need history lesson - origin of "shoebox"

Okay, so why are '49 to '51 Fords referred to as "shoebox"? And where and when was the term first used? Is it because of the slab sides? If so, wouldn't Kaisers of the era also be shoeboxes? Actually, compared to the boxy '46-'48 fat fendered Ford models, the '49s were quite streamlined. "Shoebox" sounds so derogatory, as opposed to a term of endearment. I don't recall hearing them called that in the 50s and early 60s. I do remember them referred to as "moonshine runners", probably due to the movie Thunder Road.

 

I guess because of the shape and aerodynamic similarity to said shoebox. I think 55-57 Chevys got the nick-name first.

 

According to Wikipedia, " The 1955 model, like its engine, was all new. The "shoebox" design, so named because it was the first Chevrolet to feature streamlined rear fenders, was a watershed for Chevrolet."

 

I'd bet there might be prior threads on this topic......

 

Don't show up in a search for

origin shoebox

It's intersesting, I never heard a Ford referred to as a shoebox until I started reading the hamb. They were always shoebox chevies

 

That's funny - opposite here. Shoebox was always Ford until I started reading the hamb

My buddy referred to his 62 chevy II as a shoebox the other day. I just left it alone

 

Yep, I always heard them called shoebox Chevys until I joined the HAMB.

 

Same here Jim.

I've never heard a Ford called a shoebox till the H.A.M.B. but always heard the term "Shoebox Chevy"!

I suppose a Chevy guy's going to call a Chevy a shoebox and a Ford guy's going to call a Ford a shoebox. A MoPar guy will probably call them both crap.

Oh well.... life goes on!

 

Thinking about it more, probably the reason I never heard the term applied to fords is that no one ever talked about them. They were mostly forgotten for a few decades.

 

Read the forward to Tex Smiths "how to build shoebox fords/mercurys 1949-1954".

 

I don't have it handy.
Care to condense it or a scan perhaps?

 

I punched in shoebox chevrolet, went to the last page, and here's the first post I found on the shoebox deal. Starts about post 10.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17226&highlight=shoebox+chevrolet

 

Read it applied to 49-51 Fords in a Car Craft feature in '63..never heard it used for Chevy until I read it here.

 

Same here. The first time I heard a Tri-5 Chevy referred to as a shoebox was only a couple of years ago.

 

When I was going to high school (60s) if someone was talking shoebox it was a 55-57 Chevrolet.

And, same as Squirrel, no one talked early 50's Fords because no one drove them (Granny Cars. Early 50's Chevys were about the same). There were a few hot rodded 53/54, lots of 55 thru 60's Fords. I'm not judging them, just saying how it was in small town Texas in the 60's.

 

I can't remember if I first heard it applied to a Chevy or a Ford. Who cares? Seriously? Who cares if it was Ford or Chevrolet "first?"

I refer to my shoeboxes as shoeboxes because my shoes were in those shoeboxes when I bought the shoes. '49-'51 Fords and '55-'57 Chevrolets are automobiles. And if someone wants to call ANY automobile a shoebox, let 'em. I don't think they would be breaking any laws of physics or anything.

What a retarded thing to argue about

 

I didn't realize we were arguing. I thought we were just comparing notes. Growing up in So Cal in the 60s and 70s a shoebox was a Ford, among the people I knew anyway.

 

If I put shoes in my Plymouth Valiant can I call it a shoebox too?

 

Growing up in Southern New England in the 60's and a reader of the "little mags" , 49-51 fords were commonly referred to as shoeboxes.
Chevys were "stovebolts" ( even the V 8 models )

Never heard the name applied to Tri - Five Chevys or Chevy II 's for that matter until sometime in the last 20 years. Actually, I never heard of Tri 5's until then either.

 

"Shoebox" is also a common descriptor for Super Modified drag cars currently running the circuit... where you'll see plenty of Tri-five Chevys, as well as other "squarish" door slammer bodies going 200+

http://www.shoeboxracing.com/
http://www.supermodified.org/teams/shoebox-racing

Also, this 2003 HotWheels car, which is clearly a 49-15 Ford, is simply called "Shoebox" on the embossed label on the bottom.



Seems like it's been used as a very generic term for old cars with modest lines.

 

From the Midwest and BTH (before the Hamb) Shoebox's were tri-five Chevy's.

 

we called em shoeboxes (fords) in the 70s. some people couldn't understand what that meant, so i'd just say it's the first ford with the " envelope " body. (as opposed to pre-49s with "clamshell" fenders)

 

I was born in '50. in CA '49-'51 Fords were always, from my earliest memory called a "Shoebox". Never heard '55-'57 Chevrolets called anything but "Fiftyfivechevee" etc.

 

I don't think I've ever used the trem in conversation, but always read about Chevy Shoeboxes. The Tri5 Chevy is square conpaired to a 49-51 Ford. The Chevy looks like a fresh bar of Ivory Soap, the Fords have rounded edges like a used bar of soap. Bob

 

Evidently, you're correct.

I'd only associated it with the 49-51 Fords, but I wasn't even around for 10-15 years after their production. Never heard it applied to the Tri-five Chivies until I got here.

 

This is a Shoebox:

 

Don't recall ever seeing or hearing the term before the 80s. Some douche wannabee started it and all the others took it up.

I regard it as the mark of the clueless wannabee to use terms like shoebox, flat six (for flathead six) etc that either mean nothing, or mean something different than what they think they mean.

 

Correct me if i am wrong but the term shoebox was given to the 49 ford by a magazine reviewer who was test driving the car. He said it looked like a shoebox. That's what came up when this was last discussed here about two years ago

 

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/139140/

It seems that it was because the 49 ford design changed dramatically from the 48.

 

I used to have a great big stack of car-related magazines from the early 1950s, every issue with at least one new car review. They used the term "shoebox Fords" for '49-51 Fords, "bathtub Mercs" for '49-54 Mercuries, "soap bar" for the 1948-52 Hudsons, and sometimes "bathtub" or "elephant" for the 1949 Packards. Uncle Tom McCahil (spelling?) liked nicknames and slang.

So the term shoebox predates the 1955-57 Chevies.