Jacob William (J.W.) Earl, a former woodworker and lumberjack from Cadillac, Michigan, and his wife, who was originally from California, moved their family to California in 1889 and established the Earl Carriage Works at 1320 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, to build and repair horse-drawn carriages and wagons.
Among Earl's first products were simple horse-drawn agricultural wagons used by local Mexican farmers in the "Valley of Smoke" as the Indians called the Los Angeles Basin.
Earl soon started making bodies and simple accessories for the automobile and in 1908 he renamed the small shop to the Earl Automobile Works. A few years later the “Valley” changed forever when the Horsley Brothers made their fist motion picture in an abandoned tavern on Sunset Blvd. at Gower St. in 1911. Earl soon discovered that money could be made supplying the movie industry’s pioneers with Roman chariots, stagecoaches, buggies, fringe-topped surreys and other rolling stock for use in their productions.
That new industry brought the Earl Automobile Works a new line of work, customizing automobiles for the nouveau riche movie stars and industry executives that now made Hollywood their home. Earl also built some fuselages for the Glen L. Martin Company, an early Los Angeles airplane manufacturer (now Lockheed-Martin).
J.W. Earl’s custom-built automobile and truck bodies were well-known for their sculpted appearance and could be seen in numerous film studio’s parking lots during the day and cruising Hollywood Blvd. at night.
J.W.’s son, Harley J. Earl (1893-1969), worked in the shop after school and wound up attending Stanford University to study engineering. 6’3” tall Harley was an outstanding athlete who excelled at pole vault, broad jump and shot-put as a member of Stanford’s track & field squad. Much to his father’s chagrin, Harley excelled on another type of track as well.
A favorite story of Earl’s friends is the time when Harley’s dad was calmly reading the newspaper with morning coffee. His shiny new Mercer was resting calmly in the driveway, giving no hint of what had happened to it the day before. Turning to the sports page, the senior Earl glanced at an item concerning a week-end stock car race. "Harley Earl, son of the owner of Earl Carriage Works, won the 100-mile race for stock cars here yesterday with a special new Mercer recently purchased by his father". Earl also had a penchant for “test-driving” newly-bodied cars through downtown Los Angeles to test the crowd’s reaction to his father’s latest handiwork.
In 1918 Harley dropped out of school and was put in charge of dealing with his dad’s fast-growing custom-body clientele. Earl had a special talent for both schmoozing with and designing exotic bodies for Hollywood’s elite and became friends with many of them; Cecil B. DeMille and Tom Mix were among his closest friends.
In January of 1919, Harley exhibited two of his creations at the Los Angeles Auto Show; a Marmon Phaeton and a Chandler Town Car. The Los Angeles Times reported:
"Perhaps the most startling local models at the show are those built by the Earl Auto Works, whose sensational Chandler and Marmon are attracting huge crowds. These cars are designed by Harley Earl, a local man who only three years ago, was broad jumping at the University of Southern California, and has sprung into prominence as a maker of motor fashions almost overnight.
"The Chandler town car, in blue, is the classiest thing of its kind ever shown on the Coast or any place else. It is surely distinctive, being a low hung creation; so low that a good-sized man can stand along side and look right over the top, yet there is sufficient room inside to keep one from being cramped."
The Auto Show had brought Earl Automobile Works to the attention of Don Lee, who bought the company later that year and absorbed it into his pre-existing Don Lee Coach & Body Works. J.W. Earl retained his previous position as shop manager and Harley was appointed chief designer.
On July 13, 1919, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that, ". . . [Don Lee has acquired]. . . the largest plant of its kind west of Chicago, and for several years Earl’s has been one of the six largest builders of custom bodies in the United States. J.W. Earl...will continue in active charge, and his son, Harley Earl, will continue as chief designer.
"It is Don Lee's intention to turn out the very best coach work obtainable anywhere. With this idea in view, he will send one of his designers to New York twice a year, and as soon as European manufacturers are once more in production, a Don Lee designer will make a yearly trip abroad… Harley Earl will leave this week for a trip to the Eastern factories to ascertain the trend of the enclosed car styles for the coming fall and winter. Immediately upon his return, construction will be started on several types of the newest enclosed car designs."
Don Lee had been selling Cadillacs since 1906 and had become Cadillac's official West Coast distributor at the beginning of 1919. Lee’s dealerships blanketed the state and were in all of its major cities – Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pasadena, Sacramento and San Francisco. Lee’s major west coast competitors in the early 1920s were Earl C. Anthony’s Packard dealerships and Walter M. Murphy's Lincoln franchise.
