Jo-Han: Difference between revisions
Category added. |
|||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
==The Golden Age== |
==The Golden Age== |
||
The 1950s and 1960s are considered a "golden age" for promotional models and kits, with pre-assembled dealer promotionals coming first in the |
The 1950s and 1960s are considered a "golden age" for promotional models and kits, with pre-assembled dealer promotionals coming first in the late 1940s, then kits adding profit around 1958. Most kits were known as "annuals" by hobbyists, and followed the bigger business of promos that represented the new cars introduced at the beginning of each model year. |
||
In |
In 1964, Jo-Han began using non-warping [[polystyrene]] plastic as opposed to [[cellulose acetate]] used previously. The new styrene held its shape over time. Often, the upward warping of the outward edges of front fenders above a non-warping styrene chrome grille was particularly pronounced on Jo-Han models, thus Clarence Young, promo connosieur, has called it the "Jo-Han" smile (Clarence Young Autohobby). |
||
Usually there were no opening features, but Jo-Han plastic models were intricately detailed, with accurate body scripts, trim, and emblems, as well as seat and dashboard highlights. Intricate details would change from year to year according to annual design changes and specifications of the real cars produced. |
Usually there were no opening features, but Jo-Han plastic models were intricately detailed, with accurate body scripts, trim, and emblems, as well as seat and dashboard highlights. Intricate details would change from year to year according to annual design changes and specifications of the real cars produced. |
||
Revision as of 16:56, 7 September 2011
Jo-Han is a manufacturer of plastic scale model car promotionals and kits originally based in Detroit. The company was founded there in 1947 by tool and die maker John Hanley - a year before West Gallogly's AMT and about the same time as PMC. Afer changing hands a couple of times, Jo-Han models are now produced sporadically by Okey Spaulding in Covington, KY.
Early history
The first products were mid-1950s model aircraft and other promotional items (Cawthon 2002). Some of the early projects included scale model kitchen sets and a training model of Chrysler's fluid drive transmission (Donnelly 2009). This awarded Hanley a contract to produce models for Chrysler.
Contracts with General Motors soon followed, and Jo-Han produced GM models for the 1955 model year. Over time, Jo-Han became known more for Chrysler models, though Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Studebaker and American Motors were also well represented - making Jo-Han a strong competitor to AMT, and later, to MPC.
The company was first called Ideal Models, but this name was changed to Jo-Han Models because of the already existing Ideal Toy Company (Cawthon 2002). The new name reflected the first two letters of the founder's first name and the first three letters of his last name. Similar to how AMT simultaneously used the SMP brand name, Jo-Han's 1955 Pontiac promotional models also continued to use the Ideal name during the transition.
The Golden Age
The 1950s and 1960s are considered a "golden age" for promotional models and kits, with pre-assembled dealer promotionals coming first in the late 1940s, then kits adding profit around 1958. Most kits were known as "annuals" by hobbyists, and followed the bigger business of promos that represented the new cars introduced at the beginning of each model year.
In 1964, Jo-Han began using non-warping polystyrene plastic as opposed to cellulose acetate used previously. The new styrene held its shape over time. Often, the upward warping of the outward edges of front fenders above a non-warping styrene chrome grille was particularly pronounced on Jo-Han models, thus Clarence Young, promo connosieur, has called it the "Jo-Han" smile (Clarence Young Autohobby).
Usually there were no opening features, but Jo-Han plastic models were intricately detailed, with accurate body scripts, trim, and emblems, as well as seat and dashboard highlights. Intricate details would change from year to year according to annual design changes and specifications of the real cars produced.
On most Jo-Han models, especially on friction models, chassis detail was often absent - which lowered tooling expense for a company not quite so large as AMT or the later MPC. Commonly, the chassis base was just an indented slab with the Jo-Han company name and "Detroit, Michigan", but sometimes the company name was completely absent and only the GM or other car logo was present - emphasizing the real manufacturer instead of Jo-Han. Some later contracts, however, added complete chassis detail as seen in Cadillac Coupe DeVille and Eldorado promotionals from the 1970s. Apart from the often plain chassis, models were exact duplicates of the real thing in 1/25 scale.
