The AM Forum

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she
> died in December) and he brought me an old Royal
> Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper
> with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what
> it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought
> they had tried to make it a salt shaker or
> something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the
> end of the ironing board to "sprinkle" clothes with
> because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.
>
> How many do you remember?
>
> Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
> Ignition switches on the dashboard.
> Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
> Real ice boxes.
> Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
> Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
> Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.
> Older Than Dirt Quiz: Count all the ones that you
> remember, not the ones you were told about. Ratings
> at the bottom.
>
> 1. Blackjack chewing gum
> 2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
> 3. Candy cigarettes
> 4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
> 5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes
> 6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with
> cardboard stoppers
> 7. Party lines
> 8. Newsreels before the movie
> 9. P.F. Flyers
> 10. Butch wax
> 11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix
> (OLive-6933)
> 12. Peashooters
> 13. Howdy Doody
> 14. 45 RPM records
> 15. S&H Green Stamps
> 16 Hi-fi's
> 17. Metal ice trays with lever
> 18. Mimeograph paper
> 19 Blue flashbulb
> 20. Packards
> 21. Roller skate keys
> 22. Cork popguns
> 23. Drive-ins
> 24. Studebakers
> 25. Wash tub wringers
>
> If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
> If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
> If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
> If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!
>
> I might be older than dirt but those memories are
> the best part of my life.

Does 48 count as older than dirt?  What would 88 be, dead?!  :D

I remember a lot (scored 19) of those things from when I was a kid in the 60's!

Does bring back memories of things I had forgotten about.  I can't believe we actually ATE the wax on those little wax coke bottles with the juice inside.  Guess we thought that was supposed to be something special. 

Cool thread Bill. 

I'm older than dirt.



My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she
> died in December) and he brought me an old Royal
> Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper
> with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what
> it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought    My Grandmother used to do this too
> they had tried to make it a salt shaker or
> something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the
> end of the ironing board to "sprinkle" clothes with
> because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.
>
> How many do you remember?
>
> Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.     yes
> Ignition switches on the dashboard.     yes
> Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
> Real ice boxes.
> Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.    yes
> Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.    yes, used one in metal shop in Jr HS.
> Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.
> Older Than Dirt Quiz: Count all the ones that you
> remember, not the ones you were told about. Ratings
> at the bottom.
>
> 1. Blackjack chewing gum    no, but remember Beemans
> 2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water    yes
> 3. Candy cigarettes       yes
> 4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles       yes
> 5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes      yes, some still around here
> 6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with   
> cardboard stoppers       yes, and my mother gets home milk delivery today in glass but with plastic covers
> 7. Party lines    yes, my friends parents had one
> 8. Newsreels before the movie
> 9. P.F. Flyers       yes
> 10. Butch wax
> 11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix
> (OLive-6933)
> 12. Peashooters
> 13. Howdy Doody
> 14. 45 RPM records      yes
> 15. S&H Green Stamps    yes
> 16 Hi-fi's     yes
> 17. Metal ice trays with lever       yes
> 18. Mimeograph paper      yes
> 19 Blue flashbulb     yes, got one of those
> 20. Packards
> 21. Roller skate keys     yes
> 22. Cork popguns    yes
> 23. Drive-ins     yes
> 24. Studebakers
> 25. Wash tub wringers
>
> If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
> If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
> If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
> If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!
>

24 of 25 ... we did not go to the movies.. too expensive.....    #4 + church key + cup = :<)

 rag man
vegie man 
junk man   all had horse drive

knife sharpener
 
 #11  if you were in the same "prefix" you only needed to dial 4 numbers.

modesty
courtesy


splash down

3 on the tree
8 track

This one is funny. Quite a few new cars have these.

How many remember the old Chevys that didn't need the key to start it?

Our "old" Buick is still too new to have the starter on the exhilirator pedal.
I think 1961 was the last year for that. You'd tromp on the exhilirator with the key "on," and that depressed a starter switch like the one for your high beams.

OOOO
remember when high beam switches were on the left edge of the floorboard below the parking brake pedal?

How many remember the old Chevys that didn't need the key to start it?

