|
Los
Angeles' second best-known maker of Carson-style tops (after Glen
Houser, the
style's originator) was Gaylord's, a small upholstery shop founded at
the end of the Second World War by William Gaylord Lunney. Gaylord also
constructed padded convertible tops in addition to the non-folding
'Carson-style', but is better known today for his upholstery work which
graced many a 1950s showcar.
(In Northern California Oakland's Calvin A. Hall
built Carson-style tops and custom interiors for Sacramento's Harry
Westergard and Sam and George Barris.)
Over time 'Carson Top' has became the generic
name for
a custom-built,
removable, non-folding, padded, chopped top most often found on custom
automobiles
constructed on the West Coast during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Named after Houser's employer, Amos Carson, by the early 1950s a number
of Californian
upholstery shops were producing nearly identical tops, all of which
should more
appropriately called 'Carson-style’ tops.
Gaylord, as he was known ever since he was a
youngster, was
born on May 30, 1927 in Oklahoma to William Walter and Lottie (Lemon)
Lunney.
Lottie was William’s second wife, his first being Minnie Elizabeth
(Lizzy)
Vetter with which he had two children; Harlow Max and Marie (m.
Pizzichino)
Lunney.
After losing his first wife, William Walter
Lunney wedded
Lottie, producing two
children, William Gaylord (our subject) and Phillip S. Lunney who was
born in
1929 shortly after the family relocated to California. The 1930 Census
lists
the family as residents of 6314 Randolph St., Bell, California. The
1940 US Census lists the family as
residents of 3917 Randolph St., Huntington Park, California and Lottie
is
listed as a widow.
In an interview with custom culture
historian Pat Ganahl, Ed
‘Big Daddy’ Roth recalled Lunney as follows:
“Then there wuz guys like Gaylord Lunney who
goes by
‘Gaylord’ in the rod mags with his pickup bed covers & liners.
Well, Gaylord was
the best example of American enterprise that I know of. Ya
see Gaylord had two things he was good at: women & cars.
He had
'em both. He was the head jock at Bell. Later on, when he went into
the upholstery business, he hung all o’ his tickets to the wall.
‘Count
‘em.’ He’d dare ya! There was too many, but we took his word for over
200 of
‘em. When he was 14 he got this old wreck like the rest of us but
instead of
goin’ to Tijuana for seats he did ‘em himself & it wasn’t bad. He
painted
it and sold it for a fortune & he took the bread & bought
another wreck
& did this about six times & ends up with this beautiful,
brand-new ’48
Caddy all decked out with a ‘Carson-type’ top on it that he made
himself.
Girls? Ya can imagine.”
Lunney started in the upholstery business by
installing
replacement convertible tops, initially working out of his home, which
was
located in Lynwood, just off of Long Beach Blvd. - his listing in the
1949
Compton, Calif. directory:
“Wm. G. Lunney, upholsterer, r. 1817 Diane.”
The tops of two- to three-year-old
convertibles that more
often than not were parked on the street, were prime candidates for
Lunney’s
new tops and he discovered he could get considerably more money by
installing a
fashionable padded ‘French Top’ instead of factory-issued unit.
He scoured the streets for cars with shabby
tops, inserting
his card under the wiper blade, and waiting for the phone calls to
start
pouring in, which they did. In an interview with Rod & Custom’s
Thom Taylor
he recalled:
“I was doing Buicks like crazy. I used to do
them in five
hours and get a hundred bucks. In those days that was good money.”
Even more popular were his padded tops for
1941-1948 Fords
and Mercurys which were furnished with 1941-style door glass with a
radiused rear
corner:
“Some of those guys didn’t want to pay the
extra 15 bucks
for the glass. I’d use their glass and
have the glass guy put in a 5-inch curve, then I’d put on this new
piece of
aluminum channel. I was getting $165 for the tops, so $15 was a lot of
extra
money.”
He rented a shop in Lynwood located down the
street from the
Barris Bros.’ and inevitably they began collaborating on project cars.
George Barris wasn’t satisfied with
Gaylord’s padded tops
which had a pronounced hump or 'bubble-top look' at the rear. He worked
with
Lunney to help re-shape the superstructure on a top for a 1941 Ford
into a
lighter, more attractive, tapered form. According to Lunney:
“George helped me with the shaping. I used
machine-gun webbing stretched real
tight across and then I clamped all the bows where I wanted them.”
