kaiser-Frazer:

1.  Art deco building built into a berm/hill from the 1940 Buick Architectural Standards book
2.  Suggested placement of display items in a showroom at a Kaiser-Frazer dealer for 1951 Kaiser
3.  Medium size dealerpoint "neighborhood" K-F dealer in 1952
4   !948 General Motors architects suggested dealership design
5.  1948 Suggested merchandising fixtures and signage for Kaiser-Frazer dealer parts and accessories area of dealership
6.  1960 Dodge Division, Chrysler Corporation illustrtion of proposed new Dodge Dealership.

[Gordie]

I see that at least one of your illustrations is from a postcard and collecting automobile related postcards has been my hobby for over fifty years and I now have over 60.000 different images with about 5,000 being of automobile dealerships.  I have been able to find only 17 K-F dealers on postcard and most have not been with very exciting buildings .  Some other dealerships are real beauties and postcards are a good place to look for classic dealerships.  Not many K-F dealers built their own buildings and many were old gas stations or garages with K-F signage added even in what photographs are available. The classic buildings were mostly Cadillac, Packard and some of the popular classics.  The Auburn-Cord Duesenberg museum is housed in the factory's sales building in Auburn Indiana and that is a beautiful building. "the fun is in the search!"