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Guild
Members Reminisce
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
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In late June of 2004 a reunion of Fisher
Body Craftsman's Guild design competition contestants
from 1930 to 1968 was held. As a past participant and
winner, I would like to thank General Motors for the
opportunity the company gave us to prove to ourselves
and to others that we could do more than just sketch
designs in our school notebooks. The competition provided
the springboard for many of us to launch careers in
design and/or establish that we had the ability to see
a job through and be rewarded for it. That sense of
accomplishment meant a lot to us and, after all these
years, we are grateful to meet one another and admire
each other's models.
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1966
- John Melberg
( Photo by Ron Will) |
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As young boys interested in building
a model for the contest we had minimal information provided
to us by the Guild and I doubt that many of us knew
previous contestants or had friends who were also building
entries. Presumably GM wanted to keep information to
a minimum. They sought originality and did not want
us to have studied the work of others. A review of most
of the models certainly conveys a variety of ideas mostly
very original.
Anticipation of the arrival of the small envelope of
information from GM, outlining the contest rules, objectives
and instructions, was countered by shock. It was an
enormous challenge to do something that I had never
done anything like before and did not know how to do.
Could I do it?
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A
1932 Coach Entry
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
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My father, who had entered the contest
in the 1930s with a Napoleonic coach, was an engineer
and believed that without detailed plans nothing could
be properly built. Although supporting me, he dismissed
the project as a folly. After all "art and design
people always interfere with good engineering. You cannot
have it both ways and be successful", he would
say.
Starting with four wheels attached to axles mounted
to a wooden base, I affixed a large blob of green modeling
clay. Slowly I sculpted an object that was similar to
my drawings. Using a small lathe, I cut headlamps out
of clear plastic and hubcaps from aluminum. To form
trim and bumpers, a hacksaw and files shaped aluminum
which could be polished to give a chrome appearance.
Red epoxy was molded into tail light lenses.
Now for the hard part. The body had to be transformed
into wood and both sides had to be identical! It gets
worse. All the plastic and metal parts had to fit exactly
as they were in the clay model! This gargantuan task
had to be the breaking point for many contestants. What
should have taken weeks was taking months. Weekends
were extending into time for sports, television and
social activities. Finally, with little time left, the
last coat of paint was applied and the shipping box
was built. No sooner was it shipped than plans for the
next model were begun. All the lessons learned on the
first model would be incorporated into the next one
— a better design, along with revised or new techniques
and refined skills. The challenge had to be met.
A reunion gave participants in the competition their
first opportunity to compare results. It is very strange
that most of us never saw more than black and white
photographs of the top winners and learning how other
contestants constructed their entries was a mystery.
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| Guild Members
Hold Fond Memories |
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1937 - John Rauth
(Photo by Ron Van Gelderan) |
1947 - Tom Goad
(Photo by Steve Purdy) |
1947 -
Chuck Jordan
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
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1949 - Elia Russinoff
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1959 - Bill Scott
(Photo by John Perkins) |
1961 -
Ron Will
(Photo by Ron Will) |
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1963 - Bob Aikins
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1968 - Stewart Reed
(Photo by Steve Purdy) |
Bill Moore
(Photo by Ron Will) |
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Phillip Bonine
(Photo by Ron Van Gelderan) |
Ron Hill
(Photo by Ron Will) |
Virgil
Exner Jr.
(Photo by Ron Van Gelderan) |
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To capture the spirit of the reunion,
an article in "Collectible Automobile", December
2004, by Steve Purdy is highly recommended. "Recaptured
Youth: A Reunion of the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild"
provides a thorough review of the activities and history,
but most of all introduces you to the guildsmen and
their models.
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| Guild Models
Represented at Reunion |
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1932 - Coach
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1937 - Rauth
(Photo by Terry Graboski) |
1947 -
Virgil Exner Jr Model |
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1947 - Chuck Jordan
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1949 - Elia Russinoff
(Photo by David Chartier) |
1953 -
Thomas McDonnel
(Photo by David Chartier) |
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1954 - George Chartier
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1955 - George Anderson
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1955 -
John Perkins
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
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1956 - Allen Wiedeman
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1956 - Bill Moore
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1956 -
Henry Huizenga
(Photo by David Chartier) |
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1957 - Bill Scott
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1958 - Bill Scott
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1959 -
Bill Molzon
(Photo by Ron Will) |
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1959 - Bill Scott
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1960 - Darwin Hawthorn
(Photo by David Chartier) |
1960 -
Ronald Pellman
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
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1960 - Stuart Shuster
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1961 - Anthony Simone
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1961 -
Ron Will
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
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1962 - Philip Bonine
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1965 - Bud Magaldi
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1965 -
Glenn Hagen
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
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1965 - John Hambrock
(Photo by Harry Schoepf) |
1966 - John Mellberg
(Photo by Ron Will) |
1968 -
Stewart Reed
(Photo by David Chartier) |
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In 1987 John L. Jacobus wrote an article,
"Once & Future Craftsmen: A Fisher Guild Scrapbook,
1930 to 1968", which appeared in "Automobile
Quarterly", Volume 25, Number 2. It was the first
significant effort to document the Guild's history and
gave insight into the efforts and accomplishments of
thousands of contestants. Jacobus' soon to be published
book, The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild: An Illustrated
History will be much more comprehensive and enlightening.
For more information see a previous Automotive Chronicles
article here
and to purchase please go to www.McFarlandPub.com.
Also available are two CD-ROM diskettes that cover
the reunion and the models, as follows:
"Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Reunion" by
George Chartier and his son, David. Photos shown above
are only a sampling and have come from various sources.
Only ones credited to David Chartier are on this CD.
$11.00 (includes shipping). Diskette is organized as
follows:
Day One ~
Craftsmans Guild Reunion
Concept cars
Day Two ~ Eyes on Design Show
Fisher Body Models
Auto Exhibits
In the Parking Lot
Order diskette from:
George Chartier
28067 Southfarm Lane
Northville, MI 48167
E-Mail: DAVkeychain@aol.com
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