Art & Inspiration 50's car show "props"?

I've been inspired a lot by guys like Hirohata and Steck. I've seen that Steck had a photo album and a sign, and I know Hirohata popped his trunk and showed oil-water-gas cans/custom handled tools. I know some guys used angle hair, etc. ... What are some other things you'd see at a car show in the 50s and 60s that you don't see too often now?

 

We showed the Kopper Kart replica with a genuine 50's TV, that Vic found. The same kind that they showed with the original Kart. They also displayed a barber tool set, and 12 volt shaving razor with it.

 

They told me that you got extra show points for the 3 cans gas, oil and water so they were very popular. The small bongo drums and Tiki dolls were very popular.

 

Makes you wonder that in another 50 years will people be looking for "time-out-babydolls" to prop against the bumpers and carhop trays for the windows? Gosh, I hate those things!

Jim

 

In addition to angel hair, and white sand, I remember shallow ponds with water and goldfish. The pond was made with bricks and plastic sheeting, then white sand around the edge to "hide" the plastic sheet. Stu

 

at the cruisin' on main event last year this one couple had a whole drive-in movie/dinner set-up going on. it was pretty cool

 

Please tell me this thread is about what props they used in the 50s, and not modern-day nostalgia props like those God damn window trays with fake plastic food and ketchup and mustard bottles! If it's the former, then I'll probably subscribe, and if it's the latter I'll probably just get the wife to shoot me!
Paul

 

Well... I didn't show cars in the 50's... but I'm guessing the pink slip clipped to the drivers visor said you meant business ??? & the pin up girl looking gal friend probably helped as well

the fake drive in stuff drives me crazy...

but I did buy a vintage machinist tool box, put "Autorized Lafayette Service" stickers on the box... I put my modern tools in the drawers, but have a collection of vintage / period hand tools ( like a boxed 1938 pin striping tool ) along with a bunch of Nash wrenches, some vintage tire pressure guages, even have a 1919 patent tire plug tool, & several other items ) that fit in the top part of the box... so I set it out by the front bumper & open it up... might mean my car is bad, but I often get more comments about my tool box, than I do about the car

 

Yes, I meant old props. Where do you guys think I can get a decent set of cans? I was using antifreeze jugs, but I think it looks a little hokey... I got a lighter powered 50s spotlight that's kinda cool

 

Speaking of the 'modern props', though, some members of a local Merced club hated the crybaby dolls so much they parked a '40 Ford's right front tire on one.
A group of outraged wives raised such a scuffle that the club members had to apologize publicly over the PA system!
Good thing they didn't do that to the old fashioned props (gas & oil cans): they would have been addressed by the E-PA system!

 

This thread is useless without pics . jpg

Little robots, courtesy of Rickster.

 

There goes my idea of putting the head of one of those dolls under my front tire, spreading fake blood around and sticking bloody hair to the bumper........
Yeah, no class, I know.

 

the old "cans" where usually rectangle shaped, like what you'd find these days a gallon if thinner/reducer in. Maybe just paint up some of those.

like at the bottom of this page http://www.stillrunnin.com/magazine/view/sr2/39-40

 

if you wanna get super legit, google "boyco cans" for the real deal

 

for the real deal old-timey cans scour some of your local antique malls/shops/cooperatives .... some of the dealers in automobilia, tools, etc. will have them.

Barry

 

If you dont want chemical cans find some maple syrup cans and paint them up! Plus it tastes alot better than laquer thinner!

 

The original cans people used as props in the 50's had a much larger screw cap then the typical ones you find for thinner these days. Probably about and 1 1/2 inches across... you can still find them... but they aren't as common... those would be the most legit for a mid to late 50's theme... that, a white tuck & roll spare tire cover with a wrench pocket sewn into it and your set. The other thing that I always though was cool was a couple old style crepe paper road flares.

 

These are the cans from the 'Kopper Kart' clone (or Klone?)

You can still find old 1 gallon gas cans at flea markets, swap meets, trouble is they're usually either beat all to hell or very rusty. See if you can get a local body shop to save you some old 1 gallon thinner cans, I've painted and lettered several for people.



Also, Rikster has some good pics of the Hirohata trunk display stuff (tools, cans, etc) Here: Autorama pics

 

Well we covered the cans so I won't add any more to that subject except, yes, they're extra points. Lighting was popular too. The old 4 color xmas tree light was always kool. Hide it in the angel hair and let it change the car color. Trophy collections too. Lots and lots of trophys! Also tools. A jack, a tool box painted and striped to match, 1 wheel pulled off and a kustom jackstand. Setting the car up on blocks on one side or all around so you could see things better. Cover the blocks in angel hair too so it's floating on a cloud. Don't forget some glitter here n there. Yeah I know that's more 60s stuff than 50s but that's what my youthful eye was seeing at the 64 or 5 Autorama in Detroit. Whatever year "The Munsters" "Dragula" was there...

