Studes in Roadside Americana photos

[studegary]

First white/light color car seen over the hood of the grocery panel truck. The crisp fender line makes me say '60 Ford.

I see the car that you mean. The fender line looks approximately correct, but the fender trim does not seem to wrap down around the front of the car (as on a '60 Ford) and I do not see the gunsight type ornaments on the top of the fender (that a '60 Ford has}. Perhaps it is just too small on my screen. I did own a '60 Ford - that I gave to my neighbor.

[BobPalma]

First white/light color car seen over the hood of the grocery panel truck. The crisp fender line makes me say '60 Ford.

Definitely a 1960 Ford, Dwain.

We had a '60 Fairlane 500 six for awhile in late 1960. Dad bought it as a program car from a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer friend of his. I remember it well because it was a car Chrysler bought for competitive analysis.

Apparently, they also bought a cheaper Fairlane series 4-door at the same time, in the same colors. When they put the two cars back together, ours got the cheaper Fairlane rear seat instead of the slightly fancier Fairlane 500 upholstery. They were both blue interiors, so the color didn't jump out at you.

But if you compared the upholstery pattern in the front and rear seats of our car, there was a definite difference. I always thought that was kinda funny. BP

[jclary]

My best friend Mike! We met in the summer of 1958. I was 14 & he was 13. He told me back then, that he wanted to be a veterinarian. Today, he is known as Dr. Bridges, but to me, he's still "Mike." Ever since the 1970's, when I was new to the Studebaker scene, Mike mentioned that his dad had a fleet of Studebaker trucks in his hauling business when he was a kid. From time to time, I would ask him if he had photos? He would always say he would look, but somehow, schedules, life events, and circumstances...the photos never materialized. Time and distance have separated us over the years, but somehow, our friendship endures. Both of us had to battle within our own families to continue our educations beyond high school. In that, we both succeeded without burdening our parents having to pay for college.

In our teenage years, the two of us bonded and encouraged one another through deep personal obstacles. He joined the Army reserves, and I the Air Force. While working his way through Vet school, I recall encouraging him through his rough time in anatomy studies (tough sledding memorizing so much biology of so many creatures). I had to wait till I returned from Nam to get started in college. He encouraged me to not give up, and when I struggled with such courses as calculus, probability, and experimental statistics...it was he who cheered me on.

Recently, on one of our motorcycle excursions, Mike shows up with a few old snapshots from his early childhood. At last...evidence that the Studebaker claims of his past were more than legend.

Here's the first, I'll post more later (when I get around to it.)

[BobPalma]

'Great story in Post #10083, John; thanks. Let's see some more from that collection. BP

[jclary]

'Great story in Post #10083, John; thanks. Let's see some more from that collection. BP

Mike's mom, Winona "Winnie"(RIP) far left, and father "Big Jake" far right.(RIP) We don't know the other folks. These pics are probably contemporary to the one posted above. Here, I believe Jake is in his thirties, if not older. One day, as teenagers, while we were reflecting on our respective family situations, Mike did a little arithmetic and determined that his Mom was only 15 years older than him...and by his parent's wedding anniversary...he must have been born prematurely! Then, after reflecting on how robust, and healthy he was, we decided it was a subject not to dwell on.

In this pic, she could still be a teenager. I can't tell what exactly what year the car is, and neither one of us know about the Donald Duck Cafe.

[studegary]

#10085 - Note body color rear fender welting, not black.

[spokejr]

From Motorology, How things were.

[jclary]

WOW...(post 10087)...Looks to be an early postwar (WWII) photo. Lot's going on there. I coulda been about 3 or 4 years old at the time. It could be ANYTOWN America. I can't tell if that is a Harley, Indian, or ?, motorcycle. I copied the pic and pasted it in "paint.net" so I could enlarge the photo for more detail. I wonder if that is a veteran in the foreground and if the bike is one of the many surplus machines that flooded the country shortly after the war. Notice the bicycle style pedal on the kickstart. I'm not sure how the economy was really doing during that period, but despite hardscrabble times, the country was celebrating the end of the war, and daily life included many things today's youth can hardly fathom.

