A couple old repair orders my brother found when looking thru my dad's papers. Donald was my grandfather, he was born in 1899. My dad p***ed last winter. In 1965, I was a little whippersnapper, and my grandpa was retiring and moving to Texas. He lived there for the next 28 years. Do you have any old repair orders you'd like to share?
Well I guess I am not the only one who keep things for 50 years!!!!!! I just like keeping old signs and other things from years ago. I have old license plates from 1916, 1932 and a few more from the 30's I hate to part with things. Jimbo
I have a bunch that came with my Fairlane. Let me see if any of them are worth posting. Almost all Cali stuff.
Got one some where that was for a 54 Chevy engine overhaul in the car. Total was $90 something. I paid that bill as it was my car.
My grandfather was born in 1899 too. I have a handwritten receipt in pencil for one bale of cotton, 1903. $60 I found it in my dads stuff after he died so I guess it was his fathers.
In 1969 I can't believe they would change the oil for a buck labor, maybe a promo or something? No auto repair repair orders but I did find an envelope with all the receipts from when my Dad built our house (he was the contractor) in 1950 and decided $100 was a LOT of money then. It had things such as door jams, built, installed and primed for $1.75 each, 200 some odd windows (ca*****t frames) cut and glazed for a quarter each and 2 yards of sand delivered for 50 cents! Times have changed a bit for sure.
4qts, no filter. People actually did it that way? I know it was in the owner's manual to change filter every other time, but I didn't know people actually did.
I have a dozen or two, from my Dads shop; "Auto Center" around 55-57. I will post some if I remember to look in the barn where i saw them.
Several years ago, I received my grandfather's copy of Machinery's Handbook after he'd p***ed away. He'd protected it with a cover, of sorts, made from a sheet of something like waxed butcher paper. Inside the cover was tucked a large ***ortment of memorabilia. Such as a card from a trade show around 1961, if memory serves, with a photo of him. The card, with it's photo, proudly proclaims it had been taken with the then-new Polaroid camera. (That was back when you had to "fix" the image by smearing it with some sort of preservative.) The sales slip from a set of drafting pens. A business card from an air taxi service. That sort of thing. Anyway, in it is a receipt, from 1947 (the date reads 194_, with the last digit written in when filled out) to a Chevrolet dealer, for the sum of $5.50. It doesn't say for what. However, ***uming he kept it for a reason, I've always thought it had some meaning to him. He'd been in WW2 from '45-'47, so perhaps it was a down payment on his first car after returning from the war. Or maybe the last payment on a car he'd bought before getting shipped out. Perhaps it was simply the first major purchase he made after arriving home safely- say, a tank of gas and a service. Or maybe it's just a random receipt for a set of recap tires, and he just absently stuck it in the book rather than crumple it into a pocket. You never know. Doc.
The lady that once owned my car kept every receipt from 1967 to 1984 when she sold it to her nephew. She must have been a loyal customer. Seems like all of them are for the same three shops. I have some more to post after work tonight.
I recently picked up a few 50s service manuals and found a 60s flat rate guide in one. I will try and post some pics when I get home tonight. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I graduated high school in 1968 and went to work in a NAPA machine shop. The labor rate was $6.00 per hour. Prices for engine work were really really low by todays standards.
The prices look cheap but they arent.....for instance, in 1966, I worked at a gas station where gas was 19.9 cents per gallon....cheap? I made $1 an hour so I could buy 5 gallons of gas for my 1 hour of work (ignoring tax on my wages) In contrast today, I would need to make 5 X 3.10 (per gallon) to be equal.....$15.50 an hour. About the same, I we took state and federal tax out of today's price, the gas ratio today might be cheaper. I am sure a $28 repair bill back then was not a fun thing....
Ummm, not sure about that. When I was in high school (early 70's) cheap stations were 29.9, most of us had minimum wage jobs @ $1.25 hour. You could buy roughly 4 gallons with a hours pay. Minumum wage here is now 8.25 an hour or less then 3 gallons. You could buy a car new for $2000 or less, you would have to work 1600 hrs to pay for it. What's a new car today, $20K? (can you buy a new car for 20K or less today? I haven't checked in years!) Gotta work 2400 hrs to pay for it. Basing this at minumum wage as well. Sorry, I feel times were easier then.
grandma thru out most of the early papers/records from the shops of my grandpa after he p***ed.... here's my great - grandpa.....my grandpa and my great uncle Sal at their shop in the early twenties....
Its not an RO, but I collect anything from 1940. I bought a collection of 40's maps on ebay. One was a complete map of the US. I noticed a lot of red crayon marks. Looking closer it was a route taken by someone leaving Florida in March 1947 and returning in May 1948. They went across the south, up thru the midwest, across Montana & Idaho, and down the west coast pulling a trailer. Notes in pencil mentioning dates, attractions seen, weather, road quality, breakdowns. I cant imagine a trip like that with no a/c, speed control, modern conveniences. I am going to frame it for a display.
This was for a complete paint job. Boy was I in the money when I collected for this one! I just noticed, I forgot to the collect sales tax on the paint, is it too late?
Going for the record... I have a Monthly Statement from Dec 1 1921, from the Lakeview Garage, Division Street, Cobourg Ontario, Telephone 342 H. Fitzgibbon, Proprietor. Made out to my mother's Uncle Charlie ****burn (pronounced Coburn) Sept 18 - 5 gals gas -------------$1.80 ..."...19 - 1 Ford front spring------4.30 .................5% Surcharge----------.23 .................3% Tax-----------------.14 ............................................... ----- ------------------------------------- 6.67 Kindly remit by Dec 15/21 Pd Dec 8/21 C.F. Mr. Fitzgibbon seems to have been a little on the careless side, getting out his September bills in December and overcharging .20 on an arithmetic error. Evidently Uncle Charlie didn't catch it either because the total was not changed.
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