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

I spent the whole morning of my wedding day in 1967 at the junk yard looking for some leaf springs for my Willys coupe.

 

My dad would hand me a screwdriver and let me LOOSE in his junkyard. None of the kids I knew had this pleasure. I used to sit in the front seats and look through cracked windshields out at the world then open glove compartments and find movie tickets, suntan lotion, prayer beads, foreign coins, all kinds of crazy stuff I never knew existed. To this day I am fascinated by junkyards and go wandering in them just to feel that fascination again, the sense of history, tragedy, loss, the beauty of outmoded design. How do people call themselves full-fledged human beings without knowing the magic of growing up this way?

 

16 in 1964, the junkyards (now recycling centers) was my parts house/supplier back then. Lucky for me the yard I bought a lot of parts liked us kids, all the kids I knew bought there, very helpful with information/swapping stuff and treated us right on prices. I went to the yard looking for a V8 chevy engine for a 57 210 coupe I bought @15 without engine trans, junkyard had a wrecked 59 348 tri-power with standard 3 speed trans, $150 and my lifetime of car hobby was on. Still in HS I had a 58 Impala ragtop and was in yard looking for a 6 stick which was a 4:11 back then and came across a perfect interior for my 58 and a real nice top, bought the whole works for $60 and learned about changing out that stuff. The majority of kids today do not have the option of going in junkyard and picking parts, working on old cars, great learning experiences. I know all my grandchildren have nice late model cars to drive, different times/generation.

 

Plenty of junkyards in the piedmont section of the Carolinas. Wasn't unusal to see wrecked moonshinner/bootlegger cars there in the 50's. Those were the good times...........

 

If you grew up in the Baltimore area, you may have ventured out to Vogt’s Auto Recycling in Carroll County. It was established by Jake Vogt about 1956. By the 70’s, his son and daughter were involved and they built an active business that served the entire east coast. My brother and I were friends with the younger generation and we helped with some building projects at the business (we don’t need no stinking permits!). We were able to roam the property at will, and there were some great old cars still hiding from the crushed. I helped haul a Dusenberg out one day. It was a huge old touring car with a rotten frame. The buyer wanted to place the body in a full-size Ford pickup frame. I was in my Thunderbird period by 1982 and they agreed to sell me a ‘57 Bird that had suffered a rollover. I was restoring a ‘56. I don’t think I used many parts in my own car; but I dismantled the ‘57 and sold much of it at Carlisle. A fellow near Pittsburgh approached me at the end of the swap meet and wanted to but the frame and everything that was left. Somehow, my brother and I loaded it all on a pickup truck(picture the frame perched over the cab) and off we went. When we arrived, we found a huge field outside town with dozens of T-Birds in various states of disrepair- each one carefully wrapped in heavy black plastic. I’d love to know what became of his huge hoard. As for Vogt’s, they were approached by Copart, a huge auto auction company. I helped clean up every scrap of metal, plastic, and rubber- and Copart operates there today. I drive by it daily and still miss the yard. It provided an affordable way for many people to keep their cars on the road.

 

Like it says in the book...

"...You better start smilin’, get yourself some chill-bumps, the little hairs on the back of your neck standing up the minute you step foot in a junkyard, and if you don’t, my greasy brothers and sisters, you might just as well go turn-in your wrenches, wash those hands and hang your dang head in shame."

 

yup...one of my favorites...

 

The one down the road from me had a ton of old stuff back in the day (80s). There was a '59 Cadillac Hearse way back in there that I always wanted. Hope it didn't get crushed.

 

Absolutely! When I was a kid, my dad had a large production body shop. My brother, sister and I spent a lot of time playing in the local junkyards, sometimes with the kids of the owners, other times by ourselves. The adults usually spent their time in the office/garage. So we were told to go amuse ourselves for a while. Great memories!

 

When I was a kid, the town was a whole lot smaller and there wasn't as much an issue with zoning. Wrecking yards would start out on vacant land and the town grew up around them. As a result, I was well within walking distance and I would wander the yards until I got chased out by the guys working there. On my walk back home from church on Sundays, I would go by the scrap yard where there would be old Model T roadster bodies and I struggled with the thought of how I could drag one home. My folks didn't have a car and I didn't have any place to store one anyhow. The dump was located across the rail yard, also well within walking distance and I would go there after they dumped the unsold car magazines with the covers ripped off. I still have some of them.
Thinking back on those times, I remember that the old European import cars had a distinct musty smell about them that other cars didn't have. Would love to have a wiff of that now, even though it probably was carcinogenic.

