History Anyone Else Hang Out in Junk Yards as a Kid?

I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, Population was probably around a thousand folks.
In the town was Bob Meyers junk yard and garage (didn't call them salvage yards back then).
Even before I had a drivers license I would ride my bike down there and just sit in the old cars and dream. This would have been around 1964 (I am 67 years old).

Bob was cool, never cared that I would wile away an afternoon just wandering around the old iron and dreaming, mentally building all the cars to my 14 year old vision.

I can still remember where and what the most notable cars were sitting.

As you entered the front gate there was an MGA that someone had stuffed a flatthead Ford into. Next to that was a Chrysler New Yorker, '54 I think Station Wagon with the original wire wheels. It had been used for years around town by a local painter as a work truck.
Walking on down the main aisle there was a '34 Ford two door that eventually got built into a dirt track car.
North row out back was where I spent a lot of time. '54 Mercury convertable in red and white, Gold '51 Hudson Commadore, '40 Pontiac Coupe, Sliver '37 Chevrolet two door sedan. Various shoe box Fords and Chevies.

I remember I was in the shop one day and they were putting a 394 Olds in an old Ford dump truck. I thought that was about as cool as you could get.

Anyone else hang out in junk yards as a kid, or am I the only weirdo.

Sorry, no pics, just gonna have to take my word for it.

GV

 

You kidding? HELL YEA!

 

There is a junk yard on the outskirts of Forest Grove, Oregon that we frequented when I was in high school. The guy was old enough that he owned a '39 Hudson Opera Coupe that he bought new, it had been hot roded and re-hotroded over the years and finally found a resting spot by the back fence.

Anyway rumor had it that he didn't like kids. LOL I had my own tool box there and he would gave me run of the yard if I wanted something. One time the missus was sitting on the tool box handing me wrenches dressed in white shorts and top. he came out and wanted to snap our picture so I crawled out from under this old Ford, I was just a mop of red hair sticking out from the grease and dirt. He snapped a poloroid to prove to people that he really did like kids.

it gets better he stuck it on his bulletin board, as of the mid '90s his heirs were running the yard and the kid and her husband went out there to find a part of an old Datsun she had, and there was the pic yellowing and curling up at the corners. She asked to see it and said, "This is my mom and dad." She got a discount for telling the story of the pic.

 

Yep! Bicycled my young axx all over the area. This was in the '50s and the places I went didn't seem to mind a curious kid hanging around and looking at everything in the place.

That affinity for junk yards never left me and I still love to spend time doing that when the opportunity presents itself. Not as many places left, though.

Ray

 

I used to take a bag lunch with me.

 

I still do that. Leon's in culpeper Va is like my Disney world.

 

My grand parents had a gas station from the mid 40s to the 70s. We lived in the house next door. Back behind the station was the 'yard'. Down there everyday until the late 60s. Loved it!!!!

Len

 

Yep, I am your age. That was my favorite past time. Man, the cars that were in the yards back then would be so awesome to have now. And they weren't even rusty, just worn out or wrecked. Anything from Model As to muscle cars were there.

 

LOL When my Ol' Man was working for Studebaker around the time I was born he snagged a Willys pickup from the back lot that had low miles and a shelled mill and a brand new wrecked Buick. Pulled the then new baby nail head out of the Buick and stuffed it in the Willys and that was what brought me home from the hospital. I think that was what began his love affair with the nailhead, and perhaps my idea of what a hot rod should sound like.

I know that memory isn't clear from the beginning but somewhere in my head is that sound. As much as I love the SBC you just can't make one sound like a baby nail blowing through a pair of Smithys.

 

Hahaha I still do that too. I'll be bored and I'll go down to the pick n pull, pay my two bucks and go in and wander around. One of the last times there was a 1950 Plymouth Concord sitting there. I pulled the hood ornament off it took it in to pay for it. The kid wanted to know what it was, so I told him he then asked, whats that?

 

I never really hung out IN a junkyard, but there was an old junkyard next to the vet we brought our dog to. The parking lot for the vet's office was higher than the yard so I could see over the privacy fence enough to see stacks of old cars. It wasn't all that big, but, I thought it was the coolest place I'd seen when I was I kid. There was a dog that patrolled the place. I never saw it, but it sure did sound like it was going to break through the fence at anytime. My parents never let me go in there, partly I think because you could always hear the owner screaming and cussing in there. My Dad always told me he didn't need anything from in there so there wasn't any point of going.

Years later, after I got a car, I stopped in there to grab a part for my Nova. It was kind of intimidating walking up to the office. There was a gate in the old wooden six foot stockade fence you walked through. Once inside, there was about a five foot path with stacks of cars on each side leading an old run-down looking office. To be honest, I'd seen more inviting horror movie sets. Anyway, I got about half way up to the office, and I heard the old man yell, "What in the hell do you want, and you better not waste my time." I kept walking as I asked him if he had the part I needed. The next thing I knew, this guy was screaming and swearing at me about how he only has Mopar parts and how dare I insult him by asking for something for a Chevy. At that point, I turned and got the hell of out of there. Some guys loved the place and thought he was the best guy they knew, a lot of others would rather walk than have to go there. I found out why. Looking back at it now, I'm pretty sure he just used his business as an excuse to be a hoarder.

