Fisher Body Craftsman Guild Exhibition Catalogue

About This Item

“Body by Fisher” is an iconic slogan in the auto industry. The seven Fisher brothers who created the company which became world-famous for manufacturing the very best auto bodies came from a prominent family of 19th century carriage builders.

Early motor cars, mostly built by companies who had made carriages, had open bodies. The Fisher brothers felt that the future lay in closed bodies; in July 1908 they formed the Fisher Body Company. In 1919 General Motors Corporation acquired a 60% interest in the Fisher Body Corporation, and in 1926 GM acquired the remaining 40%.

In July 1927 General Motors Corporation hired Harley Earl to run a new division, called the Art and Colour Section. Styling would now become an essential ingredient of car manufacturing. The close association of Harley Earl and the Fisher brothers would ultimately lead to the establishment of the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild, a philanthropic foundation whose objective was to create “an organization for the development of craftsmanship and creative ability among boys.”

Announcements went out in August 1930 to proclaim the establishment of the Guild and to announce a competition open to young men from 12 to 19. They were challenged to create a prize-worthy model of the Napoleonic coach which was the trademark of the Fisher Body Corporation. There was no cost for a boy to sign up; everyone received regular mailings from the Guild. Those boys who felt they could compete in the model contest were sent blueprints which would enable them to start work.

Approximately 8 million boys may well have been Guild members over the life of the Guild (1930-1937 and 1946-1968). Records indicate that only 32,800 models were submitted. Between prizes and administrative costs, GM estimated a total expenditure of close to $24 million over the years of the competition.

The exhibition offered a rare opporunity to examine more than 60 hand-crafted 1/12 scale model cars. They were designed and built from 1947 to 1968 by young men, many of whom went on to careers in industrial and automotive design. This publication will not only serve as a catalogue of the various models exhibited, but will also be of great interest to collectors and scholars seeking to understand the evolution of post-World War II auto design in America.

64 pages.
93 color photographs.