Trivia!...Avanti Designers

[mfg]

Trivia...During the design phase, the Avanti design team were denied two things By Raymond Loewy during their stay at Palm Springs...can anyone name those two things?

[Gunslinger]

No telephones, no wives or girlfriends.

[mfg]

No telephones, no wives or girlfriends.

Right, looking for no wives or girlfriends...and the telephone answer 'rings' true also!

[Guest dapy]

I met Raymond Loewy in Dick Hutchinson's basement in South Bend in 1948-49. What he did in Palm Springs thankfully did not stay in Palm Springs.

[mfg]

I met Raymond Loewy in Dick Hutchinson's basement in South Bend in 1948-49. What he did in Palm Springs thankfully did not stay in Palm Springs.

Your meeting R. L. sounds like it could be a real interesting story!

[Gunslinger]

From most everything I've ever read about Raymond Loewy it seems he was brilliant as a promoter (of himself and his company) and as a judge of talent. He was also supposedly very arrogant...or maybe it was self-confidence...depending on one's point of view or dealings with him. In an interview he said he found humility and ability mutually exclusive traits. He also said his mother taught him it was better to be envied than pitied.

While Loewy was undoubtedly very accomplished, many, if not most, items with his name were done by others in his employ and he got (or took) the credit. Maybe that's too strong a description...as he had influence and approval of everything that went out of his shop. He did personally design a number of logos, packages, etc., but look at some of his personal auto designs after Studebaker dropped his contract in the 1950's...there are some bizarre designs there. He did have the excellent taste to have his Avanti team use the best of those design cues from his personal designs to come up with the exquisite Avanti body.

Supposedly the man died near penniless from bad investments and trusting the wrong people. If so...it was very sad.

[TMA62]

Dad, Robert Andrews, related that clocks, calenders, TV's, radios were removed from the house. Loewy wanted to work such that things from the outside world may interfere in the design process. If an idea came at 2 am, then start working on it and forget about waiting til the morning. Likewise, if you were working on something at 4pm, don't think about stopping for dinner. Continue working on the project. Of course, Loewy could not control the sun and he allowed my Dad to go out in the backyard during breaks. Dad related that he remembered and looked forward to seeing aircraft take off and land from the local airport. In particular, he remembers seeing and hearing the Fokker turboprop passenger planes. Turboprops have a unique 'hissing' sound when idling, taxiing and taking off. Dad associated the these planes with the Avanti project.

One thing I think was allowed in the Loewy home was playing records. I never asked Dad as to if any music was played when they worked and also what type of music it was. I have some hunches but am not certain.