Lee Plastic Company

Lee Plastic Company was a company in Detroit, Michigan that fabricated and sold custom taillight lenses. The company was founded and operated by Marvin D. Jarnagin of Detroit, Michigan. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

A photo of Marvin with his son Robert Lee in the 1950s. Marvin began his career in plastics as a sign maker in Detroit "He later formed Lee Plastics and operated in the 1950s/60s/early 70s, where he made custom ordered taillights." According to Beth, it is not known where the name "Lee" in Lee Plastics originated. "Marvin named his son Robert Lee, and Robert's daughter's first-born daughter is named Lee. My mom seems to think my grandpa just liked Robert E Lee and used that name." Marvin was not into custom cars himself, and according to Beth, "he just made the parts for them." Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

A Lee Plastic Company ad that appeared in Custom Rodder July 1960.

Ron Luchs' 1956 Chevrolet 150 Sedan of Beaverton, Oregon ran Lee Diamond design lenses in the late 1950s. Photo courtesy of Dalton Carter.

A Lee Plastic product photo that was taken in 1962. These photos were used for Marvin's many ads. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

Another 1962 product and promo photo from Marvin's collection. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

A page from a 1962 Lee Plastics catalog that features custom taillights for 1954 - 1958 Chevrolets. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

A collection of 1958 - 1961 Chevrolet taillights from the 1962 Lee Plastics catalog. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

A June 1963 catalog showing custom taillights for the 1963 Chevrolet. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

A Lee Plastic Company ad from Popular Hot Rodding December 1963. By then, the company had relocated to 13130 Plymouth Road in Detroit.

A Thunderbird-centric ad from Rod & Custom November 1964.

A Lee Plastics flyer from 1972. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

"Custom tail light lenses for 68 - 69 - 70 - 71 - 72 Corvettes." Another Lee Plastics flyer from the 1970s. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

New Lee Custom air scoops for HOOD or SIDE. A flyer for universal scoops that Marvin made and sold. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

A photo of Marvin taken in 1970. Marvin's business dwindled considerably with the onset of the Vietnam War, and he closed up his shop in the mid-70s. "At this point in his late 60s, he began selling his crafted lucite jewelry, keychains, and furniture at “pop up,” traveling mall shows throughout Michigan and probably Ohio.

A sign that Marvin made for his granddaughter Beth's bedroom door in the late 1970s. "I realize now that it was likely a leftover taillight lens," Beth told Kustomrama in 2022. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

In addition to making signs and taillights, Marvin crafted several items from lucite, including tables, desks, plant holders, shelving, lamps, chess table, jewelry, paperweights, bowls, and more. This photo shows a lucite bowl that he made. Photo courtesy of Beth Stewart.

Scott Pavey of Russiaville, Indiana installed Lee Lenses on his 1956 Chevrolet custom early in 1982. The lenses were a lucky swapmeet find back in 1981, and he had to pay upwards of $30 for the pair. "Thinking I was getting the solid red ones, these were a total surprise when the still sealed box was opened for the first time!" Photo courtesy of Scott Pavey.

A close-up shot of the lenses on Scott Pavey's 1956 Chevrolet. Photo courtesy of Scott Pavey.

Dick Kenny of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ran Lee Lenses on his 1956 Chevrolet custom in the late 1990s. Photo courtesy of Dick Kenny.

Mark Moriarity ran Lee Plastic lenses on his 1961 Chevrolet Impala custom. He got a NOS set for ten bucks at a swap in the 1980s. He eventually took them off after repeatedly being told that his brake lights couldn't be seen on a sunny day. "That plastic is kinda semi-opaque and really doesn't work very well," Mark told Kustomrama. Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

Mark Moriarity's collection of Lee Plastics lenses. He love the look of the lenses and buy them when he can find a set. Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

A red acrylic counter top store sign from Mark Moriarity's collection. Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

A 1959 Chevy Mohawk Design taillight. Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

A couple of three dimensional 1950s Ford lenses. Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

Another three dimensional 1950s Ford lense. Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

Mark also have a Lee Plastics catalog from 1963 in his collection. Photo courtesy of Mark Moriarity.

Steve Blades has a pair of NOS 1957 Chevrolet Lee Plastics lenses in his collection. The lenses are complete with the original box, decal, and mounting kit. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades, from The HAMB.

A close up shot of Steve's NOS box. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

A close up of Blades's decal. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades, from The HAMB.