AMC also.... 

Anyone for the Rambler???


<<  as for remembering    We had  a Hudson >>
Neighbor owned a 12Cyl Packard........     klc

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she
> died in December) and he brought me an old Royal
> Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper
> with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what
> it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought
> they had tried to make it a salt shaker or
> something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the
> end of the ironing board to "sprinkle" clothes with
> because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.
>
> How many do you remember?
>
> Head lights dimmer switches on the floor. yep
> Ignition switches on the dashboard. no
> Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall. Maybe
> Real ice boxes. Before  my time
> Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards. Before  my time
> Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner. Before my time
> Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.Before my time... I do know them  though. Used them riding  motorbikes in traffic

> Older Than Dirt Quiz: Count all the ones that you
> remember, not the ones you were told about. Ratings
> at the bottom.
>
> 1. Blackjack chewing gum   yep
> 2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water Still around today. Young ones today know about em.
> 3. Candy cigarettes  Still around today
> 4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles  yep
> 5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes yep
> 6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with
> cardboard stoppers  yep
> 7. Party lines yep
> 8. Newsreels before the movie  Way before my time


> 9. P.F. Flyers  Before my time
> 10. Butch wax Yep
> 11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix
> (OLive-6933)  Yep
> 12. Peashooters  yep
> 13. Howdy Doody slightly before my time
> 14. 45 RPM records yep
> 15. S&H Green Stamps  yep, Plaid Stamps, Triple S Blue stamps too
> 16 Hi-fi's yep
> 17. Metal ice trays with lever yep
> 18. Mimeograph paper yep
> 19 Blue flashbulb yep, Also remember "magicubes"
> 20. Packards Nope - before  my time
> 21. Roller skate keys yep
> 22. Cork popguns  Yep
> 23. Drive-ins  yep
> 24. Studebakers  way before my time
> 25. Wash tub wringers way before my time
>
> If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
> If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
> If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
> If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!
>
> I might be older than dirt but those memories are
> the best part of my life.


I'm 30₁₆

How about kids tying cards or balloons to  the forks of their bicycles so they flap against the spokes to make it sound like a motor ?

kc said:
Wasn't that the one with the 'Briggs & Stratton' key?

What about the starter switch on the floor.  You turned on the ignition with the key, then "stepped on the starter."

To go really way back, the first car I remember my parents having had an electric starter, but there was a hand crank to use in case of a dead battery.  You just cranked it like you would a Model T.

At 51 1/2 I must be older than air! I can rember all of them, plus K.C's entrys and Pauls entrys! I was even looking at a Studebaker today that I am considering finding a way to buy. I owned a 1958 buick special with the starter button on the gas pedal. My father har a '64 225 like Paul's, we both blew 1 motor each in it!!

I'l even add another one to it! Who remenbers the "Burma-Shave" jingles?? I still remember one favorite one: "In this world of toil and sin, Your head goes bald, but not your chin.........Burma Shave"

It all gives a really nice "warm fuzzy feeling" of times gone by, and what I feel was a much nicer world to live in. I am a child of the 50's and 60's and still remember how life was back then. Quite often I wish life was still as simple as then.

But Think what you may it does sure bring back some really good memories!!
(even if I am older than dirt)
                                                 the Slab Bacon

Excellant!
Well I just made the older than dirt category!
The important thing though is that all those memories are good memories.
I even still have a rocket radio! You know those little crystal radios, shapped like a rocked, that
you clipped to the metal fence while waiting to bat at little league. I used to listen to a guy up here
in Massachusetts named Arnie the WOO WOO Ginsberg on it. Now all the kids are waiting listening to XM or sirrius radios. I had two tin cans one string first and then finally when I was a teenager got Laffayette walkie talkies. Now the kids all have their own cell phones. Too bad they are loosing out.
At 58 I don't feel like dirt yet!
I remember a friend who had an old Buick or Olds I think that had the first automatic transmission. It was automatic but it had a clutch to get you going in first gear. But then I had a 1954 Plymouth, a tank of a car, that I could shift without using the clutch. I don't remember if it had synchros or not but I could just pick the right RPM and put some pressure on it and it would just fall into gear.
I also had a friend with a 1940 Ford so I remember the heaters on the inside.!

