Anyone out there remember the MAS Fiberglass catalog? If you ordered something from them, they threw a 30 year old catalog in the box. I heard MAS went out of business several years ago. Anyone have one of those old catalogs laying around?
I think Chip (@need louvers ?) will know more. I believe his family was involved with Racing Unlimited or MAS. Might PM him.
MAS was originally on 26th and Hennepin Ave South in Minneapolis MN. I used to pedal by it on my bicycle in the early 60's.
I had the same catalog, but don't know where it went ( I have a good idea!) I'll have to look around- maybe with my JC Warchowski collection
I think it was just "Warshawsky & Co.", but it was just a "J.C. Whitney" catalog with better prices. Back in the day, everyone had a "J.C. Whitney" catalog, but "Warshawky"'s were few and far between for some reason.
Warshawsky and J.C. Whitney one and the same but I think they still used the Warshawsky name in the Chicago area.
The Warshawsky brothers started the business and Warshawsky & Co. was the name of the retail store at 1900 S. State in Chicago. J.C.Whitney was the mail order side of the company, and the mail order catalog had cheaper prices. Living in Chicago it was easy to go to the store with a Whitney catalog in hand and place your order at the counter. When the salesman balked we would seek out Sol, he ran the windshield wiper, wiper motor, etc. department and he was probably connected to the family. Anyway, old Sol always honored our cheaper prices, with a loud- “Give it to him, dammit!”
I remember hearing that the Warshawsky catalog was like the wholesale version of the JC Whitney catalog. It was supposedly available only to businesses and dealers. I think both businesses operated using different addresses from the same building.
When I was high school I ordered a boat load of parts from J.C. Whitney for my bone stock Model A. I was told by several friends that Warshawsky had better prices but never was able to get a copy of a Warshawsky catalogue.
I remember when they filed for bankruptcy in the early seventies- I had ordered rear springs for my "59 Ford p.u. and never got them. They sent me a claim form that was the size of a small book which I filled out, sent in, and never heard a thing. Business 101
Every time I went there and got whatever it was that I needed, I'd walk back outside and was always approached by a guy as he rolls up his sleeve "Hey kid wanna buy a watch?" or "How about a Cashmere Sweater?" It was quite an event!
Well it’s been over 50 years, maybe my recollection is backwards, but never the less Sol always honored the better price for us. RIP Sol!
I only had one dealing with them years ago and usually I don't run someone down even for a crappy part if I feel they are doing the best they can. The one peice 70 Camaro front end I ordered from them came to me so thin it sagged across the top like a blanket spread across a square tubing frame with waves in the wind and on top of that and worse there was air pockets everywhere that had not even been rolled out the size of a 6x9 stereo speaker. That is way worse than just not trying. I felt they were probably laughing at me as they sent the part out. I keep all catalogs and magazines but that was one that definitely got thrown away.
Anyone remember Couch Racing? They were in Iowa, DesMoines I believe. They sent out mimeograph (remember that?) flyers of the parts they offered. I purchased quite a bit from them back in the ‘70’s. Cheap prices.
If you looked at the picture of the store in the catalog, JC Whitney was on the side of the building running E-W and Warshawsky was on the side of the building running N-S
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