1941 Optional interior rear view mirror

[V.Milke, CLC member]

Hi:

I just got such a mirror from ebay but I doubt if it is original or not. I have seen bad pictures of the original mirror and it shows a pretty squarish tab to change from day to night settings veruss the later 40s mirrors in which the tab has a curved shape. The mirror I got has this tab but it says Monarch. Can anybody shed some light here?

Thanks,
Victor

[Sam Moore #21210]

Hello Victor,
The inside rear-view mirror in my 49 has GLARE-PROOF GUIDE stamped on the rounded tab at the bottom. It looks just like the Guide mirror in McVeys catalog for circa 1939 to 1949. Mine has an amber tint to it.

[Doug Houston]

The No Glare mirror first appeared in 1941, though possibly some were available in 1940, too. The mirror frame was a two-piece design and  part of it tilted with the glass. There was lettering on the bottom of the tilt section, saying something like: Glare Proof, and the name: Guide (I have one on one of my 41 Cadillacs, but cant get to it just now). The glass was tinted amber on them.

Following WWII, the design of the mirror was changed, and the frame of the mirror didnt tilt, but only the glass did. The early versions of the mirror wer also tinted amber, but probably around 1948 or so, the glass was clear. The postwar mirrors had a tab at the bottom of the frame, attached to the glass inside it, and the lettering: No Glare Guide was on the tab. No other name, such as Monarch was on the GM Guide mirrors.

Quite possibly, you have an aftermarket mirror.

[V.Milke]

Doug and Sam:

Thanks. It seems I have an aftermarket mirror then... sad thing...

Thanks for your help,

Victor