Regards
Q, W1QWT

But remember back then, Black Americans had to sit in the back of the bus and schools were still segregated, as were most restaurants and hotels.  Authors, performers and entertainers were still subject to the blacklist.  You had to be 21 to vote, but you could be drafted into the military and blown to bits at 18.  We drove cars that resembled tanks both in size and fuel consumption.  In 99% of the USA, the coffee, wines, cheeses, and other culminary delights we take for granted today were unknown.

It's kind of like old radio stuff.  I love to work on 30's vintage audio and radio equipment. But I still like my DVM, oscilloscope and other modern day test equipment, and read the magazines and technical publications of that era but I'd hate to have to depend on what was available to the technician in pre-WW2 days to service vintage equipment.  I appreciate the sound of vintage receivers tuned into a strapping high quality AM station, but the shitty sounding Collins mechanical filters are certainly appreciated under heavy QRM conditions.  A lot of romantic tales exist form experiences of taking long trips travelling across the country and through local communities using the local roads in each region, but few of us would want to go back to the days before the interstate highway system.

I had a friend who’s Dad had an early Saab. 2 cycle engine and a centrifugal clutch. Bruce W1UJR do you service those?

I also remember a friend of my fathers getting a brand new car when I was about 4 -6. Very unusual

 (http://m-kobayashi.cocolog-nifty.com/data/images3/051113-2.jpg)

It is a late 1950s BMW and yes the whole front opened up to let you in

Hi---

Guess I'm in denial about being "old" at 54. I remember most all of the items on the list for the original post!

About a year ago a fellow working at the 7-11 store around the corner was listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival and remarked how much he liked them. I told him that I still have almost all of their original albums, as well as many albums from many other artists/groups from the same period. He then asked me if any of them were old enough to be on vinyl! He must have thought CD's and cassettes existed in the late 60's. He was at least in his mid 20's too. Too young to have heard cigarette jingles on the radio or TV, or have heard/seen Ipana toothpaste or Duz detergent commercials either.
 
73;
Gary

Yup....Remember them all.
Also remember the "beer and soda" man delivering 32oz bottles of Kern's soda in wooden cases.
And what about those vacuum wiper motors, ya step on the gas and the wipers would almost come to a stop.

Chuck...

Carl. I actually had a chance to test drive one of these about 20 years ago. I thought they were cool because the whole front end opened up as a door. The only drawback was that I couldn't see much in the way of 'collision protection' since anything you hit would come through that hatch like a hot knife through butter.

I came upon an acciident that had just happened with one of these.   A headon crash with a 1960 Pontiac Bonneville.  The driver of the little car was killed and there was a small dent in the bumper of the Pontiac.  It was not a high speed crash either.  I believe the car was an Isett.  It had a front opening door and llike the one in the picture.

Nash Metropolitan?

Just like the old VW Bus back in the 60's.

beep beep?

I had to post this.......although some of us feel old because we remember most of this stuff,
this will make us feel a little better ;)

Subject:  Old Man and his pond

The old farmer had a large pond in the back, fixed up nicely with picnic tables, barbecue pit, horseshoe courts and some apple and peach trees. The pond was properly shaped and designed for swimming when it was built.

One evening, the old guy decided to go down to the pond and look it over. He hadn't been there for a while. He grabbed a five gallon bucket to bring back some fruit.

As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer, he saw it was a bunch of young girls skinny dipping in his pond. As he approached, he made the girls aware of his presence.

At once, they all went to the deep end. One of the girls shouted to him,  "We're not coming out until you leave."

The old man frowned, "I did not come down here to watch you young ladies swim naked, or to make you get out of  the pond naked." Holding up the bucket, he said, "I'm here to feed the alligator."
 

Moral: Old men can still think fast.

My grandfather had one, I seem to remeber that the gas cap was hidden in the tail light
(http://www.nashnut.com/archives/58metro.jpg)

Quote from: Bill, KD0HG on Today at 16:34:41
Nash Metropolitan?

