The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk What does Art Deco mean? Where did it come from?

Im sure this has been asked before. What does art deco mean? Where does the term come from??

A

Check this link. I think it was primarly due to the styling of the truck.


http://www.haist-usa.com/artdecotrucks/

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

So I will pose another question: Wasn't the offical GM name "Liberty Series" and as Denny states the term "art deco" was more of a collector label?

46 Texaco,

Did you see the term "Liberty Series" in a document or on a website?

There were series-names used for some of the Chevrolet trucks before 1940 and after the Advance-Design series, but, as Denny very nicely described, GM/Chevrolet did not use an official series name from 41-46.

There were Liberty trucks in WWI but it was not a truck from a specific vendor.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8126

Art Deco design reached its peak in the US in the mid thirties, but remember folks designing vehicles are working for years prior to the vehicle being sold to the public. And of course WWII put a dent in new vehicle designs, so the art deco syling of these trucks went on longer than maybe would have. I always believed, as others have stated, that GM never called them this and it was particularly the styling of the grills that earned them the Art Deco nickname. I also think it interesting that the dealer installed hood ornament for the Advance Design trucks was very much also a hold over from the art deco design period.

This is a pretty good explanation of "Art Deco"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco

Thank you all.

Great job everyone! I love this stuff.