Steve Blades is running a pair of Lee bubble lenses on his 1955 Chevrolet Convetible. "They are made of the original non-reflective material and have a bubbled bulge, unlike the later versions. These were found used, but I also have one NOS one." Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

Another shot of the lenses on Steve Blades' 1955 Chevrolet Convertible. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

Steve Blades also has a pair of Lee 1957 Chevrolet heart lenses. Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

Photo courtesy of Steve Blades.

Curt Stechert's 1956 Chevrolet of Loveland, Colorado looks sharp as a tack with its panel paint job and Lee lenses. Photo courtesy of Curt Stechert.

Dave Wright's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino of Poole, United Kingdom is a distinctive custom that originated from Wright's admiration for Gene Winfield and Larry Watson. Named The Golden Idol, Wright's El Camino manifests his vision and the expertise of these celebrated car customizers. He purchased the car in 1989. In 1994, he decided to turn it into a 1960s show car. After restyling the body, Wright flew Gene Winfield in from Mojave, California to have him lay down one of his famous fade paint jobs. The build was completed two years later, in 2009. The rear of the car was dressed up with a pair of Lee Lenses.

Justin Canterbury of Idaho got the 59 Chevy Bug from his dad's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino back in the 1970s. Today he owns quite a few 59's, and his Bel Air Flatop has been built as a 1960s working man's custom. In November of 2022, he told Sondre Kvipt that he came across the Lee Lenses on eBay about ten years ago. "I knew exactly what they were from flipping through old early 60’s Car Crafts," he told us, adding that he also has a set of the flat ones too. Photo courtesy of Justin Canterbury.

Lee Plastic Company was a company in Detroit, Michigan that fabricated and sold custom taillight lenses. The company was founded and operated by Marvin D. Jarnagin of Detroit, Michigan.

Marvin Jarnagin - Fake it Until You Make it!

Marvin was born in 1904 in Kentucky. He was a redhead, and his nickname was Red, even long after his hair turned gray. In August of 2022, his granddaughter, Beth Stewart, told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he was also a self-educated man as his formal schooling ended when he was probably between the age of 10 and 14. Marvin did all kinds of jobs, anything he could to survive, and he moved to Detroit to find employment during the Great Depression. "He talked his way into a job saying he had the required skills and then faked it until he knew it." Beth describes him as a life-long learner. "Loved nature and learned as much as he could. He'd learn it, then teach it to his grandkids."

In the early 1990s Beth recorded an interview with her grandmother Frances. She told Beth that Marvin would do anything that he could. "I remember he'd lie about what he could do—sometimes he got in trouble because he couldn’t do it when he got there." Marvin was working in a factory when Frances met him. "He was working for Chevrolet. He was doing pretty good. At one time, they were trying to promote him into the unions, you know, but he didn't stay with it. He didn't care much about it or something. But if he had, he might have ended up a gangster or something like that. That was the union in those days. Gangsters and people trying to get by – good people too. And then he decided he didn't want to work in a factory anymore."

Sign Maker

Marvin was an artist. He drew and painted and began his career in plastics as a sign maker in Detroit. "He could draw a little," Frances told Beth, "so he drew a sign for somebody, and they bought it. He could find out how to do everything — I mean, it didn’t stop him because he didn't know. So, he went somewhere, and he had this sign he made – this drawing, and he took it to people at Benn Glass(?). And that's how he started in the sign business. Of course, he quit his job, and everybody thought he was nuts, but he did alright. He probably would have done more if he stayed with it, but that wasn't him. Guess he felt he could do better by himself."

Lee Plastics

In the 1950s Marvin formed Lee Plastics, a company that made custom taillights." According to Beth, it is not known where the name "Lee" in Lee Plastics originated. "Marvin named his son Robert Lee, and Robert's daughter's first-born daughter is named Lee. My mom seems to think my grandpa just liked Robert E Lee and used that name." Marvin was not into custom cars himself, and according to Beth, "he just made the parts for them."

Handmade Lenses

In 1960, the business was located at 10382 Plymouth Road in Detroit, Michigan. The taillights made by Lee Plastic Co were handmade yet easy to bolt on your car. Marvin made a wide range of lenses for the cars that were the most popular as a basis for kustomizing. Lee custom taillight lenses were sold in speed and hot rod shops all over USA and Canada. The lenses could also be bought directly from Marvin through mail. In an ad from Popular Hot Rodding December 1963 Lee Plastic Company had moved from 10382 Plymouth Road to 13130 Plymouth Road in Detroit.