My grandfather had one, I seem to remeber that the gas cap was hidden in the tail light




Norm, K2KLV had a 2m Halo mounted on his bumper.....   


My 68 Buick had the gas cap under the plate ......... klc

Yea, the Nash Metropolitan.  and...

"What about the starter switch on the floor.  You turned on the ignition with the key, then "stepped on the starter."

Until they got "modern" and the floor plunger became a dashboard button.

Hmmmm...Pontiac's "under the seat heater?"

How about the milk trucks that had a  manual transmission that you drove standing up?  The accelerator was a handle on the end of the column-mounted gearshift lever, and the clutch/brake was a single pedal. 

Milk Chutes...coal chutes...

Yeah...I remember the old milk trucks...we neighborhood kids used to bug the milkman for ice. when he came around on his route.  Of course the truck wasn't refrigerated, just used blocks of ice that he continually kept picking off and creating smaller pieces to put on the wire crates full of glass milk bottles.  I love these threads about the good old days......except it sure makes me feel older than dirt (and water too!)  I feel fortunate, however, to have been able to enjoy a lot of things from that bygone era.  Tubes and Black Wrinkle Rule!!   ;)

73,  Jack, W9GT

Yea, a bunch of kids in the neighborhood looked like the milkman. ;)

What about listening to a show on the Radio... with actors, sound effects and all... (and now, GunSmoke!!) Usually brought to you by a cigarette manufacturer...


Drive in Theaters?? (there's still one nearby here...)

Commercial AM stations that played music and local news...

Skeleton Keys
Jetex engines
Coal furnaces converted to gas
Those little stop lights you put in your back window.
Windshield visors and that little lens/prism on the dashboard to help look up.
Test Patterns
The little dot that faded slowly when you turned the TV off.

Pop cooler at the local filling station filled with ice and cold water to cool the pop.
Filled with such goodies as NeHI Grape and Orange Crush and Hires Root Beer. 

Full service pumping of gas @ 25.9 cents per gallon (included washing windshield and checking the oil

Automatic headlight dimmer unit on the top of the dash (photocell).

2 cent post cards and 3 or 4 cent stamps.

Push lawn mowers (no engine)

Sock hops after the Friday night basketball and football games

Pinky Lee, Howdy Doody, and Dick Clkark's American Bandstand on TV after school.


73,  Jack, W9GT

My first car was a 1960 Pontiac Catalina from my Dad. I dropped a new timing chain into it then a carter AFB and Duals. When I installed an advance curve kit I could beat my friend across the street with a 1960 Ford 352. Then he dropped a set of 406 heads on and his compression went to about 8. He really was bummed then.
I later painted it primer red and my friends called it big red. Best car I ever had for parking.
We were real goat ropers back then.
It had a full frame with a big X across the middle 4400 lbs of iron.





 

My first car was a '53 Chevy.  Made it into the ultimate Chevy Stove Bolt Six rod.

Had a 3/4 race Wolverine Cam, Carter WCFB 4 Barrel Carb with a home brew ram tube intake manifold and splits/ headers for exhaust.  Turned down flywheel, heavy duty clutch, milled head, engine bored out to 250 cu in., oversized pistons.  Hurst shifter on the old 3 speed manual tranny.  Used the old Chevy torque tube rear-end and blew that up a few times!  But...what a great time I had with that car.  I used to go looking for flat head Fords that I could eat up.  Ah yes...the good ol days!

73,  Jack, W9GT

Boy, you guys think you had great first cars.... My first car was 1964 VW Beetle.  It had 4 on the floor, 34HP, Enough ponies to got from 0 to 40 in about a minute. A 6volt electrical system that worked great, not.  It had windshield wipers that weren't worth a damn and a windshield washer that was pressurized by the spare tire.  It had a heat control knob that looked like the spigot on the front of my house and a  heater that couldn't get warm in the middle of July.  The best thing that car had was the blonde in the passenger seat....

