Vintage shots from days gone by!

Garden City, NY 1943

 

Donna Mae Mims

First woman to win a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) national championship. In the 50s, she worked as a secretary for Yenko Chevrolet.

In 1972, Mims participated in the original Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, better known as the "Cannonball Run". Mims was part of an all-female team with Judy Stropus and Peggy Niemcek. They drove a 1968 Cadillac limo.

Mims and her teammates didn't finish the race, their vehicle was totaled when one of the other drivers crashed near El Paso, TX. Mims was portrayed by actress Adrienne Barbeau in the movie.

Donna died on October 6, 2009. She requested that her body be seated in the driver's seat of a pink Corvette for visitation at her funeral.

 

& is even more gorgeous today & appearing regularly on TV ads for M & S.

 

Looks like the kids in the background are yelling because mom took their yo yo and stuck it in her pants.

 

What, no comments? I can't be the only one who likes this KEEN shot.

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Very cool...

 

SouthPaw, THANKS for posting this pic. Man, does this tell
a story! And I dig the juxtaposition of the real horse stopping
for a drink of water, and there behind him is Mobil's Pegasus
logo on the front of the station! Cool. Maybe this was during
WWII. Note the "Sorry, NO GAS" sign on the pump. Lots of
folks got the wagons and tack out of the barns when gasoline
was rationed for the war effort. Thanks again.

 

Carefull what you sat Jimmy. The guy is wired!

 

Gotta be more recent. Note the car at the extreme right. I'm guessing early 70's during gas crisis.

 

It's impossible to know if a picture has already been posted here or not.
This is a guess, hope you like. Ford, River Rouge, 1938.

 

I googled around & found a couple pics of Donohue's NASCAR Matadors:

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I read someplace that he won a NASCAR race with a Matador at the old Riverside Road Course.

 

Yup, NotGettingRich! I missed the piece of a car at right in the horse/Pegasus pic. If not WWII, then the '73/'74 Gas Crisis seems logical. THANKS for the catch!

 

Opening credits scene, THANKS to sharetv.org!



Prime "Rawhide" cast (L-R): Fleming, Eastwood,
Brinegar and Wooley, THANKS to classicTV.com!


Who can forget Frankie Laine's throaty rendition of the opening theme song of "Rawhide"? The series launched newcomer Clint Eastwood to stardom in the part of Rowdy Yates, the enigmatic, sometimes even vulnerable, right-hand man to Eric Fleming as gritty but fair trail boss Gil Favor. Paul Brinegar as the cook, Wishbone, was the other main series regular, and there were semi-regular players, including veteran Western actor Sheb Wooley ("High Noon") as the scout. Eastwood appeared in all 217 episodes, and Brinegar only missed two.

Critics rightly noted that the series suffered occasionally from uneven production values. However, "Rawhide" was highly lauded for a grittiness most TV Westerns lacked. The shooting schedule often involved very long hours, wearing even on tough Fleming, and Eastwood wasn't joking when he remarked that at least the cattle were protected by the SPCA! The list of series guest stars is too long to show here, folks! On-set observers said that sparks sometimes erupted between the hard-edged Fleming and Eastwood who, it was speculated, Fleming considered too laid back, maybe even lazy at times.

As we know, Clint took a chance in the off-season and did a chancy "Spaghetti Western" with Italian director Sergio Leone in Spain, eventually taking Eastwood's career to an unexpected pinnacle! Somewhat ironically, after Fleming left the series before the final season, Leone had first offered the "man-with-no-name" part in "A Fistful of Dollars" to Eric, who had doubts about the project and declined.


Fleming had lived -- survived might be the better word -- a hard life before earning a career-making break in the Gil Favor part. At age 8, he hopped a freight to escape an abusive father, was hospitalized for injuries received in Chicago fist fights, and underwent major surgery for injuries suffered while serving with the Seabeas in the Pacific in WWII.


In an odd twist of fate, Fleming left the "Rawhide" series before the final season and was swept to an untimely death at 41 while making a movie at a very remote and wild location in Peru in September '66. Sadly, Eric's death happened when shooting the very last dangerous river sequence for the film. Fleming's frantic fiance witnessed the incident; they were to marry after the film wrapped. But it is hard to appreciate how tragic the day was without reading the complete survivor account on Wikipedia (just search "Eric Fleming" or, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Fleming).

Though it's just a bit of entertainment trivia, Clint Eastwood became friends with Elvis Presley, who was often shooting a movie on a set near that of "Rawhide." Always inquisitive and a competitor, Elvis enjoyed playing "quick-draw" with Eastwood! Of Presley, Clint later said, "I was always wearing a gun. Presley loved to do fast draws and stuff, so we always did fast draws together. . . . I liked him. He seemed like a good guy. Had a lot of guys hanging around, big entourage."

 

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Sheb Wooley as scout Pete Nolan.
Photo THANKS to Squidoo!



Shelby "Sheb" Wooley was born on an Oklahoma farm and, seems to me, never forgot his roots! When a bored youngster, he rode for the prize money in local rodeos and got "busted up" several times -- enough to disqualify him for WWII service. So, he worked in the oil fields as a welder, worked in war factories and played music for fun and money in his spare time.

Luckily, Sheb was talented enough, and enthusiastic enough that he eventually had a long-term, multi-faceted career in entertainment, creating several unlikely but deserved legends along the way! In a nutshell, Sheb was a successful songwriter and recording artist, a humorist, and a movie and TV extra and character-part player. My lasting impression of Sheb Wooley is of a man who loved life and never lost touch of the boy inside of him.

In particular, Sheb is best remembered for his recurring role on the long-running "Rawhide" TV Western series as scout Pete Nolan. (In '59, he recorded his own single version of the "Rawhide" theme.) Only three other cast members -- notably, Clint Eastwood -- starred in more "Rawhide" episodes than Sheb Wooley.

