Party like its,....1939! Who loves the 30s and 40s?

There are some folks I see from time to time that seem to have high regards for the early days of hot rodding, circa 1920s-40s,...pre-WWII days that is.

However, I was curious as to how many really appreciate and have found themselves in love with that Golden Age of time? We see a mass of pompadores adorning the fields of hot rods, rat rods and streetrods,...the high cuffed jeans and the loop collar shirts. The 1950s always seem to be the "in thing", but what about the early days?

We see Ace combes being pulled out, messaging the hair back into place every 10-15 minutes between the globs of thick pomade, but is it so thick that we forgot the roots of it all? Did you ever know any of it to begin with? Do you really have an able and strong knowledge of history, or just a pseudo-sense of it?

Can we recognize the past?

Can we recognize and differentiate between the 30s & 40s, from the 50s & 60s?

Do we just do "IT" because its the "COOL" thing to do, it's what the latest magazine tells us is "IN STYLE", or what the "cool guys" do, say, drive, or wear?


So, that poll question is, as such,...


Thanks fellas....

 

Isn't amazing when you look at actual, REAL photographs of the guys who set the groundwork for hot rodding back in the 40s? I mean, they all have creative facial hair, endless tattoos, Rat Fink t-shirts, Pomps, and bowling shoes on!

 

Now that is funny stuff...

 

i just in it to fit in.......



with everyone over 80!

 

Rat Fink,,...late 50s,....bowling shoes,....were for bowling,....facial hair,....rarity though seen nonetheless. tattoos, frowned upon, but there were much more people floating aruond with a tattoo than you'd think back in the 30s and 40s. Pomps,....late 40s,...early 50s, (1950s enter the greaser).

That's not fiction, its fact,....lots of history abounds in books old movies of the era and even the internet,....

Best wishes to ya....

 

Hell yeah!

 

PARTY!!! (note the wooden "keg" and shortage of females...)

 

Quote Wikepedia:

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (March 4, 1932 – April 4, 2001) was an artist and cartoonist who created the hot-rod icon Rat Fink and other extreme characters. As a custom car builder, Roth was a key figure in Southern California's "Kustom Kulture"/Hot-rod movement of the 1960s. He grew up in Bell, California, attending Bell High School, where his classes included auto shop and art.

Ed Roth, a wonderful talented artist,.....

ok, back to the topic at hand,...

 

HA! Very cool. great pic. Something I've heard from various sources is that there were actually many more females interested in hanging out at the lakes and the garages than you'd realize back then. I have several photos from a friend who's 90 yrs old, with girls haning out with the cars, and the guys.

If you guys jump on over to shorpy.com you'll find some great pics there of the Godlen Era (30s and 40s) and stuff as old as 100 yrs ago. It really helps educate a guy if you like to look at photos but have a hard time sitting and taking the time to read much. You get a strong sense of style, clothes, music, and general life. BUT,...the best you can get is straight from the mouth of those who were there and lived then. My best friends are from that era,...the others are 6 ft. in the ground.

 

I'm only 42, so I don't remember much about the '30s and '40s

But what I have seen and heard, I've always liked.
Like any other period of time, you really shouldn't focus on just the good parts (like cars) without respecting the rough parts (like racism, economy,etc...) otherwise we're destined to repeat it.

 

Big fan of the history from that period. Here's a shot that to me is everything travel should still be. Not sure if the guy has cuffed jeans but he is wearing the white t-shirt.

 

T-shirts (undershirts) were worn under your button up shirts. The button ups were taken off when you were about to do something that might soil said button up shirt. I am only 42 but my father made me wear undershirts growing up and when he took his button up shirt off so did I because that meant we were about to get dirty.
Fitysix

 

Iam a big fan of the early days as well.My grandfather use to sit around and tell story's about them. Iam redoing a 39 ford c-dan smoetimes when iam sitting around and money's tight thinkin how times had to be alot more simpler than they are now .Iam sure they were'nt but it sure would be nice to see america when it was still some what innocent . Really enjoyed the post

 

I'll second that slick39 - Everything seemed a lot simpler, hell most trucks on the road didn't even have door locks.

