Anyone else collect these? There were so many that trying to get one of each would bankrupt most folks. I'm focusing on just those from Tennessee. This is what I have so far.... Martin, TN (my hometown) Selmer, TN (my grandmother worked in the shoe factory there making Boy Scout shoes) Tennessee Volunteers (I graduated from, & work at, UT) Nashville, TN Martin & Selmer, in the '40's/'50's were both REAL small towns. Each of these toppers must be very rare. Neither were tourist traps or destinations. My Martin, Selmer, & Tennessee Volunteers toppers are the only examples of each I've ever seen. I've seen three variations of the Nashville, Grand Ole Opry toppers. I've only seen one other Nashville, Grand Ole Opry, Ernest Tubb topper. You gotta figure the Ernest Tubb Record Shop sold a lot of them to tourists though. Anyone have any others? Who was it that was talking about doing a coffee table book on these? Someone here mentioned it some time back. JH
I have a friend with a Bristol Tenn. No photos ... but it was on his 40 ... at Knoxville ... Nats South ... I will get a photo ... next time Have seen Gatlinburg ... on eBay ... Big $$$ as I remember ... .
Do you (or someone) have a little background history of these things? What was there purpose? Were they created by car dealerships,public organizations, local governments, event organizers? In what era were they most popular? I always like learniging about the origins and use of different things.
I've heard of a Shelbyville Tenn. Home of Walking Horses and a Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/Tennessee. Never seen a Bristol or Gatlinburg. This Memphis sold on Ebay a while back. I bid, but didn't get it. JH
I collect toppers, but mostly the novelty kind. I have a couple dozen of the ones made in the 50's and sold through J.C. Whitney and such. Stuff like "watch my ***, not hers", and "nuts to you". I also am looking for hometown toppers, so if anyone has a "Marshalltown, Iowa" let me know.
A couple Ernest Tubbs... The first sold on Ebay not long ago The second is mine before restoration. If I run across another I'll contact you Seymour. JH
There were a lot of novelty toppers like alchemy mentioned. A lot from car dealers, Moose lodges, VFWs, etc.... Most of those were stamped steel with the lettering & graphics painted on. My interest is in the cast aluminum toppers. Most were from tourist attractions, destinations, or traps. Florida was full of 'em. Everyone needed a souvenir right? JH
At Auburn spring a couple weeks ago I picked up a Gettysburg one. It is going on the truck upon completion. It says "Gettysburg" then under that "National Shrine". I am super stoked! It seems these days everyone is collecting them making some worth their weight in gold! I would really like to find a set of those Kendall fingers. You know, the little fingers that top license plates mounted on one bolt. Been looking forever just can't seem to find. Anyone have any they'd like to part with? : )
Harrison funny that you post this.. now I know you and I had posted before about some toppers that we had.. here again is the br*** topper that I have on my 40 ford.. cast here in phoenixville, pa in or around 1939.. one of my neighbors has a pair of these.. one on his model a and another "on the shelf" so to speak.. notice that the second has the students initials. we believe the three are NOT from the same year as two of them are br***/ bronze and one is aluminum .. I believe that the shop teacher here in phoenixville was casting these for the majority of his career.. as the casting process for this particular design would be super simple.. (note that all three have different student names on the back..) we (my pal with the A model and I) are still researching this.. in addition I run this on the front which has a place for the initials of the cars owner.. (my father has the same sunoco topper owned by my great grandfather..)
Bought a corner unit 'take it easy" with a cartoon whistle blowin cop and ford logo at a swap saturday has to be from the 40's 50's.........
Sawzall, How's your topper project coming? Done anything with it? I love those high school toppers. Wonder how many are in boxes in attics around that area? JH
The Brown Shoe Company had a factory in Selmer. They supplied shoes to the Boy Scouts. Guess they had an "official" shoe back then. JH
wow, i wonder if these were just in the east or if they had toppers in the west like say arizona? anybody? anybody?
And here I thought I was a wierdo. Sorry about the ****ty pic. The one on the upper left says Schmidt Super Service. The VFW says Florian Lampert? That mean anything to anyone? VFW is a veterans thing, isn't it? (forgive me for being an idiot here)
Veterans of Foreign Wars I have a AAA topper for the Automobile Club of Pittsburgh -- Pennsylvania Motor Federation with a notice stating "$125.00 for arrest and conviction of anyone stealing or injuring a member's car." I plan to run it on my '32 truck. I'll try to post a picture later.
VFW=Veterans of Foreign Wars Florian Lampert= Post 1908 Oshkosh Wisconsin I was a boy scout... I didn't get any official shoes learn something new every day.
This one's on eBay at the moment: I just grabbed one of these Safety Star repops last week....no idea why. Just kinda looked cool. Dunno if I'll even use it.
The Jalopy Journal
