We came across these old Garador adverts recently from the 1950s and 1960s and were quite fascinated by how much things have changed. Garador has a long history of manufacturing garage doors, with the first models rolling off the production line right the way back in 1950 when the original Mk 1 up & over garage door was produced.
Looking back through the archives it’s interesting to see some of the adverts that were produced at the time for printed magazines and newspapers and just how different they are from today. They tell a story of a garage door produced in a different time.
In the 1950s, the garage door market didn’t exist in the same way that we know it today. The sales team at Garador had to convince architects, builders and local authorities that the motor car would become the most prevalent form of transport and that there would be demand for domestic garages, and of course garage doors, to store motor cars. Garador helped lay the groundwork for what is now the modern day garage door market.
By the early 1960s the company had transformed into Great Britain’s leading post-war garage door manufacturer. Early Mk 1 and Mk2 garage doors were manufactured from either steel or aluminium depending on the availability of materials at the time. The Mk 1 was available in just one horizontal swage design; a far cry from today’s extensive choice of over 60 door designs, colour permutations and materials.
The Mk 2, which was launched in the early 1960s was an up & over canopy garage door which utilised a counterbalance weight system. As shown in one of the early Garador print adverts from August 1962, it cost as little as 15 pounds sterling and 10 shillings, showing how much prices have changed with inflation over the years.
In the late 1960s, after extensive testing and development by the engineering team a new model was finally launched in the form of the Mk 3. It was a further improvement on the previous range of Mk 1 and Mk 2 models and it utilised a totally enclosed counterbalance spring system located behind the lintel. The Mk 3 saw a move away from the counterbalance weight system with a steel spring-based lifting gear and a more competitive price of just 14 pounds sterling.
We hope to share with you some more fascinating finds from the Garador archives in the near future, but in the meantime if you want to find out more about the current Garador range head over to www.garador.co.uk or call us on 01935 443722.
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