With the hump gone, Barris was now happy
with Gaylord’s tops
and Lunney became a favored Barris sub-contractor, going so far as to
take out
joint advertisement in the custom car trade magazines which included an
ad in
Motor Trend which can be found on the right.
While Sam Barris is credited with being the
first to chop the
top of a 1949 Mercury coupe, little acclaim has been awarded to Lunney,
who
chopped the top of this 1949 Mercury at the start of 1950, just a
couple
months prior to when Barris chopped his Merc, Lunney related:
“I was called up for the army around January
1950. I had
just enough time to finish chopping my '49 Merc convertible, but of
course, my
stint in the army meant that Sam's car got all the glory. I didn't even
get to
enjoy the car because, while I was away, I told my first wife to sell
it. Well,
this soldier persuaded her to give him the pink slip saying he needed
it to
secure a loan. She never saw him, or the Merc, again.”
The timing of the Barris/Gaylord ads were
also disastrous
for Lunney:
“I was sittin’ in Germany making $96 a month
when those
Barris/Gaylord ads ran, it was a big
waste
for me, but it was alright for Barris.”
Lunney returned to southern California at
the end of 1951
and soon after his discharge picked up right where he left off,
although he was
no longer Barris’ favored top and upholstery shop as he explained, “he
had to
get somebody to replace me.”
Lunney rented a small shop at 5238 East
Imperial Hwy. (corner
of Wright) in Lynwood, Calif., and greatly expanded his custom
upholstery work.
He related the details to Thom Taylor:
“I started to do customs after the army
because I had to do
it to keep my upholstery business. I wasn’t doing much of Barris’
upholstery. I
think the last job I did for him was the Kopper Kart. Barris had his
connections and I did a lot of upholstery for other shops in the area,
so I was
competing against Barris in some ways.”
As the demand for tops decreased Lunney
began handling large
upholstery jobs for the region’s custom car builders and even managed
construct
a few custom cars totally in-house. He relocated to larger facilities
at 7932
Atlantic Blvd. in Bell, Calif., and expanded into the mail-order
business
producing custom-made fitted carpets that were advertised through
display ads
in Car Craft, Custom Cars, Motor Life, Motor Trend, and Rod &
Custom
magazine.
Lunney was always happy to accommodate
photographers from
Robert E. Petersen’s LA-based Trend Publications and the Gaylord shop
was the
background for numerous how-to upholstery pictorials. Lunney recalled:
“Dick Day practically lived at my shop. He
would bring over
products for us to try, then do articles about them. We did a lot of
sports
cars for him too.”
The October 1953 issue of Rod and Custom
included a
firsthand description of the construction of a Gaylord top:
“Upholstery By Gaylord (photos by Poole)
“HOW MANY times have you seen a good looking
custom or a rod
with a set of ill- fitting seat covers and worn or torn inner panels
ruining
the otherwise beautiful appearance of a car? For some reason, a lot of
enthusiasts seemingly overlook the upholstery in their cars. Maybe they
feel
that since other people can't see into the car while it is being driven
that an
all-out upholstery job would be a waste of money or, possibly, they
feel that
the interior design and color scheme that they would like to have is
too
expensive and so are content to leave well enough alone.
“To be perfectly truthful, upholstery has
always scared us a
little, too. We decided to look into the matter the other day so,
notebook in
hand, we drove down to Lynwood, Calif. to see a man named Gaylord. We
had heard
that he was turning out some pretty fabulous stuff in the way of
upholstery so
a thorough looking-into, we felt, was in order.
“Entering the shop, which was surrounded by
all sorts of
cars, we spotted Gaylord himself in the act of giving Dave Crates some
pointers
on the installation of a pleated inner quarter panel on a clean little
rod. We
interrupted him to ask a few questions and soon found ourselves being
given a
king's tour of the upholstery shop.
