I was wonder exactly how old these are? I've tried researching but no luck. The cool thing about these is they don't have the two holes to clear those headlight points. I'll have to grind those points down but does anyone know the era of these half shields? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
On my Aunts '53 Ford circa 1961. Yes that's a 10 yr. old me. Note that the shields, (we called them cat's eyes) were canted.
They were widely available through mail order catalogs like Honest Charley and J. C. Whitney back in the day.
They were supposed to cut glare. I would say they came out about 1960 and were popular for 2 or 3 years. Auto parts stores and auto dealership parts departments that sold accessories had them. There was an earlier version that looked like the peak on a baseball cap. They came out about 1950.
Not to de-rail this post but, does anyone (particularly from the South) remember the two-tone round cushions that were popular about the same time as these shields? They were maybe 12-15 inches in diameter and the colors were stitched in a pie shape on them. You displayed them in the corners of your package tray and they were available in colors to match your car. If you had a Black & White '56 Ford you had B&W cushions, if you had a Red and White '55 Chevy you had R&W cushions, etc.
I have a set on the 57 right now but they're newer, cheap chrome plated steel, with the two holes. I'll put these vintage ones on soon. Does anyone know about the brand/company? Schwartz-Light, Chicago Illinois Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Sounds interesting, wouldn't mind seeing what you're talking about Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
.............................I've searched on the net to no avail. I think it was one of those short-lived trends and may have been only popular in the South.
The headlight thingy was to reduce glare in fog or rain, the cushion was for your girlfriends knees or head, your preference! The headlight thingies were around a lot more that a few years, I've seen them on the rectangle lights of the 80s and newer BTW I've never seen or heard of the cushions so they either before the mid sixties, or didn't catch on here in Wisconsin.
I got side tracked from my own topic and thought Mad034 was talking about those cushions. Yeah I'm familiar with the purpose for the shields, and supposedly you can run your high beams. If these are truly from 50s or 60s that's cool. I never liked how most have those two holes cut into them Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
.......................................................Sorry. My fault for even bringing those cushions into the discussion.........................Don.
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