The 1930s was a period of rapid stylistic evolution driven in part by the Great Depression. Attempting to bolster sales, automobile makers worked harder than before to create cars with great market appeal in terms of appearance. This took the form of styling cars to appear "streamlined." Indeed, those designs were often more aerodynamically efficient than previous models, though they usually remained inefficient in absolute terms.
Metal-shaping technology allowed cars to be far more rounded than in the 1920s. Automobile glass panes remained flat because curved glass was still difficult to form at acceptable prices. So stylists were faced with the problem of adapting flat glass to curved settings. The present post presents some examples of how stylists tried to cope with that problem in the case of rear windows during the 1930s.
Most images below are of cars offered for direct sale: exceptions are noted.
For another look at an aspect of 1930s automobile design, you might link to my post "Those Plain 1936 USA Rear-End Designs"
This is a common solution -- placing the window in a location away from major body curves. Insetting the window also could help, provided the framing depth varied where needed. Now for some more creative solutions making use of segmented windows, presented in approximate chronological order...
My photo. Hupp '34 back windows were very large for their time. The shaping of the roof profile helped some, and so did the use of two panes.
This Airflow's window divider is enhanced by a chrome strip, an unusual touch.
The roof profile here is close to being a continuous curve, so back windows are quite small. They were provided a little shaping above them so that they could be in a more vertical setting than the overall aft end curve would have otherwise permitted.
My Photo. A "panoramic" effect was desired, so the back window required four segments.
This back window is entirely conventional for its time, yet Cadillac stylists added what appears to be a superfluous divider bar.
This two-piece solution is interesting due to its unusual, attention-getting shape.
Cadillacs featured three-segment backlights for many years -- a form of visual brand identity.
1936-37 Cord back windows were small and two-segmented. The profile chosen by designer Gordon Buehrig seems to have been an aesthetic, rather than engineering-driven, choice.
This is to some degree aesthetically-based. Note the subtle central fore-aft roof crease that merges to the window pane divider. That said, a two-segment back window design was probably called for.
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