In the background, I see what looks like a uniformed milkman (or ice delivery man) making his rounds. There is a 47-49 Studebaker Commander Convertible, and perhaps a Ford/Lincoln with exterior visor parked in the background. While this depicts a town style neighborhood of the time, some of those houses might not have indoor plumbing. In my early childhood, before we moved to the country, we had indoor plumbing, but no hot water, refrigerator, and heat was from a free-standing coal stove in the tiny living room. Our cookstove used kerosene for fuel, and we had an "Icebox" instead of a refrigerator. We had no TV, no radio, but somehow had a pedal operated organ and an old wind-up Victrola.

It is our tendency to romanticize past times as better than they were, but following the war my toddler memory makes me think that despite the lack of many conveniences we take for granted today...society was having a tremendous sigh of relief from a war economy, and experiencing collective optimism for the possibilities of a brighter future.

This pic, to me, embodies that attitude.

[Buzzard]

John,
I concur with your thoughts regarding that "frozen in time" picture of a bygone era. You mention "no refrigerator" but rather an icebox. I too remember them as we moved from England to Canada in 1955 and had never before seen a refrigerator or ice cubes.
On another aside, I still have two Servel Refrigerators which are propane powered dating back to the thirties. One of which still keeps beer very cold in my shop. They had no moving parts to fail but simply heated and cooled ammonia to perform the cooling process. The only downside to them was they were designed before prepackaged foods so not much fits properly. Beer however does fit so I'm a happy camper!
Cheers, Bill

[WinM1895]

In the background, I see what looks like a uniformed milkman (or ice delivery man) making his rounds.

There is a 47-49 Studebaker Commander Convertible, and perhaps a Ford/Lincoln with exterior visor parked in the background.

Vehicle with visor is a 1941 Plymouth, in the background behind the Plymouth is a 'step down' Hudson.

[spokejr]

Regarding #10087. The bike is a Harley. Judging by the rigid frame's front downtubes (dog legged lateraly) and the pressed metal rocker boxes (Panhead) as well as the hydraulically damped telescopic forks (Hydra-Glide) the bike dates between 1949-1956. If the clutch is hand operated, that pushes it back to 1952-1956 as hand shift was an option in that era.

John & Bill, I love hearing the memories of that era, thanks for chiming in!

Cheers,

Ken

[BRUCESTUDE]

That's an old Seattle photo. If you are asking about the 5th car back from the Plym, it looks like an Ultra Vista sedan to me. Also, the lead car going in the opposite direction might be a '47-'49 Stude coupe?
Newest car I see in this photo is a '60 Ford I think.

West Spokane Street, before a viaduct was built; there's a lot of study shots of this area, most with great cars!

[nwi-region-rat]

My best friend Mike! We met in the summer of 1958. I was 14 & he was 13. He told me back then, that he wanted to be a veterinarian. Today, he is known as Dr. Bridges, but to me, he's still "Mike." Ever since the 1970's, when I was new to the Studebaker scene, Mike mentioned that his dad had a fleet of Studebaker trucks in his hauling business when he was a kid. From time to time, I would ask him if he had photos? He would always say he would look, but somehow, schedules, life events, and circumstances...the photos never materialized. Time and distance have separated us over the years, but somehow, our friendship endures. Both of us had to battle within our own families to continue our educations beyond high school. In that, we both succeeded without burdening our parents having to pay for college.

In our teenage years, the two of us bonded and encouraged one another through deep personal obstacles. He joined the Army reserves, and I the Air Force. While working his way through Vet school, I recall encouraging him through his rough time in anatomy studies (tough sledding memorizing so much biology of so many creatures). I had to wait till I returned from Nam to get started in college. He encouraged me to not give up, and when I struggled with such courses as calculus, probability, and experimental statistics...it was he who cheered me on.

Recently, on one of our motorcycle excursions, Mike shows up with a few old snapshots from his early childhood. At last...evidence that the Studebaker claims of his past were more than legend.

Here's the first, I'll post more later (when I get around to it.)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]72549[/ATTACH]

how's this?

[christophe]

Jamestown. NY.
No Stude, but a Packard.

[Stude Shoo-wop!]

Jamestown. NY.
No Stude, but a Packard.

An infamous '48-'50 "pregnant elephant" no less! I remember reading in an article a long time ago how the same generation "bathtub" Nashes had a dramatically reduced drag coefficient despite their similar styling. Is there any truth to that?