 

In the mid fifties we wore white t-shirts and jeans rolled up. Not big cuffs like today, but the thickness of the hem. Tatts were usually on a sailor that had been on a drunk on night.
Most of them tried to cover it with a long sleave shirt when they got home.

 

Note to self: take time to go visit with the guys down the street at the assisted living community.

 

I love those time too., especially the cars. I have cars, toys, pictures, furniture, even a mid 40's house. I do however do not dress like the golden era.
My cars are all early style builds,running flathead V8's and bangers, early three speeds and banjo rears. I do have a OHV project,but it is a 292 Ford, Fords first production OHV V8. It will go into my 39 coupe. I do not do this because it's the "in" thing, but because I like it. I drive my model A everywere...at 45 MPH. Sure, I could throw a lame SBC in it or something, but then it would not be a model A. It would be typical.

 

Your last paragraph nails it, especialy the part about the "psuedo-sense" of it.
Nuff said any more, major drama could ensue

 

nice,...I yearn for the old roadside rests,...the old motor courts....

 

Good point! I'd say, note to everyone,....

 

...and that's a good view on your life,...to do the things you do becuase you enjoy them, not to do them with the intent on 'fitting in" with other folks, a click, or group.

I however, have noted through the years and via other's lives that sometimes after a while, people's tastes change, or sometimes improve in certain ways. Sometimes they go south too...

For instance, I knew a young guy (16-17 yrs old) who joined the WWII living History Group I was actively a member with for years. He was joe "punker" , little "bobby bad-ass", but loved history,...in about less than a year, his love for history for the 1940s era grew to evolve into a love for the music, cars, houses, people, clothes, hats, food, etc. from that era. It was pretty cool to see that transformation/progression. It was the ultimate rebellion towards our modern selfish society ,....a wild throwback to the days of that era.

Sure, every era that ever was and will be will have its issues and troubles, but the big difference is that the people lived with ideals that didn't just hang on a wall, but hung inside people's hearts and minds. People actually tried to live what they preached and believed in, instead of throwing a bumper sticker on the car and throwing their brains into the wind.

We've made leaps and bounds in the medical field, but we can't help out a neighbor.

We've made technological advancements, but many can't even count out change when someone hands them a $50 dollar bill for a bill of $15.65 at the local grocery store if the cash register isn't working.

Our country has seen the days of "whites only" almost come to an end,...only to have an outpouring of reverse-racism spring up in its place.
Whites are still paranoid of blacks, blacks are paranoid of whites and illegal immigrants run rampant in between it all.

We can pull out in front of the guy in traffic, but we get upset when someone motions for us to give them a break and let them in line on the road. We, carry our hearts on our sleeve and try to save the whales and baby seals, but find it near impossible for the average American couple to be able to adopt an infant of their own country!

We've seen the days of the big slave driving coal companies and the "company stores" fade away and the industry all but gone,.....only to have the company store be replaced by conglomerates like WAL-MART that do their utter best at keeping their workforce at minimum wage, no overtime, and to squelch any united workforce with an unyealding iron fist, crushing the human soul.
Meanwhile, in Germany two major compaines Wal-Mart bought have it great due to their unionized workforce, because the companies were already unionized, so walmart had to give in. Those workers can't understand the bad conditions of their wal-mart friends in the US, as they have 30 days off each year and their productivityis booming with profits for the Wal-Mart company more than bountiful.

How does all this relate to hot rodding,....

Its all relative,...we've lost our way, and slipped off the path our great grandparents put in place for us so that tomarrow would be a better day, and a better place to live in....

...but thats just my 2 cents,....

