Not very many smiling faces in these old photos. Some of the ladies look like they are trying out for the role of "The Wicked Witch of the West"
If you are in your seventies or older you can really appreciate how much things have changed over you life time. Technology has changed so much and affected manufacturing processes greatly. Think about trying to drive and maintain a car of the very early 1900's with the tools and skills the people had. Really interesting to look at the early cars and see how differently they were build. Try to imagine what it took to get in some of the cars back seat. Looks to me that you had to climb over the front seat to get there. I really enjoy seeing the very early car and looking at how they were built.
Not much to be happy about in the 20-30’s unless you were a flapper in the big city... Times were tough especially on women who really the backbone of sanity in the rural areas of this country....
A family friend who is 95 years old this year tells me the story of growing up on a farm in Poland when he and the other kids would hear a car coming down the dirt road in front of the farm would run out to smell the fumes as it went by.
As stated, that aftermarket hood scoop was generic and not Ford specific. In my opinion they looked like crap.
I can barely make it out, but it says San Francisco FD on the hood. While this fire engine was not in service during the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906, it was probably delivered soon after. While the SFFD is not the only fire department to use wooden ladders (the LAFD does also), they are the only department that builds their own ladders. Since 1917 the San Francisco FD Ladder Shop has been building, designing and maintaining all the ladders for the San Francisco Fire Dept.
This was a huge treat when our family went to the A&W in the 50's. I started driving in 64, A&W, Big Boys and Mickey D's supper club was in starting up in the Milwaukee area, WooHoo. Anybody besides me remember 2 burgers, fries and a shake under a dollar at the golden arches, as a young man I ate a few in my time, not so much anymore.
I remember McDonald "bag of burgers" which was 7 burgers for $1. Used to buy that large fries and a shake. As a teen I would burn all those calories off. 1 more car I promise, Rex Winter Dry n windy Lubbock TX
A lot of those men look like Joseph Stalin too. There MAY be a connection. You had to run your life like a military operation to survive. When you rely on a wood or coal cook stove it’s a full time job just keeping wood, food & water stocked in. Getting rid of horses had to be a huge relief. Also seriously time consuming.
In Milwaukee Wi. 50's we had George Webb restaurants, a lunch counter type with stools, served breakfast, lunch, dinner, not a big menu but good and that was their to go special in the 50's, again a family treat, 7 burgers in a bag $1. You, I and probably many here grew up on fast food burgers and we didn't get fat, today it seems the huge fast food industry has come home to roost in a negative way.
About the auto related smells... In the late 60s-early-70s, my daily drivers, (that's all I had!), tended to be Hi compression engines. The only pump gas we had left was Sunoco 104 Octane. You can't buy it but I can still smell it!! I also in the late 70s-early-80s used Av-gas, & CAM-2, about $2.75/ gal in the early 80s. They said it was 110 Octane. It really woke up the engines in '63 Olds UHC 394 with 10.5/1 CR '58 Caddy 365 with 10/1 CR '56 Packard 374 with 10/1 CR '64 Jag 4.2 liter ? CR '63 Impala 409/425 with 11+/1 CR It smelled even better!!
Maybe all my problems stem from sniffin those exhaust fumes. I remember the blowby fumes rolling up through the floor board on my friends '36 ford.
The Jalopy Journal
