Saturday, August 23, 2014

Dashboard Lights: Part One, The Gothard Pilot Light Assembly Company


In the beginning, there was glass.

There were a few notable entries in the dash and accessory light business in the 1940's. Gothard, Drake, Dialco, Cole Hersee were a few of the bigger ones, and they produced similar styles, all with individual touches, all with their strengths and weaknesses.

1944 Gothard Catalog



Gothard was a pioneer. One of their design "flares" was that little six-sided bezel. The other companies had a circle bezel. I actually dig the more industrial look that Gotham produced.
The overall design is, as I mentioned above, fairly standard, and because the product is pretty uniform among the companies, it became a battle of sales and attrition, and unfortunately, Gothard succumbed, losing a lawsuit which strained company finances, and led to their sale to the Sangamo Electric Company in 1954.

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