The irony of some sequences of events is amusing.
To wit, and I swear on a stack of Bibles this is true:
So this morning yours truly finishes his dissertation in the "Government is out of the Chrysler Stock Business" thread, making the observation that it is not possible to separate discussion of our favorite industry from politics, since the interface is forever blurred between the two.
Very well.
Having that off my chest, the morning mail arrived and I proceeded to open it. Hmmm....what's this big envelope from Cousin George Krem? Why, a January 1952 copy of Mechanix Illustrated, sent because it included Tom McCahill's Road Test of a new, 1952 Packard 300 sedan. George understandably thought I'd want to read "Uncle Tom's" impression of essentially the Packards my Dad first sold new (but in 1953, not 1952).
After one opening paragraph of niceties, Uncle Tom continues with Paragraphs Two and Three.
I quote Uncle Tom verbatim; no editing:
"Like all other car manufacturers, Packard is harried by the JS factor, standing for Joe Stalin, and by its corollary, WTAGTDN, meaning What's The Administration Going To Do Next? Nobody in Detroit seems to know from today to tomorrow what to expect in the way of regulations from Washington. The latest order is that all automobile models will be frozen, as of February 1, 1952, for several years.
Even before this new ruling was announced, the uncertainty about future restrictions on auto production, and the scarcity of strategic defense materials, which is going to get worse before it gets better, had already had their effect on new cars. Copper is at the acute stage, for instance. That means redesigned cooling systems because automobile radiator cores require a lot of copper tubing and fins."
'Had to admit, I honestly laughed out loud, a little at myself, for thinking the government / auto manufacturers thing was as new as I had just pontificated in another thread's response. Both ironic and funny; the camel already had his nose under the tent, sniffing around, when I was only six years old!
The more things change, the more they stay the same. BP
To wit, and I swear on a stack of Bibles this is true:
So this morning yours truly finishes his dissertation in the "Government is out of the Chrysler Stock Business" thread, making the observation that it is not possible to separate discussion of our favorite industry from politics, since the interface is forever blurred between the two.
Very well.
Having that off my chest, the morning mail arrived and I proceeded to open it. Hmmm....what's this big envelope from Cousin George Krem? Why, a January 1952 copy of Mechanix Illustrated, sent because it included Tom McCahill's Road Test of a new, 1952 Packard 300 sedan. George understandably thought I'd want to read "Uncle Tom's" impression of essentially the Packards my Dad first sold new (but in 1953, not 1952).
After one opening paragraph of niceties, Uncle Tom continues with Paragraphs Two and Three.
I quote Uncle Tom verbatim; no editing:
"Like all other car manufacturers, Packard is harried by the JS factor, standing for Joe Stalin, and by its corollary, WTAGTDN, meaning What's The Administration Going To Do Next? Nobody in Detroit seems to know from today to tomorrow what to expect in the way of regulations from Washington. The latest order is that all automobile models will be frozen, as of February 1, 1952, for several years.
Even before this new ruling was announced, the uncertainty about future restrictions on auto production, and the scarcity of strategic defense materials, which is going to get worse before it gets better, had already had their effect on new cars. Copper is at the acute stage, for instance. That means redesigned cooling systems because automobile radiator cores require a lot of copper tubing and fins."
'Had to admit, I honestly laughed out loud, a little at myself, for thinking the government / auto manufacturers thing was as new as I had just pontificated in another thread's response. Both ironic and funny; the camel already had his nose under the tent, sniffing around, when I was only six years old!
The more things change, the more they stay the same. BP
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