57 Oldsmobile is probably my favorite mid-fifties body style. I love the split back window and the tail lights...no fins.
One of the great joys of my childhood was having five or ten cents, going to the local variety store in the Highlands section like the one in the picture and buying a bunch of penny candy. Thanks.
Hello, We grew up in a very small house as per standards, today. it was 900 or less square feet. But, for us, it was a new house, although it was built in the early 40s. It was larger and one of the first stucco sided old tract homes built in this area of Long Beach. Our mom and dad realized that two growing boys needed a special place to study and relax, also, not bothering the parents in the tv living room. So they had the brick outdoor patio enclosed and leveled to match the house level, added a door in the kitchen and one in our bedroom. So, when the whole thing was finished, we could walk to the kitchen without having to walk in front our mom/dad watching their favorite TV show in the next original living room. After getting a couple of funky matching desks for the two sons, our dad bought what he thought was a cool stereo for his small record collection. But, soon, our newly purchased record collection took over and our dad relegated his listening during his days off, when we were gone doing our kid stuff. A 1954 version of an early stereo am/fm conversion, a 33 rpm record player and a reel to reel tape player/recorder all tied electronically to each other and the receiver. We could get a great AM station and play the rock and roll songs over the built in speakers below. But, with one switch, we could record a song to the reel to reel tape recorder. It was the same system to allow the LP record player to automatically record a song track on the album directly to a tape and it was a smooth transition when the series of songs were played back on a tape recorder music night. Jnaki Our hope? Being able to play the reel to reel tapes in our cars. We tried the a friend’s portable reel to reel tape players and they worked when set up correctly with the converter. But, they were too bulky and a trunk mount was not handy for changing tapes at will. Electronically, it could be hooked up to the car’s built in speakers. Portable was a misnomer as the tape recorder/player was as big as two current laptops and at least 8 inches thick for the motor and gears inside the case. The ones advertised had handles and we used to see them in our school classrooms. Portable from room to room for daily usage. We continued to record our record collection music on reel to reel tape recorders and continued to have the ability to listen to or work with uninterrupted music while we worked on our hot rods. But, in moving cars while cruising, we still had to use the simple AM radios. Those under dash record players were a losing proposition all around. They were nice in a drive in parking lot stationary position, but did take extra battery power for continuous run time. ( Those 6 inch reel to reel tapes? Still sitting in box for the next long term project, along with 40 year old cassettes of our toddler son, too.) From an old post: "Unobtanium: A Good Working Alternative Sound Player For Our Own Music…” Well, if Cassius Clay could not figure out that those 45 record players did not work well in moving cars, at the time, it was up to all of us to experiment with those funky players. Ever try to listen to them while trying to get up and down in the local drive-in bumps? Or even driving down the normal street and a small hole jiggles your wheel/tire? Or the smooth sound coming out of the player into those awful factory speakers and then accidentally kicking one on the side? Since we had a 1/4 inch, reel to reel tape player/recorder in our house stereo system, we made tapes of our 33 1/3 rpm albums songs plus our 45 records. But, we could play them in someone’s household system, but there was no way to be portable in a car. We even got a portable reel to reel tape player/recorder, like the ones at our schools. Hooking them up was not a problem, the space involved was the key. It was larger than the under-dash record players and the trunk was not reachable for exchanging the tapes at will. So, we just accepted the AM radio and teen conversations until something better came along. Jump up 60 years and a small apple IPod music player does the thing we have always wanted in our cars from the way back time machine. No skips, pops or bad fuzzy music was the result. The ability to drive anywhere, at anytime, listening to cool music without the worry of the dreaded sound of a needle scratching across the big hole 45 rpm record. If possible, it was “Back to The Future” for us…YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