“With cars being brought to the shop from
all parts of
California, as well as many other states, the shop gives the impression
of
having no semblance of order. Cars, seats, great rolls of material and
the
tools necessary to the upholstering trade seem to be scattered
willy-nilly
throughout the buildings. Gaylord's employees seem to skip from one
project to
another and a picture is given that no sense of order exists. In
actuality,
however, there is very little lost motion and beneath the surface there
lies a
strict regularity and all the various operations are completed in
proper
chronological order.
“Following Gaylord into an adjoining
building, we watched
him light up the welding torch and go to work on the construction of a
padded
removable top.
“The car in question is a radical Chevy
custom that was
built in another part of the state. The chopped windshield and the cut
down
glass frames were completed before Gaylord received the car but from
this stage
on the job is his baby. The original top bows and actuating mechanism
were
first removed as were the seats and every bit of original interior
covering.
“Building a padded top, one of Gaylord's
more popular jobs,
requires a great deal of work and the project generally takes about a
week from
start to finish. Each individual top is built to enhance the contour
lines of
the particular car. He has-built literally hundreds of these tops with
no two
of them being identical in every respect.
“After the removal of the former top
structure, the next
step is to sketch top designs and decide on the style to be used. Full
scale
patterns and templates are made using the selected sketch as a guide.
Next,
work is begun on the shaping of ribs and trusses, from 2" channel iron,
and the necessary lighter frame work. The original windshield headboard
is the
only part of the original top retained. As soon as the numerous
necessary
measurements are taken the various sections are carefully welded
together.
“When the skeletal framework has been
completed, the next
successive operation involves the upholstering. The first step at this
stage is
to cover the frame with chicken wire. This provides a base upon which
the
necessary layers of padding can be placed. With the majority of the
insulating
material being positioned, the inner headliner is the next to go in.
The
headliner itself is much the same color scheme must be chosen by the
owner – or
suggested by Gaylord – and designs made so that it will result in
absolute
conformity with the remainder of the interior. The liner is hung in the
manner
common to all cars – using metal bows to give the lined the proper
contour.
“As soon as the inner lining is concluded,
the outer covering
is commenced. This requires additional layers of insulating padding to
provide
a firm foundation for the tightly stretched outer material. In the
accompanying
photo, Gaylord is doing a bit of measuring on the last layer. This
final
section of padding must be carefully installed since any irregularity
in
thickness will result in wrinkles or bulges. This particular car, when
completed, will boast one of the lowest tops Gaylord has built recently.
“Leaving Gaylord to his work and going out
to the parking
area beside the shop, we come across Jack MacGill putting the final
touches on
a newly completed, custom Ford. This particular car, more than any
other at the
time we were at the shop, is typical of the fine work done by Gaylord.
The
seats, headlining and door .panels are done in a1 startling combination
of
reddish-brown and antique white leatherette with pleats and rolls
running in
all directions. The headliner itself required over a week's work to
design and
sew to say nothing of the time required to install it, made doubly
difficult
due to the radical modifications to the top itself and to the body in
general.
“Because most of the more radical customs
are driven to the
shop with their interiors resembling an empty, fifty gallon drum, it is
left up
to Gaylord and his employees to not only upholster the inner panels and
seats
but to give the interior its final touches, such as: replacing the dash
instruments if they happen to be removed at the time, installing
spotlights as
well as cutting and rewelding seat frames if they happen to need
alteration. In
short, the entire interior of the cars is left up to Gaylord.
Incidentally, the
shop is located at 5238 Imperial Highway in Lynwood.
“The pride of ownership of a rod or custom
is proven not
only by the upholstery on the seats or sides of a car, but by the floor
carpeting as well. Although floors are usually considered as being
nothing more
than something to put feet on, they actually cover as great, or
greater, an
area than the headliner and are seen more often! Why, then, be
satisfied with a
wrinkled, misfitting rubber floor mat? Gaylord wouldn't any more leave
a floor
covering in its stock, drab looking appearance than a paint shop would,
say,
give a car a beautiful iridescent lacquer job - all, that is, except
the front
fenders.
“To prove a point, Gaylord's carpets have
received such
favorable and widespread comment that the shop has gone into actual
production
on them for the more popular cars and they ship them to all parts of
the
country.
“No universal carpets are made at the shop,
each one is
precision made to fit a particular car giving an assurance of a perfect
fit.
