A while back I took the rolled up newspapers out of a car's doors. It was the thing at the time to stuff as much in as possible to give the doors more weight and dampen sound. These papers were from Austin in late 1956. I have unrolled a few and found it interesting One ad was for the big presentation of the new 57 Chevy at Capital Chevy. It was to be in a few days and you could come by and see them at the unvailing. There was tremendous anticipation to see the new cars 55-62. People would line up to get inside to see the new models. It was like a big free show. Seems hard to belive in this day when you can't tell one car from another.
Aside from the fin styling, trim and grill, there's not much different between a 57 Chevy, Pontiac, Olds or Buick. Nevertheless, you can easily tell them apart.
yep , i remember when the new cars was a big deal with lot's of secrecy...cars were transported covered up so no one could see them before the unveiling. dealers would even cover their windows so no one got a sneak peek. then the big day would come and people filled the showrooms my father really wasn't a car guy , but had to go and see them
How many of us guys used to watch traffic and name the car models and years as they rolled by? Hell,kids could care less about the new cars now? Guess we don't look much at them either ...?
Thats pretty cool. A friend of mine with a 59 DeVille ripped his carpet up recently. Stuck between the carpet and the floorboards was a newspaper from Detroit dated March 6th, 1958. Seems kind of early for them to be building a 59 model, but the date and city were clearly legible. There was an ad for an electric adding machine for $129. Makes me wonder, did the line worker put the newspaper in the car hoping someone would later find it, or because he was done reading it and just wanted to get rid of it?
A few of the scraps that came out of the doors of my Deuce roadster. The doors and the rumble lid are still packed full with the L.A. Times and the L.A. Mirror. January and February 1951. There were 2 ads for 1949 Mercury convertibles for 1500.00 each. New car debuts was a big deal up into the 60s. In the early 60s The new Chevy's debuted on the TV show Bonanza.
I found a painted-over cigar under the mat in the trunk left by a factory worker in my first project, a 1960 Olds. He probably didn't want to get caught smoking.
"New car debuts was a big deal up into the 60s. In the early 60s The new Chevy's debuted on the TV show Bonanza". Oh yea, watching Bonanza on Sunday nights with my parents hoping for a Corvette commercial to see what the new models looked like. The new model cars always debuted in September.
This was pretty spooky, but cool just the same. I was replacing the side door in my garage with one of those steel Stanley units. My brother came over to help and it happened to be his birthday, June 6th. The old door came out without a fight and there was some newspaper rolled up between the jamb and door frame. We put them aside and went about installing the door. We broke for lunch and he picked up the rolled up newspaper and unfurled it. It was the local paper from June 6th on the exact day he was born! Like some kind of time capsule waiting 42 years to be opened. We showed it to the wives and it was like wow. Bob
Oh yeah, I remember those days when Little Joe and the other Cartwrights would hawk the new Chevies on Bonanza. If we were good Mom would let us go over to the neighbors to watch it in COLOR ! They were the only ones in the neighborhood with a color TV until we got one in '64. I was lucky to live just north of the GM Milford (MI) proving grounds in the late 50s and early 60s. As kids we'd sit along the dirt road (it was paved in '60) and get a preview of many of next year's models during the summer months as the GM engineers and techs "test drove" them home. They didn't cover them up like they do nowadays. I still remember that first time we saw a Corvair, we wondered what foreign model it was?
When ever I do a remodel on the house or build a shed/garage, I run by the grocery story and buy a bunch of National Inquirer and Star tabloids and stuff them between the studs to give the next owner a cheap thrill when he remodels. Will have to do the same on future car builds!
Don I was just wondering why you removed it all? For me it is documentation (besides word of mouth) that the car was a California hot rod. Were you worried about rust out? That is the only documentation that I have to prove that my car was a SoCal hot rod in 1951. I love having it in there.
I had to do some hinge repair that involved a torch. There's other evidence that this has been a hot rod forever as well as a former dry lakes racer so, I didin't need the musty paper. Besides, I live in California what more proof do I need that it's a California hot rod
In my Retro Rocket store we deal in old furniture and often find quite old newspapers lining the drawers, fun to look at the old ads, hamburger 3 lbs for 49. etc. My Dad being a car dealer we would get in a day early to see the new cars with a cold cut spread and free drinks, Wow!! when I was a kid this was big stuff, the 57 chevy and 57 Ford are my fondest memories. A black F.I. hardtop Chevy almost made me faint, it was sold the first day and was the champ around town although quickly challenged by a Paxton blown Stude Hawk!! Those were the days!!~Sololobo~
Yup, I do same thing. I put them in a plastic bag. My last remodel was a big old Victorian we lived in, we traced it's being built to about 1877. Tore the old wallboards out to rebuild the pocket door track and found several mags from 1898, chewed up a bit from critters but still readable. Replaced them with a 1998 Detroit News - ads & all.
The story is that the original poster was found being used as insulation in a Chicago row house attic by a carpenter.
Wow, I always new my family was behind the times but I didn't realize how bad until your post. My family got our first color set in 1979 dad always said he wouldn't replace the old set until it failed. BTW the B&W set is still in use as a bedroom set.
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