History Let's go shopping at JC Whitney! in 1958

I recently bought some old rod & custom magazines from the early 60s. They all had an ad from JC Whitney. I'm amazed at what they offered!

 

It is nice of you to do this for us, thanks. They used the same silly illustrations when I used their catalogs in the 60's and 70's. Good that I didn't buy the really odd stuff. Werid things like "gyroscopic wheel stabilizers" which were in other words, big cast iron wheel weights.

 

I lived with these J C Whitney catalogs growing up, but I didn't remember ever seeing the Chevy grilles, and just imagine, a 54 Pontiac grille w/insert fo $37.00 ! I wonder if they back order..?

 

Ya gotta remember guy's, what you got from J.C. was not exactly what you would get from GM or Ford. Most of the exterior Chrome would only last for a year or so before it began to rust. But just the same, it was cool.

 

Aw, man! I need that replacement grille for 53 Chevy on page 4! $67 and change is a bargain!

 

When I was a kid(in the 60's) my dad and I would go down there to get parts for his 57 Buick roadmaster,they had they had a 409 a small block chevy abig block chevy and an old ford engine,and a VW engine all on display with all chrome bolt on items and headers,when I started to drive and was building my car in 72, the engines were still there, in to the 80's they still were there.
I had a few friends who worked there who used to get me great deals.
they closed up quite a while ago,and moved to La Salle Il. the building is gone and condo's are in its place Burgger auto parte is also gone they were accross the street from them the only place left over there is Blue star auto parts.

 

I was there with my father in the early 70's when we lived in Chicago. That warehouse had to be a city block long and deep! It was just to much to take in at once for a young gearhead. Thanks for the post.

 

good stuff today

 

I always loved the ads for the "snake oil" type products they sold that would proclaim- "its like new rings in a can" or some pellets to put in your fuel so you could get incredible gas mileage. we alwayse used to joke about seeing an ad for "race cam in a can"

 

Well I'm glad to see that the Olds Starter Changeover has only gone up in price about 8.6 times since 1958.

Though mine didn't come with instructions... or the oil bypass plate. Hmm...

 

More hot rod goodies

 

Actual Mallory part numbers are listed....that's a rare thing in a JCW catalog

 

Real SW gages

 

Four more pages of fun

 

I want those louvered moon disc for my coupe.........

 

In the 60s when I was a kid, Grandpa's cars always had clear plastic seat covers on them.

 

I wonder if anyone has actually seen a car with the aftermarket hooded headlight trim?

 

definitive proof that all that junk was traditional, maybe not everywhere but obviously someone was buying and using that stuff.

one thing that is overlooked when looking at this catalog is how cheap all these parts appear to us today. my 1st job in 1968 (ten years after this catalog) paid $1.25 Hr minimum wage. so while stewart-warner gauges were had for 5-6 bucks that meant busting butt for 5-6 hours. jcw did have a lot of good deals and for many that was the only place to shop

 

First thing i run into is my old clubs plaque the Aristocrats ! I think my club had Danielson Ct. added to the bottom at some point as I have seen both styles. I was a late member in early 70s by then they had the town name on the plaques

 

Yup! I remember getting a warshawski catalog and it was exactly like the JC whitney of the same month just different covers and of course addresses but page for page picture for picture the parts catalogs were identical ! this was mid 60s

 

Here we go - Used hemi triple nickel heads - 38.50 ea

Edmunds hemi aluminum valve covers & dual quad intake - coooooool

 

We would buy engine adapters,Jeep parts and cheap speed goodies.
Never had a problem with the neighborhood. I remember the tall racks of parts and conveyors the parts would come down. This was in the 1970s. 3-4 of us would pile into a beater for the trip from the suburbs. It was always fastest to call the order in and it would be waiting for you. We were lucky to live less than 20 miles from there.
Reading the catalog over and over for years taught me the sizes of every modern engine made. From that we figured what would swap from other car makes.Like if it used the same clutch we would try a trans swap.
Like others said Whitney and Warshawskys were one and the same.
Also some of the stuff was junk but we didnt know any better.
They were on Wabash street. Right down the street was BERG KING of JEEPS,MIDWAY truck parts,Republic Jeep parts and Illinois trailer parts. Also any industrial parts a kid could want. Most were owned by grumpy old Jewish guys that would tell great stories once you got them going.
It was a great time to grow up during.
Ron

 

Here's my current "JC Whitney" catalog these days

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Lotsa good gearhead stuff, but you need to dig a little

 

We use them for lots of robot parts! but not much for the cars....

 

stuff that appeared over night on my dad's car was order from JCW. Thanks for the memory.

 

dress up parts for the all new Edsel!

 

This one from '62 has all the same illustrations, and the prices didn't change much in 4 years. Petersen sold the cover shot to Whitney who cut me out of the picture. Petersen owned the rights to all their print material so neither Rickman or I got a cent from Whitney.

 

I wish I could find a set of those HIGH SPEED gears for the Chevy 3 speed transmission. I use that trans in my nostalgia Fiat altered.

 

ya know tf .. who's the dame in your avatar?

 

Was in Chicago visiting family in the early 70's and went downtown to JC Whitney to pick up some running board mats for one of my 37's. They always had some cool stuff and I bought a lot of it over the years.
Thanks for sharing. The old catalog is awesome and the items and prices makes you wish they were still available today.