Jo-Han models were especially popular through the 1960s, offering some of the most accurately detailed scale replicas available in plastic. Detroit's offerings were well-represented by the company in both kit and dealer "promo" form. While most products were Chrysler, AMC, and GM, some Fords that AMT did not have did make their way to Jo-Han such as the Ford Maverick and Gran Torino in their introductory years (1970 and 1972). As the promotional model business tapered off in the 1970s, it became financially difficult for Jo-Han to develop new tooling. The last new model was of the 1977 Cadillac, which was continued as both the 1978 and 1979 Coupe deVille in promo and snap-kit form.
The Chrysler Turbine
Chrysler's 1963 Turbine car, experimentally put into the hands of 50 real consumers for testing and PR goodwill, was a particular boon for Jo-Han. Tooling for the model cost at least $250,000 at the time and Chrysler completely underwrote the expense (Donnelly 2009). Two kit versions of the Chrysler Turbine Car were significant - a standard bronze colored promotional authentic to the real vehicle, and a more toy-like white racing version with friction motor (less than 500 of this last were produced).
Some of the Turbine models were nearly as incredible as the real car, with such details as folding seats, opening doors, hood, deck lid, steerable front wheels and more (Dixon 1980). Chassis detail was remarkable, accurately depicting the huge ducting passages (the mere phrase 'exhaust pipes' doesn't do the system justice) running the length of the car - needed to expel the gas turbine's waste gasses. Later, in the 1980s and 1990s the standard turbine was produced both as a kit and a simple promotional - sans moving parts.
Jo-Han Fades
Gradually, a decrease in demand for promotionals occurred through the 1970s. Earlier hobbies of America's youth such as model building and bicycle riding gradually were replaced by video games, home movies, I-pods, and the Internet.
Jo-Han limped through the 1980s re-issuing old kits and promos. The company gave up trying to retail its models and used the vendor X-El Products to sell reissued promos. The X-El Products era was an ironic time. Models were carefully prepared and respected by collectors, but there was no capital to develop new product, so the company fell into decline. One consumer purchase update card sent by X-El Products to consumers in 1988 cautioned patience in waiting for models ordered, saying, "These promos are not done on a mass production basis. They are practically made to order and babied from start to finish" (X-El Products 1988). Of course this is another way of saying that Jo-Han did not have the labor to speed up service. Nevertheless, the reproductions from this time have also escalated in collector value - and were as well rendered as the original period promos and also done with accurate color schemes.
In 1991, the company was purchased by Seville Enterprises, a manufacturer of plastic parts for the auto industry (Ostrander 2011). Seville, at one time located in Romeo, Michigan, once again offered (mostly by mail order) kits and promos off the original Jo-Han dies. A few one-off paint combinations were also known to have been created by Seville during these years. Plans to produce an all-new GM-approved promotional of the new 1992 Cadillac Seville STS (thus the name of the company) were soon scrapped, however, due to lack of funding for the tooling required.
In 2000, Jo-Han was purchased from the ailing Seville by Mr. Okey Spaulding, and a new company, "JoHan Models LLC" was formed. Through about 2005, it produced a few of the original models in limited quantities, including the 1956 Plymouth, 1963 Chrysler Turbine car, 1959 Rambler station wagon, as well as some 1950s Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs. Spaulding sold cars through his website for a time, but as of 2010 all sales are done through the bid site emodelcars.com, though few models have been listed there.
References
Cawthon, Bill. 2002. 3 in 1:87, Promotex Online Articles December 15 [1].
Dixon, Leon. 1980. [2] Yesterday's Cars of The Future, Special Interest Automobile, retrieved on November 21, 2007, from Moparstyle.net.
Clarence Young Autohobby. Section on Promo History & Condition. [3]
Donnelly, Jim. 2009. Promoting the Past, Hemming's Classic Car, Vol.5, no. 7, p. 37.
Ostrander, Steve. 2011. Michigan Scale Model Companies, in Seeking Michigan, an on-line source of the Michigan Historical Museum. [4]
X-El Products. 1988. Customer purchase update card. May 23.