Bob, A girl came with your car....kooool

The Bug was a good car to take for a walk....   much easier than a Fiat Spider that ended up on a picnick table...

A friend of mine was driving on I90 in his bug and the steering wheal disconected from the dash....  fun times

Gud off road car though... used it for hunting in the snow/mud season.... klc

Wheel wells with removable skirts..
Gas cap behind the tail light.
“automatic” transmissions with a clutch.
The buzz of the vibrator in the auto radio.

Kiddie record players - AC/DC - that almost electrocuted us to death as tots on the back porch or basement.

Hollow-state BW tv’s – the frame rolls at beginning and end of each commercial, hum bars drifting through.

real Army-Navy stores.

Coke bottles that were ~ ½ to 1 gallon.
PEZ dispensers.
Hula Hoops.
Slip n’Slide mat for simple summer water fun.
Junior high – you could bring an antique gun to school for public speaking class.
- Troll dolls

Philco 3” records – yes - 33 1/3 rpm.
Magicubes,
loading roll film.

At the door besides the milkman and breadman, potato chip man and Fuller Brush man, our family doctor too.

The roar of the coal being delivered to some of the unconverted houses.
The ice delivery trucks.

Air raid drills (yes we can wage and survive a nuclear war).
Nike sites, Civil Defense.
(Nikes were an expensive missile, not an expensive shoe.)

Arthur Godfrey (an AM’er) on the radio – "how-why-ya how-why-ya".
The MacGuire sisters.

Ernie Kovacs on TV in Phillie.

No unfortunately, she was an add-on.

That bug was definitely a good off road car.  Took it through the trails many of times in my old town before it became an urban sprawl town.

Carl,

I think the car in question here was the BMW Isetta. It was based upon a motorcycle drivetrain and was produced from around 1956 thru 1958 by BMW. The engine was on the order of avout 12.5 bhp, with a manual transmission. A far cry from the BMW autos of today!

Back then, the air-cooled VW Beetle was 36 bhp and was considered a high end car to most Europeans, compared to the Isetta or it's chief competitor; the Messerschmidt Kabinroller (yes, that Messerschmidt). The Kabinroller was very similar in concept to the Isetta. Poor reliability, being grossly underpowered (especially for the American marketplace), uncertain after-sales service and spare parts availability and an uncomfortable ride, led to the early demise of these odd little cars. As the Europeans became more prosperous after the war, companies like VW with their Beetle, Citroen with their 2CV, Renault with the Dauphine and the 4CV, the Morris Minor, etc., dominated the economy car market both in Europe and later here in the U.S.

When I was in high school in 1971, a guy offered me his Isetta for $40.00. I bought a used 1967 VW instead, but always wished I bought that Isetta. It was in really nice shape as I recall. Always thought they were cool little cars. I saw a pristine one here on Long Island about 5 years ago. The guy loved it and was a member of a national Isetta collectors club.

73,

Bruce, WA2OGS

"Citroen with their 2CV"


The car that Tom McCahill  called the "ugliest car ever made."  But his road test was a riot!

Ah, yes and hammer the babbit out of the connecting rods!! I remember them!!

Ah yes, Frank, My first car (that I had tagged) was a 1960 2 door Chrysler new Yorker!!
4700 lbs of "tail finned road locomotive"! What a fun car!! 360 hp 413 under the hood, already had 4bbl and duals. A carb upgrade (daytona AFB) and a curve kit, and a little careful tweaking made this the most fun street racer I ever had!! NOONE expected it to fall out of a tree, but it would run mid-high 15 sec ets all day long. I had more fun eating 396 impalas amd chevelles, 383 road chickens, 390 fairlanes, and many other cars that should have eaten me alive.  With something like that, its no shame to lose to what should have been a faster car, but one hell of a lot of bragging rights when you win!! that car was the king of the "power brake" burnouts. People to this day still talk about the tire popping burnouts that I did with it many years ago! Life was sure fun back then!!

                                                               The Slab Bacon

Oh yea, it also had a HUGE fully carpeted trunk that was big enough for 2 people to comfortably climb into and close the lid.....................................

