Forum member Rod Ownesby just posted that he teaches at a 1,400-student high school. It brought to mind the fact that school teachers were among Studebaker's steadiest clientele.
Among the files extant in South Bend are years of new owner data cards, filled out by the dealer and sent to South Bend HQ for tabulation as to occupation of new Studebaker buyers, the Salesman's name, previous Studebaker ownership, etc; ordinary market research.
While doing other research, cousin George Krem and I looked up his card for the data submitted when he bought The Plain Brown Wrapper ['64 Challenger R3 clone, for any newbies] new in August 1964. Sure enough, his occupation was listed as school teacher...which he was, sort of, in that I don't think he had actually started teaching music full time as of the day he bought the car. Among other things, we saw our Uncle Jerry Palma's name listed as Salesman for the deal, which he was.
So how many folks on the Forum and/or in the Studebaker hobby do you know (perhaps yourself) whose primary occupation is school teacher? I'll kick it off with someone we all know: Ted Harbit's entire working life was spent in public school teaching and coaching. SDCer Ron Johnson of Rockford IL taught Auto Shop for years and was the prime mover behind SDC Brake Guru Jim Turner's gravitation toward Studebakers. I personally graduated from Purdue University (Hail Purdue!) in Industrial Arts Education and taught Auto Mechanics for the first four years of my working life.
Anyone else? It will be interesting to see the representation of the teaching profession, today, among Studebaker enthusiasts. Even if you don't personally teach school, perhaps you know someone who does and who is a Studebaker enthusiast. (Note: This is not the venue to vent your wrath about the oddball Englsh teacher who always drove a Studebaker Champion...if she wasn't an oddball, she would have driven a Chevy Six.) BP
Among the files extant in South Bend are years of new owner data cards, filled out by the dealer and sent to South Bend HQ for tabulation as to occupation of new Studebaker buyers, the Salesman's name, previous Studebaker ownership, etc; ordinary market research.
While doing other research, cousin George Krem and I looked up his card for the data submitted when he bought The Plain Brown Wrapper ['64 Challenger R3 clone, for any newbies] new in August 1964. Sure enough, his occupation was listed as school teacher...which he was, sort of, in that I don't think he had actually started teaching music full time as of the day he bought the car. Among other things, we saw our Uncle Jerry Palma's name listed as Salesman for the deal, which he was.
So how many folks on the Forum and/or in the Studebaker hobby do you know (perhaps yourself) whose primary occupation is school teacher? I'll kick it off with someone we all know: Ted Harbit's entire working life was spent in public school teaching and coaching. SDCer Ron Johnson of Rockford IL taught Auto Shop for years and was the prime mover behind SDC Brake Guru Jim Turner's gravitation toward Studebakers. I personally graduated from Purdue University (Hail Purdue!) in Industrial Arts Education and taught Auto Mechanics for the first four years of my working life.
Anyone else? It will be interesting to see the representation of the teaching profession, today, among Studebaker enthusiasts. Even if you don't personally teach school, perhaps you know someone who does and who is a Studebaker enthusiast. (Note: This is not the venue to vent your wrath about the oddball Englsh teacher who always drove a Studebaker Champion...if she wasn't an oddball, she would have driven a Chevy Six.) BP
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