Hood Ornaments

1931-1932 PEARCE-ARROW HOOD ORNAMENT
(TIREUR D' ARC)
DESIGNED BY WILLIAM SCHNELL

1932 PEARCE-ARROW TOURING CAR

Over 30 years ago, Larry Wahl began collecting hood ornaments, also known as mascots. He now has almost 300 pieces in his collection. It includes examples from most American auto companies as well as some foreign makes, as well.

Hood ornaments were originally exterior radiator caps, some of which housed temperature gauges on automobiles. When manufacturers began mounting temperature gauges on the dashboard, hood ornaments took their place mainly to reflect brand identity. Many hood ornaments were handcrafted, created to suit the car owner’s personality. In the 1950s hood ornaments took the shape of space aged rocket ships and jet planes. Hood ornaments also became bigger and heavier as did the cars and became more expensive to produce. They also became hazardous when accidents occurred.

On the following page there are some HAND TINTED POSTCARDS.

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