This is a 1947 Great Western. Here is a little history.
The Great Western Trailer and the Aero Flite Trailers were designed by the same person...Fredrick C. Hoffman of Los Angeles, California. Mr Hoffman first applied for a design patent for the Great Western on August 14, 1946...This design patent was issued on Jan. 6, 1948 (pat. no. D148,300). Mr. Hoffman later applied for the design pat on the Aero Flite on Dec. 20, 1946...and this design patent was issued on Feb. 17, 1948 (pat. no. D148,701). You can access (see) both of these patents by going to http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html - click on "Patent Number Search" in the green box....then enter number...
There has been documentation that says the Great Western (GW) was built by the Great Western Corporation of Los Gatos, California (doc. from mid 1947)...this same document also mentions the "Big Clock" movie that the GW appears in. This can not be confirmed. The one thing that can be confirmed is that Hoffman's other, later design, the Aero Flite was made near to the same time, but by a different Company.
The Aero Lines Company out of Van Nuys, California (where I grew up). Production started on this trailer in early 1947 and ran through early 1949...My best guess is at this time (given existing serial nos.) that maybe around 120 of these trailers came down the production line at the Metropolitan Airport before the doors closed. The Aero Flite sold new for $3,395 in 1948, which would have put it up there in the expensive range for a trailer of that size, in that time period. Mr Hoffman was either part of the two different Companies, or (more likely) he sold these two designs to the two different Companies. Mr. Hoffman must have been an aircraft engineer/designer during the War, and after the War, he started designing other things to make a living? Again, this can not be confirmed.
It appears that only two GWs were ever built, that are presently known of anyway and there is a high probability that they were both made in 1946. Think about when the filming must have started for the "Big Clock". The trailer that appears in the Big Clock was also used by the Director (Mr. John Farrow) through the whole filming of the picture...Mr. Farrow liked the trailer so much, after the filming, he purchased the trailer.
Both of these trailers, the Great Western and the Aero Flite are very much alike, in both design and construction. They are made of a riveted, all aluminum frame construction.
Here are the original patents:
I hope that was helpful. I plan on picking up a copy of the Big Clock, and trying to do some vid caps of the interior of this great trailer.