Here, in the carpet sewing room, we see Dave Crates again, this time
sewing
padding onto a maroon carpet for a late model Ford. Carpets for any
particular
car in practically any shade may be ordered from the shop.
“Custom work, while occupying the lion’s
share of the time
at the shop, does not receive the entire consideration of the shop's
forces. In
the accompanying photo Ronnie Morrow is shown tacking the inner padding
to the
stock framework of a Mercury convertible prior to recovering it. While
the
prices for such work are strictly in accordance with prices at any
upholstery
shop, the workmanship on stock jobs is equal to that on the most
expensive of
custom jobs.
“To keep things flowing smoothly and running
on an even
keel, Gaylord hires his employees with a particular spot in mind for
them to
fill, and trains them to do that job with an exactitude surpassing the
majority
of similar shops. For instance, Ronnie Morrow works solely on top
coverings,
whether they are custom or stock, and he follows them through to
completion.
Occasionally, though, the helpers double up to assist each other out of
a bind
if such an instance becomes necessary.
“Returning to the adjoining building
(construction work
requiring welding is done away from the stock of upholstery material
because of
the fire danger) we find Gaylord checking the fit of the Chevy padded
top
before the final canvas covering is installed. Notice that this
particular car
has been not only completely reupholstered, but has had a rear seat
tarpaulin
made. While most enthusiasts use the tarp only when their convertible
tops are
down (or removed in the case of a padded top) the owner of this car
wants to
retain it most of the time. It was necessary, therefore, to cut a slot
into the
tarp so that the fastening clip can be passed through it. With the top
in its
proper position, a bolt is passed through the aligned holes and, when
tightened
up, holds the top securely. Additional strength is added when the outer
covering is installed since snap fasteners are used to hold the top
tightly to
the belt molding.
“Thanking friend Gaylord for the information
passed onto us
and apologizing for taking him away from his job for a few hours, we
left
thinking how nice it would be if we were in a position to have our
Upholstery
by Gaylord Kustom Shop.”
A couple of Gaylord-built full customs also
appeared in the page
of the mid-50s buff books, in particular a 1953 Oldsmobile in which he
installed 1954 Packard taillights and a Gaylord padded top with a
reverse-angle
rear window. When displayed at car shows, the top lifted from the side
to reveal
its custom Gaylord interior.
Lunney also constructed a series of
semi-custom shop trucks
that did double duty as two vehicles for his numerous custom
speedboats, a favorite passtime of his.
The custom top and upholstery business went
into decline in
the late 1950s when competitors began setting up shop across the
Mexican border
in Tijuana. The custom car craze began a steady decline soon afterwards
and
Lunney turned to the manufacture of seats and interiors for regional
speedboat
manufacturers. Business expanded and he purchased an industrial vinyl
cutter in
order to keep up with the demand, employing as many as 25 craftsmen at
its peak
in the early 1960s.
However the speedboat craze ended just as
quickly as the
custom craze and a number of manufacturers failed, owing him thousands.
Once
again Lunney made lemonade from the lemons as follows:
“Rather than go to court and get nothing,
I’d come by and
ask what they had. I’d deduct whatever they would give me from the
bill, and
off I’d go.”
With a factory full of boat building
equipment and
accessories, Lunney quickly constructed a few Fiberglas molds and
commenced the
construction of the Gaylord speedboat, of which 350 examples were built
during the
mid-Sixties. His next brainstorm came quite by accident, he fabricated
a hard
Fiberglass tonneau cover for his personal Ranchero in 1964, and within
a few
months had a backlog of orders for other truck enthusiasts who desired
similar covers
for their Rancheros and El Camino. The hard tonneau covers were
marketed as ‘Gaylord
Lids’ and soon after the lineups expanded to included pickup bed covers
and
hardware.
The firm relocated to a larger facility
located at 6801
Paramount Blvd. in Long Beach, Calif. and remains in business today at
a new plant
located at 13538 Excelsior Dr., in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.
At that time the senior Lunney handed over
the reins of the
company to his son William Gaylord Lunney II (b. 1962) and retired.
Today
Gaylord Lids remains a major player in the aftermarket truck accessory
business, marketing tonneau covers and bed liners for pickups both old
and new.
See: gaylordslids.com
© 2013 Mark
Theobald for Coachbuilt.com
|
