1930, 31 & 32 Seat material

[farrellg]

Does anyone have anything that identifies the seat material for the the 30, 31 and 32 trucks? From the instruction guides, the material appears to be smooth and leather like. But I have yet to find anything that specifically identifies it. Any help appreciated.

Inspecting the 3 original seats I have for all 3 trucks, most appear to have been recovered in various materials. However, I do have one set that appears to be mostly original and appears to be a black leather. With 80 years of drying out and use, very hard to tell.

Edited May 15, 2013 by farrellg (see edit history)

[Guest 1930]

I can help with this George, just have a rough week going on, remind me if you wish in a few days

[farrellg]

I can help with this George' date=' just have a rough week going on, remind me if you wish in a few days[/quote']

No problem Jason, will do.

[Guest DodgeKCL]

The original material does not exist anymore. It was a form of cloth (linen like the roof material?) impregnated with some kind of 'plastic'. But they didn't have plastic yet so I'm guessing it's calendared with lacquer. They were great for using lacquer for a lot of things. They 'pebbled' the surface for grip so you wouldn't just slid off the seat. I'm also guessing it was made the same way the roofing material was, except the seats didn't use rubber. My one driver's seat from 1935 was still in original condition and I still have it though I'm not using it. It was in this brown pebbled material with white piping and filled with horse hair. The base for the seat and back were plywood. I had an upholsterer re and re a set of folding seats from,I believe, a 1931 Ford Victoria Tudor in modern material the same color as in 1935. It's just some kind of modern vinyl in a pebbled finish. I didn't copy the custom white piping. I think this what you're going to end up doing.

[farrellg]

Yea, that sound like it. Thanks. Very close to the top material. The original I have appears to be smooth. Here are two pages from the 31and 32 instruction guide. I know it is a rendition, but appears smooth here also. I assume they may have same material as you describe in smooth. I have the split seat springs for one of my trucks. The other was replaced with a one piece. I am going to have the split seat springs made up for the other two. 31 is the one with 1/2 seat removed.

[Guest 1930]

I believe it was described as a leatherette, ( that may be just a bit earlier though ) smooth finish like you show in the manual. I have 31-32 truck salesmanship books, I think they would have the details and will look thru them over the weekend. I dont think we see the pebble finish until a bit later, mid thirties, certainly not before 32 on seats.

Edited May 16, 2013 by 1930 (see edit history)

[Guest DodgeKCL]

I'm going to stick my neck out here because I can't find it right now in any of my books, but I think the material on our truck seats, smooth or pebbled, in the 30s was called 'Fabricoid' or 'Fabrikoid'. Most likely a specific brand name like Kleenex but it was used to cover a lot of different brands of that 'plastic' seat material. Leatherette or Naugahyde came later. How much later I don't know but Naugahyde was all the rage in the 50s.

[30DodgePanel]

Hi George, this may or may not be of help but I found a good read online that discusses many methods for book bindings and wondered if it may have also applied or been implemented by the auto industry at some point later before the introduction of other more modern materials. From what I understand these methods and materials may have been used on many different surfaces but I've only just begun my research into this.

From the Library Bookbinding by Arthur L. Bailey, 1916 Library Bookbinding By Arthur L. Bailey. A Project Gutenberg eBookWater Proof Cloths (Page 82)

"There are several cloths which are waterproof and therefore easily cleaned when the covers become soiled. The best of these are durabline, used exclusively by Cedric Chivers; rexine and pluviusin, used almost exclusively in England; Keratol, made in Newark, New Jersey; and Fabrikoid, made by the du Pont Powder Company, Wilmington, Delaware. All of these cloths are said to be acid, alkali and germ proof, do not absorb grease and can be washed with soap and water. They are strong, durable cloths, but they have at first a disagreeable odor, are hard to work and hard to letter in gold. In the application of paste to most waterproof cloths, either in the process of binding or in attaching labels to the back, it is first necessary to break down the surface of the cloth or the paste will not hold. This disadvantage no longer exists in the case of fabrikoid. Keratol and fabrikoid are made to imitate leather and are frankly sold as such. Probably the use of these cloths in libraries will always be comparatively small. Because they can be easily cleaned they may be used on the[Pg 82] sides of juvenile books, and in rare cases for full binding."

A quick search for Fabrikoid Du Pont brings up quite a few interesting articles, I have yet to make a 100 % percent positive ID myself but maybe someone else will come across a more solid answer.

Edited May 19, 2013 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[Guest 1930]

Imitation leather or leatherette was used profusely on cars and trucks prior to 1932, I dont know how much prior but I thought that I had heard a story about the model A using it for the first time on a high volume basis for their rumble seat cars.

I also thought it was used prior to that but I cant seem to find the time to dig too far into that.

Fabricoid also sounds very familiar.

I will keep looking for a better answer but I did come across the pictures which I thought might be of interest.

The pictures are from 31/32 sales booklets

[farrellg]

Thanks. This info really helps. I know exactly the type of material, the use it here in the Mennonite community to roof and side their buggies. Comes smooth and with a texture. I am not sure what it is called today, but I think that is the path I am going to go.