Red-Ashay Car Mascots (Now produced
by Desna and sold by Crystal Art Glass)
We receive many enquires regarding this company and the history
surrounding this line of car mascots. I hope we may be able to answer
some of these questions in this guide. In writing this guide I would
like to thank John Forde, David Kay, Michal Jadrny and other dealers in
the car mascot world. Also Janet Currie, the grand daughter of the
founder of the Company, Herman George Ascher.
Mr Herman George Ascher arrived from Bohemia in the 1920's, he
eventually set up home and married. The family resided in Manchester. He
later set up a Company Called H.G. Ascher Ltd, there premises were at 4
, 8, Acomb Street, Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester. (demolished in the
50/60's now part of Manchester University)
He obviously had contacts in the Jizera Mountains in the now Czech
Republic, situated in the North of the country near to the Polish
border. This area was a well known area for high quality glass
production. The most famous producer of quality glass in that area is
the Desna factory owned by Jablonex a.s. This factory can trace it's
history back to 1847 and was eventually purchased by Josef Riedel. Local
artists and glass designers were encouraged to produce a range of
stunning and beautiful items.
These designers included Heinrich Hoffmann and Curt Schlevogt, who's
products are still produced under the Desna Classic label. Below is one
of the most famous and expensive of his range, "Night Butterfly", also
known as "Butterfly Girl" and "Dancing Girl". It is thought that Hoffman
designed this after a famous German nightclub dancer of the 1920's. It's
original 1930's price was £5. 10 shillings, a considerable price at that
time and probably only attracted customers who had a large income and
car ! Recent research reveal that the Night Butterfly mascot probably
depicts Mariette Helene Delangle, the mysterious racing driver "Helle
Nice", a dancer in the 20's who then became a famous racing driver for
Bugatti in the 1930's.
Herman Ascher soon became involved in the lucrative business of
importing and selling of high quality glass car mascots. He must have
known Hoffman because the majority of these mascots were designed and
produced by Hoffmann at the Riedel factory. Ascher named this range of
over 30 car mascots as "Red Ashay" illuminated motor mascots. In 1930
Ascher started to sell this range throughout the UK and advertised in
several national trade and motor magazines. An early example can be seen
below, the car mascot named "Acceleration" is still produced by Desna
under the name of "The Future", this item together with Night Butterfly
are now sold by Crystal-Art-Glass.
Sales took place at the major motor exhibitions in London and
Edinburgh, also at the Manchester premises and later at outlets in
London and Glasgow. The advert mentions items for sale at the famous
Jenners store in Edinburgh, now a John Lewis store.
The London outlet at Holborn Viaduct was destroyed in the blitz, it
is thought that the Manchester base on Acomb Street was also damaged by
bombing during 1940.
As the firm grew we can see that the adverts began to name Ascher's
sales outlets as belonging to the Company and also that he had started
to sell other glassware. This 1931 advert still features "Acceleration",
it must have been his favourite car mascot.
Readers will be interested in the mention of "illuminated Motor mascots"
. Ascher used to sell mountings for the mascots, which could be mounted
on most of the cars of the day. It comprised of a nickel silver or
chrome plated mount that contained a 6 or 12 volt bulb from which the
interior of the mascot could be illuminated. A novel and interesting
feature was that by means of a cylinder of multi coloured glass
surrounding the bulb the colour of the illumination could be controlled.
Some had a small hand control, other more elaborate mount that had a
small fan or propeller at the front. This started the colour change at
speeds above 15 to 20 mph.
A rare racing Speed Head mascot
by Red-Ashay. This example is mounted on one of their colour-changing
mascot bases of the late 1920s. Inside the base there is a cylinder
around the bulb which carries four coloured filters: Red, orange, blue
and green.
The shaft on which this cylinder is carried passes through to the front
of the mounting base and is attached to a four-bladed propeller. When
the vehicle reaches a speed of 20 mph or so, the fan starts to turn and
the coloured filters cause the glass mascot to change colour!
(Collection of John Forde - Mascot mania)
Again these mounts were relatively expensive ranging
between £1 and £5. The mounts and electrics were produced in Manchester
at the firms Ducie Grove works. Sadly the Acomb and Ducie Grove works no
longer exist due to the post WW2 developments in that area, which
includes the Manchester University.
Ascher continued with his sales of Red Ashay mascots, however tastes
and vehicle design changed in the period leading up to WW2, in a rare
and interesting advert below, it can be seen that the standard of advert
and also a more primitive screw mount was evident. The car mascot which
depicts a mans head with a crown motif is the king chess piece produced
by Hoffmann (The Queen of which we suspect depicts Mariette Helene
Delangle) . However the
"Mistral" or "Spirit of the Wind" is one of the most exciting Red-Ashay
car mascots, still produced in very limited numbers by Desna and sold by
Crystal-Art-Glass.
Following the WW2 all glass factories in the now Czech Republic were
nationalised, this included the Josef Riedel factory. Ascher must have
found it harder and harder to obtain the high quality items he needed to
sell. In 1952 H.G. Ascher Ltd was dissolved.
However thanks to the enthusiasm of collectors and dealers around the
world the interest in Red-Ashay mascots remain, Several dealers and
auction have still have a small number of original items.
Crystal-Art-Glass continue the tradition of importing and selling these
fantastic pieces of art. They are produced from the original moulds used
by the Josef Riedel factory.
Crystal-Art-Glass also works closely with Desna in discovering more
of the original moulds and producing a larger range of car mascots. Some
examples can be seen below ;
We are looking for a 1930's catalogue on the Red-Ashay range of car
mascots. If you have one or access to a copy please contact us ASAP!
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