Vintage shots from days gone by!

...

 

As much as I love old cars and trucks, I always look at them and wonder what the original owner was like and what was going on in society and the world at large back when the cars left the factory. I think I'm not alone, and it's a big part of the reason this thread is so popular with HAMBers.

JalopyJunkie just showed a series of pics that practically speak for themselves and their time, the late '30s. The one of the little boy trying to make pennies by distributing the GRIT newspaper (sort of the USAToday of its time) speaks reams, even the details in the photo. The titles of the movies on the rather plain poster in the window for the GRAND Theater date this picture in early to mid-1938. The ads for popular products, as well as the kid's dress, make a statement too. No ball cap here. Both men and boys were still wearing this style cap, dating back into the early decades of the 20th Century. The overalls in some obvious disrepair hint that the boy could probably use every cent he could scrounge, too. I imagine one of those cold Cokes would be a nickel, plus a penny for the bottle deposit.

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GRIT was a household word. Content-wise GRIT in the 1930s was something between a magazine and a newspaper, filled with news, features, comics and pictures with more shelf life than a daily newspaper. Thus, it was popular in rural areas and small towns, where it was sold door-to-door by subscription, as well as on street corners. Circulation peaked between 400,000 and 700,000 in the '30s through the '50s when more than 30,000 young people at any given time were recruited by print ads, for example in comic books, to distribute the paper. GRIT is still published today, though the format has seen many changes. Below is another, later nostalgic photo from GRIT's own website. Looks like '40s or '50s to me.



Thanks to http://www.grit.com/grit-history

 

As mentioned, those movies on the sign in the window indicate 1938. There's the Western
"Rawhide," the only movie Yankee great Lou Gehrig ever starred in, and "In Old Chicago" with
Tyronne Power recreating the great October 1871 fire, plus the comedy, "Merrily We Live."




Ever notice how some of the best movies begin with a car? Brian Aherne's
old flivver breaks down, and all hell starts to break loose! That's how the
early-1938 comedy classic, "Merrily We Live" begins, following with a laugh
for each of its 95 screen minutes.

It's no secret that comedy movies were more popular than ever during the
long, dark years of the Great Depression. Rather reminiscent of the antics
of '34's "It Happened One Night" and '37's "Topper," as well as '38 film
stable mate, "Bringing Up Baby," "Merrily We Live" was one of the favorite
comedies that year, both among the public and the critics. Written with laser
wit, the movie captured five Academy Award nominations, plus a Best-Sup-
porting-Actress Oscar for Billie Burke (who would go on in a few months to
play Glinda, "the good witch," in "The Wizard of Oz" ). But, compared to the
other aforementioned films, "Merrily" today is rarely heard of and is, IMO, a
gem waiting to be rediscovered by modern generations!

A good many of the gags here are anchored by the scatterbrained
observations of Burke's matron character. Brilliantly cast, cleverly written,
crisply directed and tightly timed, the movie was a smash escapist comedy
in an era when the country craved anything to lift spirits. As well, the
chemistry of "Merrily We Live" is sometimes cited by film historians as
helping lay groundwork for future successful screen comedies, from
"Cheaper by the Dozen" to the likes of "I Love Lucy" and "Tammy and
the Bachelor." Every character -- from dingbat Emily to the stuffy butler --
is crafted to strut, and to wring laughs, before the camera. Just a capricious,
madcap screwball comedy that should be seen to be appreciated!




Billie Burke as dizzy society matron Emily Kilbourne, THANKS to flixter



What TIME magazine said: Merrily We Live (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) spins a yarn as
merry as it is unimportant about a delightfully diffuse matron (Billie Burke) whose hobby is
putting tramps back on their feet. When unshaven, wayfaring Author Brian Aherne wants to
use her telephone, her uplifting eye lights up. First thing Wayfarer Aherne knows he has
become the family's handsome, clean-shaven chauffeur; next thing he knows, the roving eye
of Daughter Constance Bennett has lit up, too, and he becomes the center of as stormy a
family ruckus as ever squalled. Before its capricious hour-and-a-half is over, Merrily We Live
whisks up a first-rate cast (Alan Mowbray, Clarence Kolb, Bonita Granville, Patsy Kelly),
deposits them in a neat row leading straight to its sure-fire climax.

​

And Variety: It's all in the acting and directing. Director Norman Z. McLeod has the knack
of building up gags until he has three or four racing each other to the big laugh. Most of the
fun comes from a fine performance by Billie Burke, who plays a scatterbrain wife and mother
in a family of irresponsibles. ​

Burke has a weakness for helping worthless humanity. Brian Aherne is welcomed to the fold.
It happens he isn't a tramp at all, but a writer who forgot to shave on the morning his flivver
broke down when he stops by to use the telephone. Once inside, he decides to stay. In his
calm and self-possessed manner he begins to bring some order out of the confusion in which
the Kilbourne family lives. This leads to a romance with the elder daughter (Constance
Bennett), and a timely word which clinches an important business deal for the head of the
house.​

 

Thanks for the Merrily We Live info. I have not heard of that one before. IIRC, Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, and Alan Mobray all worked together in Topper as well. Topper is one of my favorites. I have always loved the Kerby's Buick!

 

Anything with wheels.