 

Sheb Wooley's second claim to fame (which helped galvanize his recording and performing career) was for penning and recording the June 1958 surprise-hit 45-rpm gag single, "The Purple People Eater." Public fascination with '57's Sputnik helped spur record sales. By early August 1958, the record had been at Number One for six weeks and sold 1.5-million copies, eventually reaching 3 million that year. Elvis may have chuckled at the fun song, but even Elvis would have noticed Sheb's success! As years went by, "Purple People Eater" and its derivative offspring kept Sheb a popular musical draw in live performances. Of his Tennessee home, he said -- not in jest -- "Hell, the Purple People Eater bought this house!"



THANKS to musiconlinestore!

 

Image THANKS to shebwooley.com!


The final (and probably most unlikely and amusing) achievement by Sheb came in his unbilled roll in what would later be called "voice talent." Though Wooley had a significant on-screen presence in the '53 Gary Cooper Western classic "High Noon," his first screen role was an enlisted man in Cooper's 1951 movie, "Distant Drums." As the film entered the post-production stage, a handful of cast members were summoned to do sound effects. Sheb entered the unofficial Audio Hall of Fame when he laughingly laid down a few voice tracks as an unfortunate Corporal Wilhelm, bringing up the rear of Cooper's armed cadre in Seminole territory and SCREAMING as he was dragged to his watery death by a large gator! The audio scream chosen for the movie caught the attention of other filmmakers over the decades. And, to date, Sheb's so-called "Wilhelm Scream" has been used in more than 200 movies! Notably, the Wilhelm was used in many of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies. No end in sight, either, as the scream just never seems to die. Just LISTEN in current films as some hapless player gets swept to his doom!

[To hear the Wilhelm Scream, search here: Wilhelm scream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream.]

Sheb, the recording artist, again hit number one in 1962, this time on the Country & Western chart, with the comedic single, "That's My Pa." Befitting a Wooley composition, the song's phonic hook was a protracted Sheb "holler" in the chorus that sounded like a cross between a yodle and a hog call! As with the Wilhelm Scream, once you hear this effect, you won't forget it, folks! One of Wooley's very first records had been the memorable ballad, "Are You Satisfied?" released in 1955. Performed by Rusty Draper, it charted at eleven. Before Ray Stevens appeared on the country and pop scenes, it could also be fairly stated that Sheb helped pioneer the musical genre of comic parody records. Another little-known fact is that Sheb lent an early helping hand to his younger brother-in-law, Roger Miller ("King of the Road"), teaching him guitar chords and buying him a fiddle.

Sheb's utilitarian ability to fit into most any entertainment situation meant that he never lacked for gainful, yet enjoyable employment. Among his many supporting movie roles were parts in "High Noon" (1953), "Giant" (1956), "Rio Bravo" (1959) "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976) and "Hoosiers" (1984). He enjoyed a long stint as a regular on TV's long-running "Hee Haw" musical comedy series for which he wrote the theme song. Sheb Wooley contracted leukemia and passed on at age 82 in 2003 in Nashville. Late in his life, Sheb said of his success: "You've got to dream the dream, do the work, and have the faith. Success can't resist that kind of formula."

Sheb may be gone. But the farm-boy/cowboy/welder-turned-entertainer, left his mark everywhere he went. Doubtful he could ever be forgotten. Most of us would be happy to have any legacy at all! To borrow words from both Bob Hope and Roy Rogers: Thanks for the memories, Sheb. Happy trails, ol' pal!

 

The flathead factory LIFE pics are great.. Thanks for posting them.

Mart.

 

The River Rouge pictures are AWESOME. Hundreds of V8 block stacked up.

I could care less about the movie stars and musician photos.....Lets get more auto related stuff on this thread.

 

We address this about once a month, seems to me, the last time being several thorough, well-stated posts on Page 938 -- I think, fairly stating both views. I'm on the side that says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

It's a more eclectic thread than most on the HAMB, which (as someone correctly stated) may explain why it's popular -- the way it is. When I say eclectic, what I mean is that we present a whole tableau of images, verbal recollections, memories of personal experiences that paint (or try to! LOL) the whole societal, industrial, technological, military and -- yes -- automotive tapestry that our beloved hotrods, customs, trucks, racers, etc., fit into. Ryan and the whole crew of editors/moderators are intelligent people, in touch with what THEY want the HAMB to be. They protect and maintain the parameters, as originally set down. If they didn't feel this thread is WORTHWHILE, they would have killed it a long time ago. Also, if people didn't gravitate to the way this thread has taken shape, then it would have died naturally. Instead, you go on the road a week and come back to find at least 20 new pages of material! Yowsa. Kinda speaks for itself.

It's a free country, so no one is telling you to mind your own business and go find another thread. All they're saying is that the material, by nature, does vary, but never losing site of what HAMB really means: "Spreading the gospel of traditional hot rods and customs to hoodlums world wide". If you don't like something you see, then do what you do with your TV controller: SCAN PAST it 'til you find something that pleases you. Oh, and as Mazooma always says, dig and find something good to post yourself.

 

One happy youngster with his Structo.

 

Amazing how much those old truck will bring nowadays!

Here are some old cars:



1902 Oldsmobile, Last year in Detroit



1902 Spaulding. Surely looks like an Olds to me!

 

Maybe I missed the post earlier about Sheb (if so, sorry to repeat it), but his funny side was Ben Colder. Much like Homer & Jethro, he did a lot of humorous parodies of popular songs, usually suffixed with "Part 2" or something similar. Does anyone remember some of his other funny stuff?

 

^^This^^

Rob