History Rods & Customs May 1953

With R&C being killed off I thought I would go back to the start and post the complete first issue.

 

Nice of you to post. I've always liked Ralph Testa's Merc and the photos (taken in front of Welch's restrauant.) I did a search and came up zero on Ralph Testa's Merc.

 

Thanks Jimmy. And that's the way it was.

 

google : Bill Worden Kennewick, Wash,/ 50 merc all ya need ta know.

 

Awesome. Thanks. That's the only one of little R&Cs that I don't have.

 

Thanks Jimmy.
I still have mine, got it from my brother when I was 10 yrs old!
I still love all the Kustoms & Drag cars from that time era.....TIMELESS.
RIP BRO........

 

Thanks for posting that=good reading!
You going to make this a continuing thread? Hint, hint...

 

I never got a copy of this issue, the coverage is priceless!! Thanks for posting it!

 

Very kind of you to take the time to post that great read. Ironic I have the latest farewell issue next to me. Hope to get an original copy for myself someday.

 

He spells it "Worden".

 

Thanks for posting mate, very cool. I'll hafta have a decent read when I get some time.

sent via classroom note. pass it on

 

They built some pretty cool cars back then...

 

Jimmy, thanks for posting!

 

They did some nice work 61 years ago

 

Actually, that is the "second" issue. The first (very rare) issue is exactly the same, except it is marked April instead of May. I read that for some odd reason they reset and reprinted the same April issue as May. I've only seen a picture of an April and never seen one in real life.

 

Fantastic!

How many of these cars still exist? I spot the Barris-built Chevy for Larry Ernst and the first version of the Valley Custom-built Ford for Ron Dunn. I've never seen that Olds with Cad quarters, what a stunning front end treatment.

Thank you for taking the time to scan and post.

 

Thanks for posting this. Man what a time it must have been!

 

Interesting how they used attractive models to grab the young hot rods attention,,hubba,hubba! HRP

 

Jimmy, thanks for your post, it was a pleasant surprise to see the letter " Washington Ford"
from my old friend Ron Weiskind. I meet him in 1961, after finding a spare mag wheel for
his sprint car on the side of a street near his home. That meeting lead to 50 year friendship
and a lot of good memories. Seeing that letter has made my day,thanks again.

..............................Jack

 

Many thanks for posting. Intriguing to see that interest in prewar customs was already well under way in 53. My avatar was featured in Honk the same year.

 

Were ladie's tits really that pointy 60+ years ago? Maybe it is an optical delusion?
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New
Were ladie's tits really that pointy 60+ years ago? Maybe it is an optical delusion

Prolly Put more eyes out than BB Guns

 

If''in I was drinking something it would have come out my nose...Them shaping over the shoulder boulder holders were like cast iron then...

 

my how the world has changed. sometimes we forget that the customs in these old magazines were only 3-4 years old at the time.

 

Alchemy, are you sure you're not thinking of the first two issues of Hop Up, I have both the July & August 1951 issues that are virtually identical.

Mick

 

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I recall them being referred to as torpedo or bullet bras. HRP

 

The "nostalgia" part of rodding appears to have always been with us. The pre-war customs article was done by Dean Batchelor ...

 

I was a subscriber to Hop Up in '53, and I got TWO freebie copies of "Rods & Customs" in the mail promoting the new publication. Of course, I threw one of them away. I recall that I was particularly impressed that they had pictures of FOUR pretty girls in that introductory issue.

 

I thought I was sure, but it would be really odd for two early hot rod mags to have done the same thing.

 

Now THATS a great way to say goodbye. Sad to think that in all likelyhood its really gone for good this time, considering how many times its done the Lazarus routine...

And man, that full-fendered T is sweet.