Many of life's fondest memories escape from us as we grow older. You remember the old passage from a song "you dont know what you got till its gone".

One of the things from the past that I miss the most was holiday get togethers!!
Ours used to be at my aunt Liz's house.( the family matriarch figure) Dozens and dozens of people!! Kids coming out of the wood work.And the food!! Oh, my God, the food!! Oceans of food! Home made from scratch lasagne, and all kinds of dago specialties, turkey with all of the trimmings, and a desert table that would give you diabetis just looking at it!! The women used to cook for days, and we used to eat leftovers for what seemed like weeks. It was a total food orgy beyond all of your wildest expectations. the family fellowship was just as awsome!

As I came into the ranks as an adult, I became part of the other part of the tradition.
that was  nickle-dime poker game that went on literally for days without stopping except to occasionally eat again (and again). Everybody pissing and moaning becausing they were losing a few bucks worth of change. It sure was fun back then.
Aunt Liz died some years back, most of the other family elders are also gone, and the tradition has died with them. Those fond memories are sorely missed!! It just goes to show: "you dont know what you got till its gone"!! I would give anything for those days back!!
                                                            The Slab Bacon

Slab,
     Mine was a '54 New Yorker...the locomotive before the fins!  Trunk and back seat large enough to sub-divide, little tuners under the radio push button caps, and a steering wheel befitting an ocean liner.  Oh, yeah, the old Hemi, too.  Two tons of fun at about nine miles per gallon.
     I'm afraid I maxed the test.  And, growing up in Kansas City, I remember all too well trying to pester a chunk of ice from the milkman on a hot summer afternoon.  A matching refrain: "Those were the days, my friend.  We thought they'd never end."

OTOH...a counterpoint to "Those were the days" would be "Is that all there is....let's break out the booze and have a ball." :-\

Seriouselyl, Bacon...holiday memories are the mother lode of memories.  I'd best not get started on that (especially since most (all?) of the things I loved and kept going as long as I could are impossible nowadays.  Sigh

Frank,
My old poncho had a 4 speed auto with very low first gear. I was very mean to that poor trannie. The last day of high school I put rubber across the student parking lot.
Rev it in N and pop it into first.
About 1/2 way through third the carb would go dry unless I had lots of gas in the tank. that old 413 kicked buttt.
Talk abut memories. My Dad just told me about going past ice flows in the north Atlantic during WW2. He was an engine room guy. He said they would watch the hull buckle as they went by hunks of ice....and pray.
We are beach people but Dad never owned a boat because every one he was on
got damaged. he said boats were like jail......After his second tour during korea they wanted to send him to watch nukes in south Pacific. He decided making my brother was a lot more fun.

Frank,
        you just jogged another memory with the 4sp automatic. I forgot all about them. That was the original "Turbo - Hydramatic" They actually used to run pretty good if you could keep them together.  B&M used to build "racing" versions of them and call them the "B&M Hydrostick". That was all before the days of high stall torque converters. In those days they used to launch the cars with the imfamous "neutral drop" start. Parts would usually fly!! But so did the Chrysler guys with the pushbutton autos as well. But ANYTHING was better than a "powerslide" ;D


OH, I still have a set of the old style 60's Chrysler outboard cross ram manifolds for the wedge motors laying in the basement ;D.

Ed, I had 2 of the older hemis in past years. One was a 54 331 cid, and the other was a 57 392 cid version. I wish i had the 392 back, it would be all the incentive I would need to build nice street rod!!  Smallblock Chebbies are like that certaim part of the anatomy, everybody has one!
                                                   The Slab bacon

The holidays always remind me better times from days gone by! I would give everything to have one of them back!

Frank,
Turbo came later when they went to 3 speed. It was just plain hydo. Yup big strong box as long as you stayed out of N.  The probblem was it shifted out of first early and you couldn't control it. 3.3:1 so pulled out of the hole.
We had a 57 plymo with a 318 before the 60 poncho. fins baby. My dad blew the motor in that one. I think he was drag racing on the Pratt Whitney runway at night.
Tossed a rod. (Mom was not happy that day) I rember jamming the trannie buttons on Sunday afternoon loading the car on the way to Grandma's for the big feed.
tork flight was the king of strap back then. Now they are crap boxes. 392 was the balls back then.

