I’m not at all sure where the “Art Deco” name for the series was coined. The later ’47-‘55 “Advance Design” name of course was that used by GM for that series in their advertising campaign. “Art Deco” was a decorative movement taking hold in the 20’s in Europe and then becoming quite popular here in the states thru the 30’s. Almost all of the “Art Deco” building design, furniture, jewelry, art, etc., that has survived today is from the late 20’s and thru the early to mid 30’s. By the 40’s the fad had pretty much fizzled out everywhere.
The automobile was evolving rapidly during the actual “Art Deco” era of the 30’s and the GM trucks were no exception. GM made major body design changes almost every year during this period. The ’41- ’47 series was the first long running unchanged body design so collectors needed a name for the series. I don’t recall ever seeing a GM ad that referred to the series as “Art Deco” so I always figured that for the lack of something better to call the series some collectors started calling them “Art Deco” and the term stuck.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