In the early 1920s the business of supplying coachbuilt bodies to the luxury car trade was lucrative and the Don Lee-Harley Earl partnership prospered. Soon after the takeover, the combined firm employed 90-100 craftsmen and produced some 250 custom cars a year.
Harley and Cadillac president, Lawrence P. Fisher would become good friends during this time, as Don Lee Coach and Body Works would do increasingly more business for Cadillac, until in 1925 they fitted 100 customized bodies onto Cadillac chassis.
By the mid-twenties Don Lee Coach & Body Works was turning out over 300 bodies a year and Harley Earl was able to boast of wining and dining with the biggest celebrities of the time.
Harley would design a car body starting with two dimensional rough-sketch, then turn his favorites into small clay models to show to the client. Up until that time, designer’s sketches were turned into full-size body drafts but were rarely modeled in three dimensions. When a three dimensional model was made, they were typically made from plaster and wood. Clay allows stylists and modelers greater freedom as well as a more malleable modeling process. Earl helped develop and perfect the rules which would govern car design for the next 50 years. Even today, it’s still not known whether Earl sculpted his own early clays or had them made by an assistant.
What are notes in real estate? What does olay mean? What is the meaning of shiok? How to make a fnf mod? What does the number 88 mean? Tips in how to feel more confident when speaking to girls? What is horizontal? How to season a cast iron skillet? How to calculate ovulation? what type of cd designation would describe a helper t cell ? What is the meaning of the song runaway by aurora? What does palatable mean? What are tricks to make legal size fish? How long to grill corn in foil? What is the meaning of the name olivia? How to find wages tips and other compensation 941 general ledger? How to make my airpods louder? How i download kickass torrents tricks? What does sl mean? What kills red tips? What does verb mean? What does imap mean? How to maximize tips as a server? Why are the tips of my leaves curling up? What is the meaning of precaution? What is the meaning of blessed are the meek? How to sync onedrive? How to superscript in word? How to get rid of algae in fish tank? How to catch mesprit? What does marxism mean? What does cva stand for? What does axis mean for glasses? How to repair a bow in minecraft? How do tips on debit cards work? What does holocaust mean? What does dylan mean? What is the meaning of white quartz crystal? Why are the tips of my cat's ears cold? How to make blue? What is the meaning of monsoon? How long to cook asparagus at 400? What does vegetarian mean? Survival tips how to avoid overheating -car -engine? What is a siren? How to put address on envelope? He who finds a wife find a good thing meaning? How to count macros for weight loss? Tricks how to make a girl fall for you? What can make your finger tips crack? How to increase blood oxygen level for covid patient? If it takes 42 minutes to load 3 1/2 trucks, how many minutes will it take to load 6 1/2 trucks?? What direction does the moon rise? How to make smooth sandstone? How to turn off onedrive? What is the speed of sound in mph? Magic tricks how to sharlieye? What is the meaning of arbor day? How to restore contacts on iphone? Crazy cooking what is the customer tips time? What does phentermine do to the body? How to clean a bathtub? How to clean clippers? How to make yourself pass out? What does betrayed mean? helper t2 cells increase activity of _________ cells, which attack infected cells and destroy them. Why we ever hayley williams meaning? What is april zodiac sign? What is the meaning of galavanting? How to draw cute things? How to access archived gmail? What is prader willi syndrome? What does a water meter look like? How to kill yourself tips and tricks? How to request a refund on steam? What is the real meaning behind the wizard of oz? What is the meaning of consecutive? What is ui meaning? How long does it take to get tax return? Tips on how to beat undyne the undying? What is baba ganoush? What time is in mexico? What does high red blood cell count mean? How to make dart tips mith? How to mame? How to cook a pork shoulder? How to write an argumentative essay? What does kombucha do? What is a perfect square? How to kill ants? List of formatting tips to use when making a annotated bibliographies? What does ppo mean? What is blogger mean? Wccf tech android tips and tricks - how to backup and restore deleted sms text messages? How much are credit card tips taxed? What does not adversely affected mean? How to check computer specs? How to cook frozen chicken? How to start journaling? How much tips do cooks get? What is a baby goat called? How to hang pegboard? how to set up usb helper What is bypass surgery? Which of the following best describes the meaning of fugitive? questions by the helper are appropriate when: How to verify profit sharing bonus is correct account tricks? How to plant cuttings propagation tips best +xylem +grow? What apps are running in the background? What is in ibuprofen? What sides to make with steak tips? What does an orange aura mean? How long to wait after covid to get booster? What is the meaning of the book of ecclesiastes? How to mute someone on instagram? How to get rid of a skin tag? How to tie a