Hearst

[joe]

I sent this photo to Gary Beckwith this morning wondering if he had a clue to how this was done. My best guess was carved wood panels but Gary though it might be a metal overlay on wood and the whole side was done as a unit and applied to the vehicle. Anyway this dates back to the 40's. After seeing this van I'd like to do some curtains out of HDU and finish them off with SN's Pueter or perhaps a deep maroon satin latex.

I wonder if this is a lost art of applying thick metal foil to a wood surfaces? I'd like to find out more and give it a try. I bet my horse ranch people would be interested. Not to mention entrance signs for housing additions as well as farms and ranches. If I could roll back my age ten years or there would be plenty time for more investigation. Somehow it allways pays off to experiment.

All of us are fortunate to have examples of what can be done.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/joecrumley/30683u1.jpg



http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/joecrumley/Hearst.jpg
This photo came from Shopry's Historical Photo's. It's a wonderful site to visit. They sell photography. www.shorpy.comJ (http://www.shorpy.comJ)

Joe Crumley
www.nomansignco.com (http://www.nomansignco.com)

[garyb]

just to clarify I believe they are pressed metal panels which were then applied to the wood frame of the vehicle.
possibly pressed from a wood or metal mold

most of the vehicles of this era had wood frames like this door frame I was assembling.