Bug screen

[christophe]

I just came across this one and could not believe my eyes:

Was this a common item?
Nice day to all.

[t walgamuth]

There were some around. Dad put one on his volvo wagon when he and mom went up the AlCan highway. Without protection the big trucks throw rocks up and break whatever they hit. Dad soon pulled over whenever he saw a big truck coming.

[Jeff_H]

I posted this some time back:



Photo from 1955 of my Dad's '51 Mercury. It has a similar bug screen attached although a bit hard to see.

Anyone driving at night in some rural areas in the summer will pick up a lot of insects. I don't know when these sorts of screens went away, must have been in the 60s. Now the fronts of cars and trucks get totally crusted over. In the 70s through the 90s there were plastic deflectors that attached to the hood front edge that were supposed to deflect bugs off the windshield. Limited effectiveness in my experience.

I've driven through marshy areas at night in rural Minnesota in the summer and it can be dangerous with the quantity of insects splattering the windshield and affecting visibility. They can also clog up the radiator.

[christophe]

Thanks for your replies, guys.
Yes I knew about the little plastic deflectors affixed at the front of the hood. Some were called Tempest if I recall well.
But, I had never seen anything such large! I assume mosquitoes are larger in the USA. By the way, I wonder how they opened the hood.
Jeff, your picture is really gorgeous. The colors are so vibrant. Looks like Kodakchrome. Yes, I've seen it before. It might already be saved in my computer, but I've downloaded it again to be on the safe side.
Nice day to all.

[Noxnabaker]

Funny text under the picture about the ladies "eldery" Chrysler, a 1950 (just like the one I had as daily driver a few years ago) & so by looking over yonder there's another 50's car, maby a few years younger...

[Jeff_H]

"eldery" Chrysler, a 1950

Right. The tag on the car is '57 so I suppose that '50 is "elderly" as it was pretty out of style at age 7. Nowadays a 7yr old car would not stick out at all style-wise. The top picture certainly looks like a rural area and older cars are more common, especially back when. I was a kid in the 70s on the farm in a really rural area and remember seeing early 50s cars still around, mostly driven by older folks but not always.

[Jeff_H]

Jeff, your picture is really gorgeous. The colors are so vibrant. Looks like Kodakchrome.

christophe, thanks for the kind words. That could well be Kodahrome. That was scanned from the original negative that turned up last year. I have an original print of it that went pink!

Here is another that probably was taken about the same time. My Dad sitting on the car and you get a better view of that bug screen. It looks like it was the same one in the picture you posted!! Could have been ordered from the Sears catalog, etc. Too bad this other picture is blurry. The camera operator must have flinched when taking it. It was taken with one of those Kodak Brownie box cameras that you hold by your waist while looking down at it. I've never seen a print of this one, maybe it was tossed out for being blurry so I was quite pleasantly surprised when I scanned the misc negatives that were mixed up.

[Bob Bryant]

I recall having a bug screen that fit over the radiator and was behind the grill on my Plymouths.

[christophe]

Thanks for the new picture, Jeff. Yes, it looks like the screen on the Chrysler, except for the height. I suppose this existed in several sizes, like Guzzlers Gin! It's nice you found a new picture of your father. I still have some undeveloped rolls of film from my father and I'm wondering what I will find.
Nice weekend to all.

[RadioRoy]

christophe, thanks for the kind words. That could well be Kodahrome. That was scanned from the original negative that turned up last year. I have an original print of it that went pink!

Here is another that probably was taken about the same time. My Dad sitting on the car and you get a better view of that bug screen. It looks like it was the same one in the picture you posted!! Could have been ordered from the Sears catalog, etc. Too bad this other picture is blurry. The camera operator must have flinched when taking it. It was taken with one of those Kodak Brownie box cameras that you hold by your waist while looking down at it. I've never seen a print of this one, maybe it was tossed out for being blurry so I was quite pleasantly surprised when I scanned the misc negatives that were mixed up.

Jeff, did you colorize black and white photos, or did you color correct color photos that had faded over time?

[showbizkid]

It's not that our mosquitos are bigger - it's that things like June bugs and hawk moths can really cut down airflow to the cooling system when they become a part of your radiator

[jclary]

Years ago I learned that some caution needs to be used when choosing bug screens. Some screen mesh is so fine that it can restrict enough airflow on its own without any bugs on a very hot day. On my truck, behind the grille, I have a bug screen repurposed from a fireplace spark arrestor screen. Has been working great for years!

[Jeff_H]

Jeff, did you colorize black and white photos, or did you color correct color photos that had faded over time?

Both the ones in this thread are scans of the original color negatives. The scanner I have can deal with B/W and color negatives as well as normal prints and other documents. I've tried to "fix" some faded and yellowed or pinked original prints with varying degrees of success but they never look at good as this.

I use a Canon V550 scanner as its capable of dealing with "odd" size negatives like these 620 roll film ones. I'd like to try colorize some select B/W sometime but haven't researched what sort of software is available for that. Reminds me I still have a lot of negatives that turned up last year that I haven't gone through yet other than access and sort what is there.

[JRoberts]

I remember as a kid seeing cars with large screen shields and my Dad noted that he thought they could cut down the air flow to the radiator.

[Bob Andrews]

But, I had never seen anything such large! I assume mosquitoes are larger in the USA.

Just for the record, are mosquitoes here are in two sizes. The females are tiny, and the males are much larger.

Coincidentally, the females are much smaller, but they are the only ones that suck blood out of you. I will leave it to others to draw similarities to the human species…