The frenzy for mascots in France reached a fever pitch in the 1920s. L’Auto, the paper of record for French motorsport, even hosted a concours d’élegance devoted solely to the mascot. Some were so beautiful that their owners elected to display them in their homes, not on their cars. (This is one of the reasons so many upmarket examples have survived.)

Cars were still special, aspirational objects. The growing wealth of the Roaring Twenties, combined with advances in mass production, gave more people the means to not only buy a car but to personalize it. The upper class would buy exquisite and trend-setting mascots from shops like Hermès; some editors and retailers specialized in copies of these high-end pieces, made with cheaper materials and labor, for sale to the growing middle class.

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1916: The emblem of Escadrille no. 3, part of Groupe de Combat no. 12, painted on the fuselage of a fighter plane. This squadron was lauded for its ace pilots, including national hero Georges Guynemer; soon all of GC no. 12 became known collectively as ‘the Storks.’ Their planes used Hispano-Suiza engines. After the war, Hispano-Suiza commissioned Bazin (who had served in GC no. 12) to create a mascot based on this emblem for their ultra-luxurious cars. ‘Victory’ was a fashionable theme for mascots in both France and the UK after World War I. (Gallica/BnF)
1921: Some selections from L’Auto’s first concours d’elegance for mascots. The winner was the Pegasus, top left. (Gallica/BnF)
1926: women across the world were expressing self-determination with their politics –and their pocketbooks.
For the women who could afford it, the automobile was the ultimate symbol of freedom and expression of taste.
These advertisements from Vogue appeal to the liberated woman not as a passenger, but as an owner and driver who needs a car to suit her style. (Gallica/Bnf)
1931: The Animaliers included some very famous sculptors, among them Rembrandt Bugatti. After his early death, his brother Ettore honored him by using his Dancing Elephant as the mascot on the Bugatti Type 41 Royale. Discover more about this iconic mascot and car from our friends at The Henry Ford.