Great story Joey! I was going to say you were born 60 years to late.....but you weren't. Hot Rodding needs you here in this time to bring our past to your generation. I always enjoy your articles, and your positive and joyful outlook on life!
There was a time, before internet and even private-line phones, when "little books" were my only connection with cars that interested me more than girls. Although my childhood collection was lost to a roof leak in my parents home, I have gathered a pretty good representation to replace them in my adult years. There was an innocent purity of those early hot rods that cannot be duplicated, even by the "pre-1960's-parts-only" enthusiasts of today who try too had to duplicate what was, with little success in my opinion. And so, in my evenings of need, I retreat to the smelly old hot rod tomes where the real memories still survive. Thanks, Joey, for reintroducing even us graybeards to the days almost forgotten.
What's real funny to me is that you said: I Got A Text, Where Are You? The Last time I rode a Bus, as in Public Transportation, There wasn't any form of this Electronic Communication! Maybe Hinting was the Dick Tracy Watch!
Little books are great motivators. Every so often I go down into the hot rod garage/museum and take down the Nov 57 issue of Rod & Custom that I have kept in some form of plastic bag since it was new. My dad bought that for me when I was 12 and in the hospital with pneumonia. It was the issue featuring 32 Fords. Judging from the last 50+ years it left quite an impression on me. Wish I'd have kept more little books. Oh ya, no public transportation around here except the senior bus.
In 1965 I was living on a farm in NE Nebraska when my folks decided to call it quits on their marriage. So, in July my mom and I caught the Greyhound in Columbus headed for my grandparents place in Washington state. While waiting for the bus I decided I needed something to read while enduring the long bus ride west so I wandered into the gift shop at the depot and perused the magazine/book rack. Ended up buying a paperback copy of Micky Thompson's "Challenger" and an Engine Swapping Handbook by Trend Publications then spent the next couple of days and nights reading when I wasn't napping. That got me hooked and to say they changed my life would be an understatement. Not directly magazine related, but still the "little pages"... and though a little dog-eared I still have them.
Fifty cents left over from a bus ride to the dentist got me hooked. While waiting for the return bus I went into a hole in the wall cigar/magazine stand and found the July '61 HRM with the Beach Boys coupe on the cover.
No riding the bus (crazy train) around here......smells like pee. I do however ALWAYS take old mags to work (when in safety training ) and I used to take them to family functions when everyone started watching sports.
Cannot say when I last rode a bus but I’ve ridden the bus at least three times in the last month. I actually enjoy it. Here to town is 15 minutes and the fare is two bucks. Gas and parking rates are insane so I can take the bus and not worry about my meter running out. My first memory of the small books was in high school about 1958. They fit perfectly in the larger texts and I made a point of sitting at the rear of the class. The nice thing about those books was they always promoted going to the junk yard to get parts for your hot rods. Today the junk yards here are a vanishing breed and any in operation only have parts for cars 10: years old and newer.
Hello, The last time I rode the bus was to go pick up my car at a repair shop 20 miles away. I had to get a rear door repaired at a shop that specialized on my particular make and model. But, since we dropped it off several days earlier in the week, I had to take the bus to get there. It was the first time since 1957 that I rode a public bus. When we were little kids, in order to go somewhere across town, like the pike or downtown Long Beach for the day’s activities, a public bus stop was just around the corner. We usually saw most of our friends doing the same thing. Back then, it was a one car family and we were all stuck at home when the dad drove away to work. But, as soon as my brother got his car, then the bus riding was not a weekly event. I had to do maintenance work and do errands to qualify for free rides to my own events or places. Luckily, I did not mind as it got me started on what was necessary to maintain a car. The public bus 20 years later was a whole new ball game. No longer were young kids or teenagers, let alone, a guy who owns a car riding around on a public bus. When I came home from dropping off the station wagon earlier in the week, I rode my skateboard/scooter 20 miles back home along the surface streets. But, 20 miles on a scooter, as much fun as it was, did take its toll on the body. So, since my wife was gone for a visit to her mom’s house, 30 miles in the opposite direction, I had to take the bus for this return trip to pick up the station wagon. Jnaki The early morning bus ride was interesting. I was the only non “housekeeping” dressed person on the bus. I had on shorts/T-Shirt and sandals. Gee, just like today another 30 years later… HA! Uniforms on women dressed to be housekeepers or service personnel or attire for working in the cleaning industry. There was one other man on the bus and he had on a uniform with his name on the shirt pocket. So, I was the only casually dressed guy on the bus. It was strange that I was on a bus at 7 am, but the stranger thing was that only two men were on the bus, with one a casual rider, me! Since most schools in the area are close enough to walk or drive their own cars/family cars, the teenagers were non existent. Elementary school kids walk or get taken to school. So, again, it was a working person’s bus ride. I had to transfer half way to the destination and take another bus going East to the repair shop. Note: In the summer, to keep kids safe, our little coastal community has created a special bus to pick up kids from the deepest neighborhoods in the area with free city bus rides all the way to and from the beach areas. They even allow bicycles to be tied on the front if there is room. Times have changed from the casual bus riding times to the vehicle for the people without cars to get to/from their jobs many miles away.
Was a cool story! But I’ll admit, the only time I’ve been in a bus was for school or when I was out of the country. Taxis? The same but only to/from the airport to go out of the country. Worst part? Never took anything cool to read on the ride.
The Jalopy Journal