 

Loved em. So Cal in the early 70's was a kid's junkyard dream land.
I still have a compass from a 55 Packard. Light still works and has the Packard crest.

 

Oh yeah.My best buddies Father had a junk yard.We spent many a weekend wandering around the place.Found all kinds of interesting stuff.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Used to roam Sambucci bros in flushing Queens.NY....nicest guys..got some great deals......ain't always easy bein a junk yard dog.....ruff ruff,,,ha ha

 

Sure did....growing up in Rogue River, Ore. in the 60's, I was always diggin' around in the junkyards around the vicinity with my father & grandfather, who were always needing parts...I got the bug early, and I get the same feeling after all these years when I find something really cool....quickly raising my fist into the air and yelling loudly in satisfaction....In the auto junkyard in the next town over back home, is my grandfathers old WWII 6X6 tow-truck he parked in the mid 60's, now succumbing to 40+ years 'resting',.... I always passed a courtesy call on the old heap ....yup, the old junkyards have a lot of good memories for me as a kid, and still do today--- Ray

 

Have lived and breathed junk yards all my life.
For my 14th birthday my dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday present. I told him I wanted to be taken to a junk yard, specifically John Downy's Junk Yard. It was a place my dad used to dispose of his excess unwanted inventory from his Lincoln - Mercury dealership.
Dad drove me and 3 of my closest friends up there on a December Sunday afternoon, John threw open the gates and let us run through the place all afternoon.
We filled the trunk of Dad's new '57 Mercury with all of our treasures, got cuts and dirty and laughed our asses off all day.
John introduced us to his hi tech 50's security system, a huge fat goose that must have stood 5' tall.
It was a great birthday party.
Years later I hit all the hot spots in my area. Mystic Ave. in Medford held a lot of them, specifically Terry's Auto Salvage. In Woburn there was Aberjona Used Auto Parts, Waltham had Mantenuto's Auto Parts ( Now 128 Auto Parts). Ben's Auto Parts, Post Road Auto Parts, Goldies in Quincy, Holland Auto Parts, Johnny Carol's in Lexington, Woburn Auto Parts, Borr's, Marcline's on the Cape, Henry's, Chuckran's, Jack's Used Auto Parts, Linders, Harbor Auto Parts, ABC in Leominster, Louie Handler's, and sooo many more I've forgotten the names of or cant remember the correct spelling of.
My junk yard treks would fill volumes.

 

Yep, of course, sometimes I was lucky enough to get in before I was 18 (I looked a little older than I really was).

I still go to junkyards, it's therapeutic and a little depressing at times for me because I've seem some cars that I felt really didn't belong there.

Now, I'm lucky to find any of those 2nd gen camaros, mavericks, darts, that I always took for granted then, even any 70s or 80s cars for that matter. Usually cars that are at least 25-30 years old now are put in a "$peciality" yard.

 

My home away from home!

 

Kind of, I spent my early years in the city, but would drop by Williams Ford with my dad and I recall going out back to see the wrecks in for the body shop or the old trade ins going to the auction. When I moved to Maine there were several places I would go or ask my folks to stop and let me see something cool. It bugged my dad, he was into sailing and cars were an appliance, my mom was my champion and she would say,"Just let him look and get it out of his system." She still talks to me about cars to this day.

 

I grew up in the 60's in what is now South Central Los Angeles, my buddy's dad owned a junk yard in Alameda near where we lived...go all my stuff for free. Back then all of the junk yards were in this area and they had some type of wired connection so if you went to one and they didn't have it they would get on a mic and ask who had it...very cool

 

Jason said it best, when a kid I, played in a junkyard. The best place ever. My Disneyland! The one at the end of town was huge, I could ride my bike there and stay all day. No dogs, and They never made me leave. The far end had all the old stuff [30s] probably not the money makers then. They were stacked high and the weeds and honeysuckle grew all over them. One of my favorites was a Baren and Bayley Circus panel truck. It had all the cool art painted all over it. I remember lots of stock cars and the jalopy racers too. Then there were the wreaks, one a 55 chevy had the column and steering mashed into the roof of the car. I would climb in each one , and dream of driving and racing them. There were a few cool rods running around town at the time. I pretended to be one of them. I still LOVE Junkyards there's just not many left now. And I miss them.

 

Chopper sic balls.

 

Never had access to a junk yard as a kid, but I grew up in a spot in Brooklyn where people used to like torching stolen cars...lol, guess it's all how you look at it...

 

The yards I used to frequent are gone now, but when I was a teenager, I was always foraging through them. Later on, I would take my son with me, and we'd spend fifteen minutes or so getting a part, and hours just wandering around. He'd have a grand time playing in a car while I was pulling parts, or we'd stop to study one of the land yachts that Detroit used to build. We had a lot of fun doing stuff like that; I wish we still could!

 

The dogs In Leon's yard in culpeper looked mean as hell. But they loved me. They would bring me sticks to throw with them and I still bring them dog treats when I go walk the yard. I've going to that yard for 20 years, the dogs are different now, but there is still tons of great stuff and parts in there. 115 acres of great old stuff.