Bob Stewart

Beth's father, Bob Stewart worked in Marvin's shop as a young man. He was 17 at the time. The year was 1960, and he was in his senior year in High School. Bob worked there for about two years, and in September of 2022, he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that his daughter was to be his future wife, and he believed this was a way for him to get to know him better. "I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He was the major (only) salesman for Lee Plastics, and most of his business came from a publication out of Chicago, Warshawsky Catalog which morphed into the J.C. Whitney catalog." Bob wasn't sure when the catalog first started carrying Lee Lenses, but he recalled that it produced a significant volume of business for him.

Bob's job was to fabricate the lenses. "Marvin created the molds used to form each of the lenses - usually in groups of 8 or 10, and he put them into an oven to soften the plastic and shape the plastic into the basic shape of each lens. I removed the lenses after they cooled and ground down the edges so they would fit into the tail light fixtures and also drilled the holes so they could be easily mounted into the existing tail light fixtures and secured." Bob recalled that Marvin did the design very well and that he ordered special plastic from Rogm and Haas, "a big company that manufactured plastic at that time. "

A Hard Worker

When Bob worked for Marvin, the workforce consisted of Marvin, "another gentleman who worked in the shop doing what I did, but full time, and his wife, Francis, who took care of the books and billings. At the time I worked for him, he was working exclusively in the custom car lens business - he had given up designing and installing neon and plastic signage for companies in the area. Bob described Marvin as a hard worker that spent many hours in his shop. "He worked long days - usually six days a week and sometimes 7. He would work during the day, come home in the late afternoon, have dinner and then go back to the shop for a couple of hours in the evening. Not an easy life, but he much preferred being his own boss rather than working for someone else. I worked for him on Saturdays - as I was in high school at the time - and found him to be a delight to work for. He had a few good years financially, but the business was reduced to such a low volume that he eventually migrated into working with plastics making products that he could sell at flea markets, which became his "job" in retirement."

Catalog and Walk-In Business

"Marvin sold the bulk of his product thru the catalogs," Bob told Kustomrama, adding that he also had some walk-in business - "after all, Detroit was the automotive capital of the world at that time. Some of the walk-in business was for individuals that wanted to do something to make their customized cars stand out in auto shows, and he would design one-of-a-kind lenses for them - I suspect he did not make much money on these but enjoyed doing it and sometimes, I believe, they led to innovations and improvements in his standard lenses."

Thunderbird

Bob describes Marvin as a solid citizen. "Never saw him angry about anything, treated others with respect, and loved nature. When I worked for him, he drove a Thunderbird - 4 seater, his pride and joy, and he would occasionally let his daughter drive it - which she loved. They also had a station wagon which was a work vehicle for hauling around packages to be shipped out. His car did NOT have custom lenses - I know he experimented with some but did not feel the custom lenses worked on the 4-seater he drove." Bob drove a 1956 Chevrolet Convertible with Lee Lenses.

The End of Lee Plastics

According to Bob, the Vietnam War essentially took Marvin's market away from him because his market was drafted and sent overseas, "and the volume dropped off significantly." He closed up the shop in the mid-70s. "At this point in his late 60s, he began selling his crafted lucite jewelry, keychains, and furniture at “pop up,” traveling mall shows throughout Michigan and probably Ohio." Marvin enjoyed life and lived into his 80's - doing his own thing. He passed away in 1987, 83 years old.

Lee Lenses

Located in Richmond, Kentucky, Lee Lenses started creating reproduction lenses for select models from the 30s through the 60s in 1982. The lenses were reproductions of lenses produced in Detroit in the 1950s and the 1960s. As far as Betty knows, this company may have had a similar product but is not connected to her grandfather. "Perhaps after he closed up his shop, this company made similar lenses and kept the name."

Cars Featuring Lee Plastics Lenses

Dick Kenny's 1956 Chevrolet
Ron Luchs' 1956 Chevrolet 150 Sedan - "Miss Taboo"
Scott Pavey's 1956 Chevrolet
Dave Wright's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino - The Golden Idol
Justin Canterbury's 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air
Mark Moriarity's 1961 Chevrolet Impala