Questions About Dummy Lights....

Some of the farmers and ranchers around here still use them. I think the general population quit running them when the head lights on their newer cars got bright enough to actually see down country roads at night while driving at road speeds and the A pillars got so thin that it was hard to mount a spotlight.

I remember riding across the Mohave desert with my dad in summer 1962 in his 57 Olds J-2 and he would hit the spot light along with the high beams so that he could see that much further down the road as we were running 80+ most of the time. It gave him time to see the coyotes a lot further ahead and be able to slow down.

 

I couldn't resist adding them to a 1960 Buick after seeing them on Larry Watson's 1959 Caddy, don't know if it's period correct but...

 

There was always a use on lovers lane as well.

Out in the sticks they were used for hunting.

I donot know why dummy spots came about but the elogated teardrop dummies are the only thing I have ever seen that resembled that shape. In other words I have never seen a functional spot light that look like a tear drop dummy light.

One of the things that is part of custom lore is that spots represented boobs, and that the cool thing was to cruise around with one had laying on top the spot as if you had one hand draped over a boob. The reason I say it is part of custom lore is that I have set in more than one custom in my lifetime and tried to reach out and lay my hand on the spot light. Now my armes are longer then my legs and I have never been able to comfortably rest my hand on a spot light.

 

I know this is an old thread, but seeing as it's been brought back from the dead I thought I would take this opportunity to thank the above poster for inspiring me to do this;






I had mine wired in to the headlight switch so they come on all the time after dark.
Paul