 

We found our cans at a yard sale, plus it came with the fire extinguisher.

The only other "prop" we sometimes use is my dads old fire suit

 

This is why I love The HAMB... I was thinking thinner cans, buy I never thought of olive oil cans! Might even be cheaper! Thanks, guys!!

 

If you hook up an mp3 player to your own am transmitter (like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ramsey-AM1C-R...RJCM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311817426&sr=8-1) you could broadcast your own mix of 50's music to your car and the surrounding 1/4 mile of cars. Plus maybe bet a bakelite radio from a junque store, and tune'r in. You could also download early 50's radio serials (Gunsmoke, perhaps) and enjoy some adventures playing on a radio-of-the-day while you show your car.

 

My cousin used to show his 32 Ford roadster in the 1960's and the name of the car was,"Big Boy's Toy".
One of the displays we constructed was a backdrop painted to look like the end of a Monogram model car box.The display also contained a large scale rattle can made from a cardboard barrel covered with aluminum foil and the metal top had a 2 lb.coffee can bolted to it that was painted to look like a spray nozzle.Can was lettered to look like a Pactra spray paint can.
We also made a huge tube of glue by taking a piece of galvanized ducting and affixing a funnel to one and and flattening the tube starting about halfway down and rolling the end.Tube was painted and lettered to look like Testor's glue.
Of course it had the requisite gas,oil,and water cans suitably lettered.Also one of the often overlooked items was a "judge's info book" which was a loose leaf notebook with all the pertinent information on the car's modifications laying on the seat of the car and properly identified.Made the judge's job a lot easier and sometimes scored a couple extra points.
The worst part was when he bought a turntable to display the car on.It was a royal pain in the ass to set up and tear down.The fence he built was also a nightmare;it was made of black pipe that had to be screwed together.The best time was when he decided to stop going to car shows with it.
I have some pictures of the display squirreled away somewhere;I'll have to see if I can dig them out.They aren't the best quality as I stripe cars much better than I use a camera.

 

The 1950's-60's Butt ugly and plain stupid
"Aluminum Christmas Tree Light Wheel !!"


There were always several of them at the indoor shows years ago,.... I hated the Aluminum trees,... and I hated the red flocked bulbs (ornaments),... and I hated these stupid lights.





It was like Charlie Browns Christmas Tree And a Sputnik all in one

 

Not exactly a prop, per se, but lots of show cars had snap in rolled and pleated fender liners that went up underneath the wheel well so that all you saw were rolls and pleats to match the upholstery in the car. That, and similarly rolled and pleated steering wheel covers and back seat tonneau covers.

Some guys even put telephones on the console (the old handset ones)so it looked like they were functional. Chromed scissors jacks and tools in pockets got extra points too.

Don

 

I've wanted pleated insert! I also was thinking of sticking a phone handset in there, but one for cell phones so it'd be semi functional. They're real, I swear!!

 

Now you see, I freaking love all this crap! Try this sort of thing nowadays and you'd have people queueing up to call you a gold chainer prick. It's so cool, it's self expression it's completely period and some of the displays from back in the day over there completely blow my mind! The display for the Inland emperors T was fantastic and totally traditional. If I tried something like that over here I'd get laughed out of the country. It's like attention to detail is a crime nowadays. I use tyre dressing on the kart and people have told me that that's not traditional! I've even taken flak for putting up a show board for crying out loud! Jesus H titty fucking Christ in a sidecar, was I ever born in the wrong era in the wrong country!
More please!
Paul

 

I have seen early wagons done with a travel theme, old suitcases , sunglasses and all the old stickers that showed what states you had visited on the side glass. I thought it lent well to the 50's when the advent of better roads promoted travel in these United States. Back in the days of my car showing I was in the build stage of a 62 Corvette that I was going to display as a big model with the frame and partial suspension on one side the body stripped of paint on another side and the chrome pieces attached to a large rectangular PVC piping set up. The back round was to be a large picture of the amt model box. A large glue tube, tire and wheel laying down and well you get the picture. It was an idea that I did not carry forward as the work was too intense to get it to the show, set up and tear down, but I still have the idea possibly for a future setup in my garage. These days I am not much a fan of shows, trophies, car politics, points, etc. I try to remain a lil more low key.

 

I didnt show in the 50s but in the 70s & 80s,,,,however I followed what was cool in the 50s with my 65 Impala SS,and yeah you got extra points for saftey items,,,,,heres a pick of my 65 I had ,gas-oil-water,tools,owners manual,factory ads,trophys and other things like that

 

Dude...chill out a bit!


Tire dressing? (Oops...tyre) Of course it was done. Clear floor wax because the latest Armorall and tire shine shit wasn't around. If they were real bad you bought a pint of Dupont (#7?) black tire paint to freshen em up. Some guys did shoe polish but it was messy and would run into the whitewalls if the tires got too wet. And BTW, you are a goldchainer prick!!