man bun? What does wyll mean in texting? What is the dew point? What are signs of food poisoning? Fun tricks to do when bored? When writing a resume tips? What is the meaning of cyber security? What does high testosterone do to a man? How does repetition add meaning to a poem? How to remove uv gel tips at home? Frank how to get away with a murderer? What does it mean to be a karen? How to change amazon language? How to pickle? Show me how to live? What does dea stand for? What is a rebuilt title? How to make scrambled eggs? What is the biblical meaning of the number 40? Tips on how to drive over bridge tunnel without fear? What time does mcdonald's close tonight? How to host a minecraft server? How to talk to anyone - 92 little tricks for big success in relationship torrent? How to do magic tricks where you cant see the object? What does civic mean? Why omicron name meaning? what does the bible say about god being our helper How to remove nail tips with gel? What is the meaning of the hallelujah song? How to get rid of cramps fast? How to clean a stainless steel sink? How to store potatoes and onions? How to sell drugs online (fast)? What does rowan mean? how to upload helper files to r shiny How to become a werewolf in skyrim? What does the star mean on a dollar bill? Tips on how to ease labor pain? What does a water softener do? What does anesthetic mean? What is the meaning of driving? What does it mean if you dream about someone? How can you tips to contractors? Tricks of what to do when your truck is stuck in mud? What does the second place winner of the voice get? What is the meaning of condensation? why do you thibk adam could not fibd a suitable helper How to adjust tips on square reader? What is the meaning of adme? Must know tricks when switching android to ios 9 ne? What does a betta fish egg look like? How to crate train your puppy? Tips go on what line on the 1040 tax form? How to use retinol? What is the meaning of bewail? how to use a helper in java What is the day the music died meaning? How to make a playlist on tiktok? How to make an nft and sell it? How to remove press on nails? What is meaning of hola? How to fill out moneygram money order? How to stop drinking alcohol? How to recover deleted text messages on android? What does 607 mean on a pager? Tips on how to grow strawberries? why did the satan character in satan's little helper kill people What is the meaning of isis-k? How to train your dragon porn? How many anonymous tips stop school shootings? What is the meaning of katzenjammer? How do card tricks works? how to buy airline tickets for kids with helper How to give a cat a pill? How to uninstall chrome? What does colin kaepernick do for a living? What is kidney disease? What is the meaning of the proverb empty barrels make the most noise? How to freeze corn on the cob? What is geothermal energy? where to advertise for helper of elders how many jobs in us economy for office helper Tips and tricks on how to kill yourself? What does wyd mean from a guy? What is an index? How to reset apple tv? What does it mean when your pee is dark yellow? How to make google chrome default browser? What is non hdl cholesterol? How many hat tricks does artemi panarin have? how to set up emp admin helper What does opa mean? What is brandy? How to use reincarnate + ancestral spirit nerubian egg shaman tricks? What is tricks name? What is the meaning for? How to curl short hair with flat iron? Bag of tricks where is unlimited lockpicking? How to take screenshot on hp laptop? What does mining bitcoins mean? How to keep ants away? Tricks when giving skype interview? What does a heart of gold mean? How to please a girl in bed tips? How to determine the rate of mitosis in root tips? Where did michael carbonaro learn his magic tricks? How to accept credit card payments? how to get video download helper to work in chrome What are smart contracts? How to sharpen knife? How to do weird tongue tricks? What does literacy mean? How to write a personal statement? This is what you came for song meaning? How to talk to anyone 92 little tricks for big success in relationships pdf torrent? What are pecans good for? How many times has lebron been to the finals? What does yolo mean? How long does it take to get a cdl? How to maximize your tax return tricks? What is the spiritual meaning of a hurricane? How to keep dogs from digging? Easy tricks on how to attract.women? What are the side effects of remdesivir? What does bish mean? How to get rid of hiccups fast? How long to steam asparagus? What does cc mean on email? What does objection heresay mean? How to change the language on amazon? What does a weasel look like? how to bring up quest helper wow How to make snap chat do the new tricks? What does lobotomize mean? Tips on retaining what you read? What is ppl mean? How to exit full screen on mac? How to bake chicken thighs? Tips when exercising in the heat/hot weather? What does culo mean? How to get rid of a scratchy throat? helper t cells begin the what response against specific antigens What is the meaning of turn your head and cough? How to cite website apa in-text? What does the smell of sulfur mean? How to assess a situation tips? Tips for college grads who are no repaying student loans? What does inferences mean in reading? How to lose weight in thighs? how to download wii u games without usb helper How to make edits? What does sti stand for subaru?