Art & Inspiration any parking meter gurus on here?

i haven't yet dived into the world of parking meters, but my superficial research has come up empty.

my father gave this to me years ago, and today being the anniversary of his passing, i decided to honor him by finding a base for it and i plan to mount it to a pole and display it in the garage.

can anyone tell me what make and model this is and what era? any help is GREATLY appreciated!

-tred

 

I think they were used pretty much all over the world. I remember seeing that exact pattern in Pretoria, South Africa, during the '70s and '80s, at which time they certainly weren't new. c.1960, perhaps?

I remember the parking wardens in Pretoria were sour old white guys, apparently hand-picked for misanthropy, who would scowl at you and mumble. This was in the darkest days of apartheid, when there was a general phobia about international communism, and I used to freak these guys out entirely as a pedestrian by greeting them in Russian. Some days I'd change a Rand at the bank for 2c coins. I'd stay twenty paces or so ahead of a parking warden and, every time I pass an expired meter or one with a yellow flag, pop in a 2c and give it a twist. It made the wardens turn a shade of purple which on balance probably improved their appearance.

But there was a trick to these meters. You'd put in your 10c or whatever and turn the handle. Then you'd put in a 2c and not turn the handle. The wardens had to test each meter showing a yellow flag by turning the handle, to ensure that it isn't out of order, which would drop the 2c and register another five minutes or whatever, leaving the warden unable to commence with the long-anticipated elaborate pencil-licking ritual.

 

My brother in law has an entire spare bedroom filled with boxes of parking meters and spare parts. I'm pretty sure he has a base for your meter. I' ll get in touch with him and see what he has. Your meter is newer than the 50s, since it doesn't have a penny slot any more, so most likely 60s to 70s era.

 

http://driveinmfg.com/parking_meter_parts
Might be able to get the bottom half here.

 

I'm no Guru, but that's a Duncan, made in Arkansas.

 

Sorry, all he has are tops at the moment. The bases are harder to come by. The tops are interchangeable. And as cities upgraded the tops, to ones that charge more, they just swapped the tops onto existing bases. The bases contain the coin box, and require keys to get into. Changing out just the tops meant they could continue using the same keys.

 

from looking at all the information given here, i'm thinking what i have might be from a duplex model(?)
anyone know if that's the case?

 

It sure looks like it.

 

I got one that only takes pennies

 

Does look like a Duncan.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Duncan-Par...590168&hash=item1c8eb71969:g:XVcAAOSwi0JZlb60

 

I have one that is a post mount still in use. It's a 1/2 hour limit unit.

 

I'm not a expert on parking meters but back in the 70's the City of Anderson removed all of them to help entice people to shop in the downtown area and sold all the meters at one of the city auctions.

I was given one by a friend that worked for the city in the public works department,I haven't done anything with it but looking at images on the internet it has more of a art deco look that what I have seen. HRP

 

Don't lock yourself in there.

 

Reading the title of the thread i was hoping it was a how to get the coins out of meters thread...lol

 

Sorry about yer pops..
But the question is: Can you open the little door?

 

The first "Park-O-Meter" was installed in Oklahoma City in July of 1935. So they are traditional.

 

Hmmm, toilet paper for wiping your crank

 

see, that's why i love the HAMB, a fella can kick another fella when he's down, and both of them laugh about it.
that's an obscure reference too!

 

HRP. When I was a kid (50 now) my parents bought my bedroom set from Ethan Allen. They bought a lamp from there made from a parking meter exactly like yours. Came with a key on a chain attached to the lamp piece. I still have it, very cool.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

My meter head has a female threaded hole in the bottom so I ran a threaded rod from the head, through a piece of pipe and a farm disc blade. A large washer and a nut holds it all together. The disc blade has a large hole that gives adjustment for plumb. Mine is outside my garage, on the sloping approach of my driveway, so I need that adjustment.

Gary

 

All I know about parking meters, is if you don't "feed em" you end up paying a lot more in the long run...

 

thank you everyone for the information, and thank you Johnboy34 for that photo.
i ended up scoring a complete unit identical to that one, but with the original instruction placard and number tag still riveted to it, and amazingly the color of it is almost exactly the color of my meter, so it won't really look like it's been thrown together from scavenged parts.

 

Hope this helps out.