I've got one of those gas station driveway bells in my house. Damn thing will scare the shit out of you if you are standing next to it!
Something that I think is so strange is how many Americans will go to extraordinary lengths to make sure their money is spent with a national chain. We all have great "mom and pop" businesses in our towns, but the parking lots are empty while the parking lot at McDonald's and WalMart are packed. Just about every town with more than 5,000 people has the same exact businesses as every other town. It seems we've lost the desire to make our own choices and to connect with real people. All we care about it "blending in". Not blending in is one aspect of hot rods and customs that has always been attractive to me.
You bought your groceries at the local corner store on the "Tab" and when Pop got paid on Friday you took the money in and settled the bill. Outside shithouse No hot water, heated it on the coal cook stove in the kitchen. Yup I'm an old fuck.
Right, people go to McDonalds for a nuked mystery-meat burger instead of a nice fresh grillled burger (twice the size) at a mom & pop place and think it is better.....wtf????
This is all true, in spite of what we like to think, todays cars are far better for the purpose of reliable transportation. BUT to quote a new Cadillac commercial, "when you turn your car on, does it return the favor?" NO new car does it for me.
I miss... Leaded gas. Hood ornaments. Real chrome... hell, any chrome for that matter. Non-retractable seat belts, and shoulder belts with hooks on the headliner to hang 'em by. Metal gas cans that didn't piss gas on your shoes while you poured. Ignition points and external coils. ...but, I miss hairy pussy the most... JOE
The cost of our hobby has gone up as well. I can remember when I could paint a car red for under 100.00 including paint , primer, sealer, tape, sandpaper and paper. Try that now and see how far you get. You could also have bumpers straightened and chromed for less then 100.00 and now with all the regulations in place and less outlets those numbers have gone up as well. I remember when I was in school buying recap tires for 8-12.00 too and driving a 500.00 car everywhere and it never breaking.
1. My grandparents never took the keys outa their car - a black '55 Pontiac. Drove uptown and parked - car still there when they got back! 2. Service station guy would ask to sweep out your car! 3. Our little town in Oklahoma had ONE cop car! 4. Cops didn't search your car for reefer!
My mom saved them...they had that big one that took care of the whole page . I remember helping her sick em in the book. And about them searchlights. every time a "new big store " opened they had the lights going.. there was a drug store in down town Smyrna GA where you could get a BBQ sandwitch and a Coke for a dollar. Atlanta had trolley car tracks in the center of Peachtree St.
Don't want to get political but just something to think about, perhaps "endless, pointless war." is like saying "endless pointless oil changes". Sometimes we have to do things we don't like to (hopefully) prevent something alot worse down the road. Preventative maintainance is always hard to quantify ESPECIALLY when it's successful. Just something to think about. Now, back to our regular programming.
http://www.spacefoodsticks.com/ Hey Nads,This had the "Red-eX" set-up on it! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220500557546&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT What do I miss? Getting a soda in a GLASS bottle from the machine with the tall thin door you had to open up and pull the bottle out. Going to my Grandparents house in Calpella (Ukiah),CA and stopping at the Hi-Fi in Cloverdale on the way.
Remember going to see my dad at our pig stand when I was a kid . Order a coke and it came out in a bottle with a glass of crushed ice,wrapped silverware. BBQ sandwich was 35 cent's and coke was .10 cent's Grand parent's country store/gas station, jack's cookie's in a jar 1 cent each, hoop cheese, flour in cloth bag's with a free hand towel attached,oil in paper can's, candy cigarette's,wooden spoon that came with your cup of ice cream,wooden barrel sitting in the store full of salt fish,and they gave out king korn trading stamps Putting cardboard on the fork's of my bicycle with a cloths pin aginst the spokes to make a motor sound. I miss the simple day's of my childhood.
vent windows, i love vent windows, and floor vents, back when i was young you were not allowed to pump your own gas, at 13 i was working 40 hours a week doing just that and going to school, i loved it, they taought me how to change oil, change tires, wash and clean cars, next thing i was in stalling exhaust, changing engines and what ever they beleaved i could do, lets ban self serve gas and put American and Canadian kids back to work, and another thing a friend back then bought a 1966 parklane ex-taxi car with over 500,000 miles and it had all the sevrice records in the trunk, i bet that car is still going and that was 30 years ago, some people just looked after there stuff.
I had forgotten all about the S&H green stamps until now. Talking about the drug store there is also one in Athens that for the longest time you could still get a hand scouped ice cream cone for 50 cents and a milkshake for a dollar. I think they went to 75 cents on the cones last year but haven't been there in awhile.
The Jalopy Journal
