Hemmings Classic Car – October 2019

In 1929, to get the tonneau windshield closer to the rear seat passengers, the arms that supported the whole unit to the back of the front

seat could be extended and then tightened to remain in place.

seat, which fi t to the top of the doors, took

an added effort to maneuver about.

There were patents fi led for the

Auster Tonneau Shield in the USA in July

1909, 1911, 1912, and 1916. Charles

Fryer of Rhode Island was the primary

source of the Auster Tonneau Shield in

1916 when he became the U.S. agent

for the British Auster Company that had

produced them. In England, they were

known as Auster screens or shields.

In a letter to automobile accessory

suppliers, Fryer noted that the tonneau

shield “Fills a long felt want” and that

“many of your customers doubtless lay

their cars up in the Fall,” and with a

tonneau shield installed “you can insure

their keeping their cars in commission all

the year round.”

The Auster shield was supplied on a

15-day trial basis so customers could see

it work as promised. A canvas or leather

cover could be attached to the bottom

of the tonneau windshield and the other

end would be snapped into place on the

rear of the front seat back, as well as the

area just below the top of the rear doors.

The Fryer-Auster Company had two

offi ces: one in New York City at 1733

Broadway, and another at its home loca-

tion and factory at 19 Pine Street in Prov-

idence, Rhode Island. By the mid-1920s,

a number of automobile manufacturers

were offering tonneau windshields in

their accessory catalogs and folders as it

Windshields were available for rumble seat passengers as well and would have stopped the

wind, but entrance and egress would have been an involved process, to say the least.

72 HEMMINGS CLASSIC CAR OCTOBER 2019 I Hemmings.com