 

The '30s and '40s are "loved" more by younger people than those that actually lived through that era, mainly because of the Depression and World War II. That being said, those two events did a lot for our country and it's citizens by teaching us unity (actual unity, not the kind you hear so much about lately) to overcome some monumental challenges. Challenges that affected the whole world. Sound familiar?
Of course looking at that era through the filter of 60, 70, or 80 years takes away the feel, taste, smell and "grit" of the reality. They were really hard times. Harder than what we're experiencing right now. We've got it so good that we don't appreciate what we have. We have overcome before, and we can do it again.
One thing's for sure: The music was better!
My 2 cents.

 

I'm 37, so I can't say I'd want to relive the '40s and early '50s, but I certainly like the cars, furniture, anything art deco, hell even the movies had real plots.

I do think it was a simpler time and for many families a better time to grow up. People I know that are 70+ generally followed the GOD, FAMILY, WORK rule of thumb and took pride in their work. You didn't need to legislate ethics; a man generally stood by his word. Today it's, MONEY, POWER, SEX. Family and Christian values are becoming extinct. That's what I love about my '49 Ford. It's my little time machine. I seem to forget about all the bullshit and enjoy the drive until some asshat tries to run me off the road or smash into me.

I know there were a lot of, not so great things back then and its easier to remember the good, but I do think people were generally less stressed out and focused more on their family.

 

That was never my intent, it was my intentions to see how much real interest there is/was out in the place....to see if there were anyone even caring to revel history or those who partook of it, of that era.

 

Here are a few pics from the 30's

 

How many older people have you talked to who lived through that time period?

I can't recall anyone who I've talked to who lived through those times, from the 20s to the 1940s (by the 40s the depression was long gone) that did not prefer it to the days which they were living in now. I grew up with mainly the older generation of that era. I've spend most of my time talking to them, saying hello whenever I can and learning from them. The old stories, etc. one or two might harken back to hard times, but even then its almost always followed by a hardy, "...but even when times were bad, people still had manners, people respected each other more,...etc. etc." Not something I've heard any of them say about thes times we live in now.

Its not romanticized, just realized,....when you spend countless hours talking to the men and women of that generation, reading about them, little revalations take place within your thinking,....you realize the past as it relates to today, and you start to drift away towards re-creating those times, with an idealistic mindset. Bettering yourself and the world around you as you can with what you can. if its not broken, don't try and fix it,...they had it right,...i wonder if we can catch on at some point?

I think we've traded in the simple good, for medical and technological advances,....and lost much in the process. Those times were not any harder thenthan now,...depending on who you speak to. You still have people living in shack town in the south,....you still have homelssness,...you still have a lot of what they had, and our economy is getting worse each day,....i draw these conclusions from the many talks I've had with people of those eras,....not my own ideas of what might have been, but rather was really was, from their mouths and their stories.

"It was the worst of times, it was the best of times"
Unknown author, courtesty of Reminisce Magazine

 

Our business is centered on this period in history. We work with local historical societies, amateur historians, former employees, and more to bring back the history behind each mom and pop business we feature on our website. We also take every chance we get to sit down and talk with people who experienced this period and there's nothing like hearing the memories of these people. A couple weeks ago we spent some time with a gentleman who has been at a local roller skating rink since 1941!

Some of the business types we focus on are drive in restaurants, motor courts and motels, roadside attractions, and bowling alleys. One of our favorite things is hearing the memories of the different cars people bought after the war and the road trips they took or the nights spent just driving from one drive in to another.

Shoot, we love this history enough that my wife and I quit our jobs to do this.

 

That's absolutely wonderful!!!! kudos to you and yours!
I'd like to possibly work in conjuction with your company and our car club and my buddy's club,..both revived authentic 1930s clubs.

great job on the biz!

 

should be in every hot rodder's book shelf....

 

Don't forget the Nylon Jacket, James Dean style. I used to be able to go swimming and not mess up my hair because of the butch wax, now I just wish I had my hair.