You too eh ?? Same thing with my family although we used to meet at my  grandpa's house every christmas eve. My grandpa lived on Minford Place in the South Bronx. We were a large Bronx Italian family and on Christmas every aunt, uncle, cousin, in-laws, freinds, etc. used to converge on that  house in the Bronx. The grownups all sat packed in the ktichen and us kids would be in the living room off to the side of  the kitchen.  I was famous for entertaining my younger cousins and annoying the heck out of one of my older cousins. And there was plenty of food and plenty of stories from aunts , uncles, and cousins, particularly those whom I seldom saw except for that one time per year.

There also used to be an occaisional summer gathering. I remember everyone either sat in the kitchen as my grandma had a large pot of sauce cooking on the stove and the roast chicken in the oven. The temp in that kitchen was  probably well over 100 degrees but nobody ever compained about the heat. Arround dinnertime everyone would gather round the table. Generally  they would always send me down to the corner grocery store (bodega)  to get some cold soda's because I was  the only cousin who wasn't afraid to walk through the streets of the South Bronx alone. The neighborhood was pretty rough in those days , drug and crime ridden at the time but for whatever reason  ot never  bothered me to walk through the neighborhood by myself.

In any event those were great times. Today my  grandfathers house,no longer stands. few of the buildings that were in that area back  then are standing today. If I go there today the neighborhood  looks compeletely different except for an occaisional old building that was  somehow spared the bulldozer  or fire and still stands looming like a ghost from the past.

Wasn't there also a 372 hemi?

I remember Christmas when I was real small. after the party had been going on for a few hours and everyone was full and raising hell my Grandfather would go into his bedroom and come out with a handful of envelopes. Everyone got one with a fresh $10 dollar bill. Imagine the value of a $10 in 1955.
I also remember the day we moved into our new house in 1957. We were so happy to be out of the city but my dad was pretty broke. My GF gave him $200 to celebrate. I still remember the smell of my dad cooking steaks that night.......and he had enough left over for the first month's morgage $104 if I remember.
Imagine $15,000 for a house on an acre of prime farm land.

Clark: Our holidays were always such a mess.
Clark Sr.: Oh, yeah.
Clark: How'd you get through it?
Clark Sr.: I had a lot of help from Jack Daniels.

-- from the movie Christmas Vacation

Frank,
        Under the "Chrysler" name the original "A" block hemi's were 331cid (1951-54),
354cid (1955-56), and 392cid (1957-58).

There were smaller versions sold under the Dodge and DeSoto brand names with strange displcements that I barely femember. Dodge used  243 and 277 cid versions in the early 50's. DeSoto had a 301 cid version as well. I think there were a few other displacement sizes, but to my knowledge they never made a 372.

They also had a 277 cid "poly head" engine that was used in the Dodges and Plymouths, it later evolved into the early style 318 with the saw shaped valve covers.

The "Wedge" motor first appeared in late 1958 as a 361 cid version, then stretched to 383, then 413, then 426, and finally 440 cid versions.

the 426 hemi first appeared in 1964 as a race only "crate engine" that was basically a wedge motor block fitted with a new set of "trick" racing heads. The block and bottom end components are basically the same. In the beginning it was a dealed installed option.
                                                           the Slab Bacon   

Here is a perspective to ponder. My late father bought the house that my mom still lives in in 1951 for $5200.

My moms neighbor bought the house next door in 1974 for $33,000, his payments were around $300 a month, back then I thought that was a tremendous amount of money!

I bought a house 5 doors down from my mom's on the same street 19 years ago.
I paid $66,500 for mime and my payments are $650 a month. By todays standards that is cheap!

Now, the house next to mine sold for $210,000 last fall!! It is not in as good a shape as mine. Where does it end?? I dont want to know what her payments are!!