 

Around here we never had a real junk yard. Just fields behind a house or shop of old mechanics that worked for cash on the side. Almost all of the cars had no engine or trans. My old man brought me along for free labor for his friends till I was 9. After that I did not fit anymore. I was the one that had to climb in the cars through a broken window or windshield and pull down the back seat and slide through the holes and open the trunk. I remember getting rearends, drive shafts and gas tanks. The only thing I liked about it was getting to man the wasp spray and .410 for snakes.

 

YES! I lived on a dirt road and if you went down the dirt road to the next dirt road there was Charlie Stebbins junkyard.It was probably 20-30 acres and I had the run of the place from the time I was about 10 up through my teens.A lot of us would work for him after school scrapping out,cars,pulling parts etc . I built many cars with parts from there.After Charlie died a guy who had had a garage up the road for years bought the property and set up his garage in the middle of the junk yard.Nothing changed for us but the name.Tug Wilson was the garage owners name and he built and raced dirt track cars.What a great place that was! Its a goddamned housing development now--------

 

It's the first place I'd go after getting paid at the end of the week, after work on Saturdays I was looking for rusty, greasy treasure at "Carpenters Salvage & Towing" in our border town of Thayer, Mo. The owner Bill, had made his living in the 50s & 60s & by the 80s it was all for fun. 30s-70s stuff. I got no less than 20 sets of "double hump heads there" & learned quite a few tricks from old Bill, he stood about 6' ft 7 & was lean and super stout, wearing the same pair of Dickies overalls & a welders cap. Bill loved to mess with people & didn't say much if he didn't feel like it. If he didn't like something about a person he'd not hardly give them the time of day & would wind up not having what they came for even if they were looking right at it. An odd way to do business but like I said his living had been made years earlier. I once seen him pull out 10 grand in cash out of his overalls & he had wads more left over. He always carried his "lucky" silver dollar that he'd carried all through his WW2 overseas tours. All the local yards are gone now, along with Bill & I sure miss the good times & visiting him. I've got my eye on his old first 40s IH Kb series wrecker which I recently found. I'm a sucker for old stuff that brings back memories. Bill's old wreckers were always mustard yellow with red trim & letters paint brushed on , hence forth we dubbed them the "Mustard & Ketchup Special". The first of which is immortalized at our local Mammoth Spring State Parks museum at the RR depot. A large Photo that use to be on his dusty , grimy old shop wall , now resides there. It's a pic of his first wrecker pulling a train caboose while doing a huge wheelie in the early 50s. I'd been around his yard since a little kid & his son was an elder in our local gang of late night grudge racers. I rarely ever had to pay for stuff, unless it was over a hundred then I got it for half price. Yet I always offered. He told me "quit askin' if I didn't like ya I wouldn't give it to ya". I also swapped him machine shop services after hours in turn. It was a sad day when he closed up & the family crushed it out. Basically I frequented it & hung out a few hours there every couple of weeks. I visited ol Bill a few times in the local nursing home & I don't think I've ever seen somebody soo happy to see me. Now it's all gone, but not the memories. Those junk yard days were really Great times. I think that's why i'd ove to buy his old wrecker for Yard art" next to my shop. Geez I'm too sentimental. Flux

 

First junk yard experience was Don Atlas, Santa Clara Auto Wreckers. Great smiley guy, Don was intrigued with the knowledge the Donahues and I possessed at age 13. First thing I asked about was a 'top plate' (shift tower) off a '39 Ford box. Don walked with me, told me to 'point it out' what I wanted. Big pile of transmissions, more early '34-'36) types than anything...I said, "Not that one, it's not a '39..." Finally, I found one. Don said "Take the whole transmission, 'Dynamite'. (his immediate nickname for me) "Five bucks oughta do it."
Wow! I'd be comin' back to this place! (I went back from 1955 to 1975, Don and Mark finally sold.
The other 'gold mine' was Tex's, in San Jose, Berryessa Rd. (used to be 'Wood's', but the old man (over 100 yrs old!) died, and his son 'Tex' took it over, along with Tex's son, Emory.
In '57, my bud Don came over, "Want to take a trip to the best wrecking yard you ever saw?" I said, "Heck yeah...Where?" Don: "Tex's."
I wanted to go to another wreching yard, but not all the way to Texas... Laughter, "No, Tex's on Berryessa Rd. It's the 'Only Answer'!"
We jumped into Don's '50 Olds, Tex asked how he could help...said we'd find it "Right o'er there in the corn'r"
I'd go to Tex's in the morning, 8:00, roam and pick up stuff for projects. I bought white ceramics (long Hemi Chrysler plug insulators) 10 for a dollar! (had about 80 of 'em)
Dodge stick flywheel, perfect. $2. Tex was there to encourage young guys to learn about fixing their cars, always paid special attention to our needs.
We were very saddened when he passed, in the '70s...
He had a young protegee', who worked there after school...San Jose State student, graduated and Tex willed him the wrecking yard. Larry ran it for 10 years (?) then retired up North.
There were others...but not many like Atlas' and Tex's!