 

Not quite a junk yard story, but kinda-ish. When I was a kid (they all have to start that way ) my dad owned a rustproofing business and next door was a shop that was retrofitting gas stations all over with new pumps. Out back was a junk yard of probably 200-300 old gas pumps and pieces parts. He let me wander through and grab a bunch of pump handles and stuff to hang on my bedroom wall (mom was thrilled). All long gone now, I wasn't even smart enough to hang onto the handles I got.

 

Not saying I hung out at boneyards a lot when I was in school...... said Boneyard!
LOL, that’s how I got my nickname!

Bones is my Nick- nickname!

I still have a steering gear box I picked up in 1965!



Bones

 

I grew up in a junkyard. My dad sold parts and crushed 100s of cars. I used to pull as much cool parts off of them as a I could before he crushed them. I remember begging my dad not to crush some of the cool ones. He would usually sell complete cars to his buddies. I would literally cry when he crushed anything 60s and older. I crawled in every single car and loved looking for treasure in the trunks and underneath the seats and carpet. Sorry no pics.

 

I still hang out at them occasionally, and although there's fewer that have interesting cars, I still find junkyard parts I need for projects.

 

When I was 14-15 there were a few of us car guys in town that were allowed to pull what we needed at the yards. I was building my Henry J at the time. I pulled a 4 bar rear end from one yard and then the manager switched yards so I grabbed a set of AMC disks and spindles from there. He knew I was able to do that sort of thing.

 

Just the other day, I went to my local salvage yard and sat in the chair in the office. Lynn said “ Well, what are you looking for today? “. I said “ nothing , really” . We both sat there for a while and I though , if going to the salvage yard is a social event for you... you must be.......








Bones

 

It was like going to church for me. As a kid I learned that many didn't like anyone roaming around much anymore (too many sue happy idiots I suppose) this went double for a young punk, but!!! I also learned if you could very VAGELY describe what you wanted more times than not they'd just day "go see for yourself". Great times to say the least.

 

My uncle had a junk yard in the '50s and '60s. My dad borrowed some of his tools and rebuilt a '52 Henry J there. I got to wander around at the yard until there was a falling out between families and we moved away in 1958. Really wished I had spent more time in the junk yard, although not with my uncle, who it turns out was a real creep.

 

I was fortunate. My cousin had a yard a quarter of a mile from our house and an uncle had another yard. Drove my first car around the yard. My Dad built us a dirt track out in our back yard. Go down to cousins yard and for $25.00 get a running car and run around out back . Even got to play with one of Dad’s retired dirt track racer that got retired. Winter time , we would race the snowmobiles around the track.

 

...more...these were at my favorite junkyard back in the 70's,...all long gone now but I still have parts from there.

 

if i had a choice of a vintage salvage yard or Disney land id be at the salvage yard

 

and the lines are shorter....

 

It was always my favorite place to go in my teens!
I just wish there were more I could frequent now. They’re far & few between in my local area these days......


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We have a Pic a Part yard up in the city that the Nephews, Dad, and I like to frequent. Last weekend, number one nephew, Dad and I pulled a Ford 8.8 with 3.55 and TracLoc for his F-150. It was only $150! His truck currently has a single tire fire 2.73. The 300 will feel like a 351 after this. My son Little Truckdoctor was pissed that he couldn’t go, you have to be 16 and he still has five years.


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From about age 4 on, I would thoroughly embarrass my parents when I was asked what I want to be when I grew up. I'd answer "I wanted to own a junkyard".

I never fulfilled that life-long dream, but spent my teens, 20's and 30s searching Upstate NY an N.E Penn. for big, little, obscure and private Junkyards.
I JUST LOVE JUNKYARDS!!!!
I even co-published and edited Junkyard News in the 1980s

 

I built most of my Hot Rods by bartering , for parts . That’s the fun of it all for me .

 

A friend and I would take a jug of whiskey to the U-pullit yard to celebrate promotions at work and birthdays and some times we'd buy parts.

 

Spent all of my free time as a youth roaming around junkyards.
Spent all my free time through my middle years roaming around junkyards
Spend most of my free time at age 62 roaming around junkyards.
I still haven't grown up.

 

Absolutely, grew up in salvage yards. My dad was a self professed scraper when not farming and running heavy equipment. We was always headed to a yard somewhere. And, seeing how he loved old cars he always had to check to see if anything new was brought in since the last time we was there.