Regrettably
and to the detriment of American manufacturing, women designers seldom received
credit for their incredible work during the middle of the 20th Century.
The
American automotive industry was a man’s game and women were seldom asked to
participate.
And
yet, if it were not for women designers of that era many of the innovative,
practical and eye-pleasing designs of automobile interiors and exteriors would
not have existed.
Unlike
most men whose ideas of an automobile tended to be on the more practical and
barebones side, women designers paid to attention to the aesthetics.
Color
and fabric selection, eye and feel appeal of dashes, seats, interior details, exterior
accessories such as chrome and body style and many more design considerations
were pioneered by women designers.
With
the ever increasing inclusion of women in the work force, a higher standard of
living, free time and wages that afforded small luxuries women obtained a
larger say in everyday purchases and drove manufacturers to cater to their wants
and needs.
Men
may have been the breadwinners but women ruled the roost and the household
budget.
In
author Constance A Smith’s new book: Damsels
In Design, from Schiffer Books,
readers are taken on a trip back in time to witness women pioneers in the automotive
industry from 1939 to 1959.
Key
women designers are given full credit for their creations and contributions
accompanied by fascinating text, lots of vintage photographs, concept sketches
and illustrations and close-ups of car interiors and exteriors designed by
women.
It
is an absolutely fascinating book of a bygone era where the seeds of change had
been planted to eventually bloom to full blossom in the decades to follow.