Fisher Body Craftsman Guild - 2008 reunion
The General Motors Craftsman's Guild, an auto design competition, was sponsored by the Fisher Body Division of General Motors. The original competition was to build Coaches based on the Fisher Body Emblem.
Clicking on the below image opens up a photo album containing all the pictures from the event
The competition later encouraged teenagers to build scale models of their dream cars.
Clicking on the below image opens up a photo album containing all the pictures from the event
The competition for Dream Cars was from the late 1930's thru 1968 and it provided thousands of scholarships to the winners. My husband, Paul Tatseos, won three times on different levels of the competition giving him a good start on his education at the Art Center College of Design in California. He went on to work at General Motors Design Staff, in Warren Michigan, as did many of the other competitors. Other winners went to other auto companies, industrial design, engineering, medicine and many other careers.
August 2008 is the 100th anniversary of Fisher Body and a re-union of the winners and their cars was put together at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Approx 60 winners, many who have never met before, brought their cars to the museum for public showings.
The turnout was far more than I expected. Hundreds of people, over the weekend, viewed the cars and talked to their creators.
Clicking on the below image opens up a photo album containing all the pictures from the event
One young man was so enthralled with the designs that he was allowed to hold my husbands cars.
His father said You and Paul really made all the difference for my sons experience there. By the end of the day he was totally comfortable going up and talking to some of the guys about the models they built and what they did later in their life. He's still a little young to appreciate what the men in that room have done but I'm not and I would love it if you passed on to Paul that as soon as we got home we went down in the basement and pulled out a 5 pound bag of clay and started to sculpt a "Dream Car". You both made a very memorable day for a wide eyed little boy and these pictures are going to send him over the top.
I would like for all of those interested to know that there are still young people out there who want to learn what only they can teach them. In my profession I work very hard to keep the tradition of "Craftsman and Apprentice" alive and I hope to see some of that carry on here. Even in financially challenging times the one thing you can't afford not to have is creativity. Hopefully we can even spark an interest to bring the contest back to life for some kids in the future.
Thanks again
jimi
John L. Jacobus wrote the definitive book about the Guild and was responsible was putting together this show. We all want to thank him. For more information about John and The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild see John's Website
The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Exhibition Catalogue can be purchased from the museum
The night before the show members gathered to share stories and memorbilia that was not in the show.
Clicking on the below image opens up a photo album containing all the pictures from the event
Great Article of the 100th Anniversary of GM
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Fantastic, Virginia!
Virginia, Your husband is obviously very talented. How moving that that young boy was so enthralled by the cars & technique - I hope he pursues it and has a car of his own at the show one day! Great job!
Did Paul work at the Tech Center?? No way! What years? My dad worked there for 30+ years before retiring in 1991-ish. He worked for the Design Staff too, in the shop making the clay model prototypes, among other things. Small world.
Cool cars!
Virginia- There was a lot of talent and creativity during 30's-60's and what a wonderful way to bring forth the vision to our future. I love it when a child can take and experience and build on it. Have a great day and stay out of Hot Lava:)
Marianne, my husband worked at the Tech Center for 35 years. He was an interior designer. 17 years with Buick, overseas for 5 years, and retired out of the Chevy studio.
The Guild made it possible for him to start college.
Virginia - Sounds cool. There were some really cool designs that came out of those compatitions. There was a time when I wanted to be a car designer... I think my mother might have the drawings to prove it. Had I made it, there would be a lot of people driving variants of the Mach 5 from Speed Racer.
Lane, you could have been part of the team making dream cars.
Virginia, What a terriffic job taking all those photos. My guess is that you have better coverage of the event than anyone, including the organizers. I know that Ron Will was taking a lot of photos too, but you scooped them by having yours out first. The photos of the young boy with Paul's car is priceless. The expression on his face says it all. How nice it was for Paul to do that. I am sure the boy will remember that experience for a life time.
Thanks for the photos.
Bill
Thanks Bill, I believe that boy made a difference to our trip to. He glowed when he was holding those cars.
If any interest the is a Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Traveling Coach for sale on ebay item # 270310465780
Thank you so much for posting the information. I am a 5-time alumni of the Guild (built cars from '63 thru '67) and although I never won an award, it is still a highlight of my life. I lament the lack of such a character building opportunity for my son and grandsons.
Thanks for the post
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