 

The only reason why anyone would put those ridiculous looking J.C. Whitney dual headlamp conversions on a '57 Ford would be that the original headlight buckets had rusted out and fell through the fender.

 

Looks awful new for that.

 

These conversion kits were available in 58 from numerous suppliers.

 

Ford shouldda put them on anyway. I think it looks great ! scrubba

 

Popular Mechanix had a How-To on putting quad lights in a 57 Ford. I still have a copy of that issue.

 

Most people under 40 can't imagine that folks who lived in the rust belt watched their new, late 50's and early 60's car dissolve in only a few years. After five years of road salt in the winters, you had no rocker panels and were lucky to have headlamps. Chrysler products had holes through the body in just two years. The pretty magazine photos never show this. I saw this exact dual-headlamp conversion, new-in-the-box, on a table at Hershey last fall for $300. The guy with me wanted to know if I wanted to put them in my current '57 convertible. NO WAY!

 

Look under his hand, just above the trim, looks like rust to me and the front edge of the fender is also showing rust. The primer around the wheel wells indicates rust too. I don't think it was that new.

 

Last photo is dated May 1966

 

Service Department, State Motor Co., Portland, ca. 1938



Item 35042 zoom Description

Members of the Service Department at the State Motor Co. on Forest Avenue in Portland.

Arthur M. Waterman owned the Nash dealership. He was active with the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association

 

State Motor Co. vehicles, Portland, ca. 1938



Item 35045 zoom <!-- start /templates/photosite/display_for_sale.shtml -->Purchase a reproduction of this item on VintageMaineImages.com.
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Arthur Waterman of Portland owned State Motor Co. on Forest Ave. He sold Nash cars.

The panoramic image appears to be two images printed together.

Waterman (1907-1974) was the son of Bella Wolf and Ellis Waterman. He was a graduate of Portland High School, Harvard College in 1927, and Peabody Law School.

 

Bank Square, Guilford, ca. 1941



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<!-- end /templates/photosite/display_for_sale.shtml -->Description

This is a view of Bank Square looking northwest from the head of Hudson Avenue toward South Main Street and Elm Street around 1941. The middlle building with the gable roof was the First National Store. Shortly after this picture was taken the First National moved to the north side of the river where Griffins is currently located. The Guilford House of Pizza is the current occupant of this building

 

OldFlame said: "Most people under 40 can't imagine that folks who lived in the rust belt watched their new, late 50's and early 60's car dissolve in only a few years. After five years of road salt in the winters, you had no rocker panels and were lucky to have headlamps. Chrysler products had holes through the body in just two years. The pretty magazine photos never show this."


Jimi: I wish that these words could be chiseled in stone!

 

Thanks, Jimi - A few days ago, I posted a photo of the front of my '52 Ford with no grille and the nose painted with hot rod black primer. Just to look cool? No, the grille rusted out and you had to use long screws in the bottoms of the front fenders to keep them from flapping in the wind when you drove down the road. The car was 10 years old.

 

Man, as you point out, it wasn't just MoPars, but from '57 on ChryCo cars got a bad rep (hate to say it, as I'm a MoPar nut). Exner's smash-hit finned cars were rushed to production for '57 release, and it SHOWED in the quality-control department, particularly as concerns bodies, not the mechanicals.

I've always held the conviction that, at Chrysler Corp., they (1) went to thinner-gauge steel to keep the longer, lower, wider new models as light as possible and fuel-efficient (for that time! LOL), and (2) inspectors looked the other way when guys should have been spraying undercoat AND inner-coating boxed-in areas like the insides of doors, fenders and right behind the headlamps -- all the places where salty slush gathers and SITS in the winter.

 

My Dad had a 1957 Dodge Coronet. He was pulling away from a stoplight in 1965 and the front sent fell throught the rusted-out floor. He put a piece of 2x4 under the seat and drove it another year.

 

...wouldn't it be great to be able to find her today, and just say "THANK YOU! Girl that's the best damn ass I have ever seen...!" I bet she would love it and thank you in return....

 

this looks like the Nelson's Ozzy, Harreit, dave and Ricky?

 

Definately is Ozzie,Harriet,Rickie and David, I can't see, but they may be watching themselves on TV.

 

WOW I finally made it to the end of this great thread. I viewed every page trying to do 10 pages per day. Keep the posts coming.

 

-----------------------
Yep...I agree,"awful new".....and also,
to my eyes, just plain "awful" too!

Mart3406
======================

 

Our first new car!---'57 FORD Fairlane 500 with post, 312 T-BIRD motor,
cost was $2475.00 tax & license incl.---Out the door!!!
This was in SOCAL 1957----Wonder where it is TODAY??????????----Don

 

---------------------
When this pic came up on a previous post
in this thread, I enlarged it to better see
*exactly* what it was. It's definitely Ozzie,
Harriet, Dave and Ricky alright. But they're
not watching themselves on television.
They're watching an episode of "HAMB
TV"!!!

 

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ALTERNATE CAPTION - "The staff here
at the Asylum are all only here, just to
help you. Trust us"

Mart3406
===========================

 

Wow very cool pics.

Thanks, leo

 

Does anyone ever get tired of looking at her? Not me.

Here's another pretty good one, thanks Dog427435 !

​