Talisman (pronounced tal-is-muhn or tal-iz-muhn)
(1) A
stone, ring, or other object, usually engraved with figures or characters
supposed to possess occult powers and worn as an amulet or charm; believed to
protect the wearer from evil influences
(2) Any
amulet or charm.
(3) Anything
or anyone, the presence of which exercises a remarkable or powerful influence
on human feelings or actions.
(4) A
trim option offered on the Cadillac Fleetwood (1974-1976).
1630–1640:
From the French or Spanish talisman, partly
from Arabic طِلَسْم (ṭilasm), from the Late Greek télesmon (completion, performance, consecrated object), and partly
directly from the Byzantine Greek τέλεσμα (télesma)
(talisman, religious rite, completion), from τελέω (teléō), (to perform religious rites, to complete), from τέλος (télos) (end, fulfillment,
accomplishment, consummation, completion”).
The Arabic word was also borrowed by Turkish, Persian & Hindi and the only explanation for the -n in western
European languages is replicated error. Derived
forms are the adjectives talismanic & talismanical and the adverb talismanically. The correct noun plural is talismans (talismen
is non-standard).
Lindsay Lohan wearing "Evil Eye" talisman, Los Angeles, March 2011.
The Evil Eye is a talisman (or amulet), or talisman which is said to afford the wear protection against the forces of evil. Examples of Evil Eye talismans have for some three-thousand years existed in many cultures and are documented in early examples of the art of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, the forms including the Hebrew Ayin Ha’ra, the Turkish Nazar Boncugu, the Italian Mal Occhio, the Farsi Bla Band, the Arabic Ayin Harsha, the Scots Droch Shuil, the Spanish Mal Ojo (or El Oja), the French Mauvais Oeil, the German Busen Blick and the Roman Oculus Malus. The imagery is particularly ingrained in the Republic of Türkiye where the symbolism is visible on symbol on currency, in architecture and interior design and one is often hung from the necks of new-born children and even farm animals.
Freemason Evil Eye talisman.
Also known as the “Eye of Providence”, the symbol is not only part of Masonic ritualism but it appears on both the reverse of the US dollar bill (in a pyramid’s top cap) and the nation’s Great Seal. Although many of the founding fathers of the US were confessed Freemasons, the official line is the unfinished pyramid was intended to symbolise “strength and duration”, with the 13 levels representing the original states which formed the US while the eye was there to acknowledge God’s sympathetic oversight of the fledgling nation. It’s claimed the Freemasons had no involvement in these choices and that they didn’t even begin publicly to display the evil eye until well into the eighteenth century. Whether prior to that they used it in secret is of course unknown and also a mystery is whether every member of the Secret Society of the Les Clefs d’Or is required to wear a concealed Masonic talisman. It’s never been denied and unless there’s a defection from the cult, that too may remain a secret.
The
Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman, 1974-1976
1971-1976 Cadillac Fleetwood
Even by
the standards of the American automobile of the time, the 1971 Cadillac was
big. Replacing the previous range which
had run from 1965-1970, engineering innovations were limited and the changes
were mostly cosmetic, much of the manufacturer’s attentions now devoted to
conforming with the onrush of safety and pollution control legislation being imposed
by governments. In 1971 however,
although somewhat detuned, the 472 cubic inch (7.7 litre) V8 was still rated at
365 gross horsepower and, with the emission controls still only rudimentary,
retained the characteristics which by the early 1960s marked Detroit’s
full-sized cars as having the world’s finest engine-transmission
combinations. Even though typically
weighing over 5000 lbs (2300 KG) and built with few concessions to aerodynamic
efficiency, Cadillacs had power enough for performance to be described usually
as effortless. Production
volumes dropped in 1971 but that was because of difficulties in industrial
relations and once new agreements were in place, sales quickly rebounded,
records set in 1972 and again in 1973, Cadillac for the first time, producing more
than three-hundred thousand cars. There
were however warning signs on the 1973 cars.
Although not yet the battering-rams which would later be bolted on, the
bumper bars had grown bigger and heavier and for the first time, the emission
controls began to become intrusive, drivability suffering, power down and fuel
consumption up. The typical Cadillac
owner might not have much noticed the additional fuel cost but they certainly
noted, and complained about, the loss of power and occasionally stuttering
engines. Much worse was to come.
1973
would be the last good year for the “old” American economy which, sustained by
the unusual circumstances of the post-war boom had, with the odd minor glitch,
maintained an unprecedented general prosperity for over twenty years. A generation now existed which knew no other
world but the world shifted on 17 October
1973 when the first oil embargo was imposed, ending the boom which had
been fed by cheap, limitless energy.
Suddenly, in the US, not only was gas (petrol) more expensive,
the cost of a barrel of oil having quadrupled overnight, but there were genuine
shortages. Even Cadillac owners with
money enough to pay for a tank of gas found themselves in long queues, sometimes
even unable to find some for sale.