                                                        The Slab Bacon

Isn't it interesting how the cost of certain things such as houses and cars have went up at tremendously higher rates than other items?  For instance, I remember paying a whopping $10,400 for my first(small) house in 1966.  That same house would sell for around $90,000 or more now.  I also remember that a new 1962 Chevy 2DHT with a 300 327, 4 spd was around $3700.  I think something roughly equivalent would run about 8 times that much now.  On the other hand, look at TV sets.  A 21" black and white console set might have run you $400 or $500 back in the late 50's.  You can buy a pretty nice color TV for $200 now.  Of course you can also spend a lot of bucks if you want a big Plasma HDTV job.  Even considering the rate of inflation and the cost of living index, there seems to be quite a disparity between various items and commodities.  I suppose the high costs of implementing government pollution, fuel economy, and safety standards coupled with high labor costs did much to push the cost of vehicles up.  Also the high demand for housing, particularly in some areas, did much to really cause prices to explode.  Ah,  I miss the days when you could buy a half way decent set of wheels for $200-$300.  I think I originally only paid $160 for my first car (a fixer upper).


73,  Jack, W9GT

 ;D

Great story, Franz.

Reminds me of back in 1959 when my grandfather gave me a $1 bill. I was about 7 years old.  I went down to the local corner market and bought 75 Bazooka bubble gums and 25 fireballs. (they were 1 cents each)   For the next few days I smoked my mouth out with those fireballs and chewed the Bazookas 'til my jaw hurt.

Dentist? We don't need no stinkin dentists!

T

And that $200 TV will have many options you could never have gotten before. Remotes, 100's of channels Video input etc.

Same thing with the car. The base model is likely to include the following options from the "old" days

Windshield washer
Delayed wipers
Electric windows
Rear Defogger
Radio- (most likely FM stereo too)
Turn signals
Back up Lights
Seat Belts
Heater
Power steering


And back on topic- ham rigs

New rigs come standard with features unheard of in the 50s
Memories, readouts, stable VFOs" small size, 12 v operation etc

And it's not like cars haven't gotten a lot better. Used to be turn over 100k miles was a big deal. Now, almost any car, properly maintained will do that with ease. When's the last time you had to set a choke, lube the chassis, have brake fade, change points............

Yeah but damn, they reduced the size of the back seat considerably

Oh, wait a minute. With my parking days over and two young daughters I am in favor of that change too

Ya know...that is certainly true.  It used to be that if you had 100K mi on a car it had already, or was ready to "hit the wall".  Now it isn't unusual to put a lot more miles than that on a vehicle.  Seems, though that transmissions don't seem to last as long as engines.
Have heard a lot of horror stories about that...........been lucky myself.

I think it is true, however, that those old cars had a lot of character, as well as a lot more metal in them.  I sure still enjoy going to car shows and seeing the restored cars as well as the street rods.....cost of gas though is making a dent in the popularity of that endeavor.

73,  Jack, W9GT

maintanance schedules new have increased too.  100K miles spark plug change interval...

That was the original "Turbo - Hydramatic"

The first year of Turbo H's was '65.  They were three-speeds.  The four-speed ones (great trannys) werer the orig. Hydra-matics from 'way back.  You spent about a half second in first!  Until the Turbo, the three speed sucked.  When you went from 1st to 2nd things bogged way down.

I paid $200 total for my first three cars! $125 for a 56 Chevy, $25 for 56 Olds and $75 for better 56 Olds with AC. I had these cars from 1965 to 1968. They served me well while in tech school. When I got my first full time job at Con Edison in NYC I bought a year old 67 Olds 442 for $2700.  It was a blast to drive but only had it 5 weeks before it was stolen from the Wantagh LIRR train station on Long Island. It was never recovered. Bummer!!

Steve,
WA2TTP

My daughter just sold her 1993 Nissan for $350! It had 180K on it and a few dents but ran well. Last year the mechanic at the inspection station said it barely passed the emissions test and so might need some work next time around. So she put it in the paper at $350 firm. It was sold within a day and the phone rang off the hook for a week.
The guy that bought it thought it was a misprint!.

Regards
Q, W1QWT