1972 Oldsmobile 98 Regency interior in tufted, loose pillow style
It was
a short, sharp shock. Oil supplies began
again to flow within months but prices remained high. Cadillac sales fell twenty-odd percent in
1974 but it was actually a good result, the company continuing to dominate its
market sector, its results better than many. The performance of the cars was less
impressive, the bumpers ever bigger, the power lower and the driveability issues
caused by the emission control devices worse.
At the time, there wasn’t much Cadillac could (or was prepared) to do about
these things but resources were found to add even more luxury. For years, the industry had been creating ever
fancier versions of its lines, even the lower-priced being augmented with
luxury versions, sometimes called “Brougham”, a moniker which came to be attached
to the whole era. Cadillac had long
faced competition from Lincoln and Imperial but what must have been galling was
the threat from within. Oldsmobile, two
notches down the GM pecking list from Cadillac, in 1972 introduced their “Regency”
option, a package which essentially out-did Cadillac’s interiors with not just
tufted velour upholstery but finished in a loose pillow style. Cadillac had nothing like it but scrambled to
respond, offering in 1973 the d'Elegance package, a US$750 option which included
pillow-style velour seating as well as a more plush carpeting and bundled a few
of the otherwise optional features.
However, all the d'Elegance stuff did was match what others were doing and there was still the corporate memory of the Cadillac mystique, a hankering for the time when Cadillac had been the “standard of the world”, a reputation built in the 1930s on basic engineering such as unique sixteen cylinder engines and maintained a generation later with cars such as the Eldorado Brougham, times when the name stood for something truly impressive. But the world had changed and such extravagances were no longer possible. What could still be done was to add more gingerbread and for 1974, Cadillac announced the Talisman package. Much more expensive than the d'Elegance and consequently more exclusive, the Talisman included an extended centre console, the front section housing an illumined writing tablet, the rear a storage compartment. This had been done before but never with this opulence although it had the effect of reducing the huge car, a size which historically been a six-seater, into something strictly for four. The interior was available in four colors in "Medici" crushed velour at US$1800 or in two shades in leather at US$2450 at a time when the Chevrolet Vega, GM’s entry-level automobile of the era cost US$2087. The Talisman additionally gained matching deep-pile interior carpeting and floor-mats, a fully padded elk grain vinyl roof, exterior badge identifications, a stand-up, full-colour wreath and crest hood ornament and unique wheel-covers. For those who needed more, for an additional US$85, a matching pillow and robe was available although the robe unfortunately wasn't cut in leather. Optioned with the leather package, a 1974 Cadillac Talisman cost about US$13,200, matching what the company charged for the even bigger Fleetwood Seventy-Five limousines. The additional gingerbread wasn’t all that expensive to produce; what Cadillac was selling was exclusivity and the market responded, 1898 Talismans coming off the production line that year, all sold at a most impressive profit. Most prized today are the relative handful trimmed in leather, the urban legend being all were in medium saddle with none in the dark blue which was listed on the option list. If any were sold with the blue leather, none appear now to exist and Cadillac’s records don’t record the breakdown.
1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman front compartment in rosewood velour
The
leather in either color didn’t anyway survive to the new model year, four
colors of velour the only Talisman choices in 1975 and gone too was the
rear-console extension, reportedly because of feedback from owners who either
didn’t see the point or would have preferred the flexibility to carry an
additional passenger. It was an era of
high inflation so the deletion of the hardware secured only a two-dollar reduction
in price and in the gloomy economic climate of 1975, 1238 were sold. The cars themselves were in their last days,
huge dinosaurs unable to adapt to the shock of the new world they found around
them though there were minor
improvements. Although engine size had
been increased to 500 cubic inches (8.2 litres), output was down to 190
horsepower (although this was less of a drop from the 365 of 1971 because of the
change in quoting power from gross to net) but the addition of catalytic
convertors and later in the year, fuel injection, did allow some retuning,
improving drivability. The bumpers were
the biggest yet and fuel economy, although improved, remained dire.
1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman rear compartment in light smoke grey velour
The end
of the line came in 1976, the final year for the big Cadillacs which had
evolved over three quarters of a century.
With so much corporate energy devoted to the new, smaller cars, little
time was devoted to the dinosaurs, changes restricted to trim and details
although the newly-legal rectangular headlights, adopted throughout the industry to
permit lower bonnet lines and thereby slipperier aerodynamics, were spliced
in. Inside, new interior colors were
offered and fake Rosewood replaced the simulated distressed pecan vinyl appliqués
on the instrument panel, doors, and rear quarter trim. Inspired by the Oldsmobile Regency which had
caused such a stir in 1972, soft, thickly pillowed seats were now standard and
the d'Elegance package with its accoutrements could still be added but bowing
out after 1976 would be both the 500 cubic inch V8 and the Talisman package, available for its swansong in five colors at US$1813.
GM made no secret this was the last year of the big Cadillacs and sales spiked,
a new record of 309,139 cars of which 1200 were Talismans.
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