How Our Webmaster Got His Start...

[YellowRose]

It has been rumored that this is how our intrepid webmaster, Dave ~ simplyconnected, got his start working on cars....

[DKheld]

Wait - did they even have cars back then?



Cool picture though...
Chrysler Airflow?
Eric



(it's a good thing Dave and I live 'bout 1000 miles apart - he might whoop up on me for that comment)

[Dan Leavens]

Great pix. You will notice that not only is this little guy dressed for what we used to call "Customer Service " but he actually has his eyes on the nozzle when filling. The only thing missing would be the clean rag in his back pocket to check the oil.
Yes they actually checked our oil

[simplyconnected]

Great picture, Ray. I have two older brothers and those cuffs brought me back because that's exactly what Mom did until I 'grew into' my pants.

My parents survived the Great Depression and I am the last of five kids. Mom never threw out anything if she could knock out a few more turns. Even then, if I tore the knee, she ironed-on a new patch AND sewed it in. Many of my pants couldn't bend at the knee because the patch was stiff as a board.

God blessed my family with great parents. Mom was always there, easy to talk with and she never had words with ANY of her in-laws. If Dad instigated an argument, she simply started singing hymns instead of engaging. That made him madder but it also made him realize how silly most arguments are. They both nearly made it to 100.

The boy next door had a '53 Chevy with a straight six. One day he pulled the valve cover off and was 'lashing the valves' with a feeler gauge, right there in his driveway. I was amazed (and hooked). I must have asked thousands of questions as I learned as much as I could. First, I wanted to know how an engine could 'turn over'.

Thanks again for the picture, Ray. I love your humor. - Dave

[YellowRose]

How Our Webmaster Got His Start...

Hi Dave, thank you for your comments. It actually came from Chris, ~ bird 60 from Down Under. When I saw it, I thought of you. Thank you also for sharing information regarding your family life. You were quite lucky to have your parents in your life for such a long time. I was not so lucky. I had a wonderful Mom whom I lost when I was 12 years old due to cancer. I have missed her all my life. She was a wonderful Christian woman. As for my Dad... Not much I can say there about him... I lost him decades ago... and he lost us kids years before that... But I had a fairly happy teenage life, and then it all got better when I joined the Air Force, met and married my wife of 40 years. It is difficult to realize that she has been gone for nearly 20 years now, also due to cancer. I digress.. Thanks again, and I am happy you enjoyed the picture...

[Joe Johnston]

Great picture and memories! Its always good to step back once in a while to reflect & count our blessings.

[Deanj]

Great photo. Maybe he's extracting gasoline. Anyhow, he can't reach the windows from the running boards.

[Dan Leavens]

Dean you are right at that height, he is definitely an apprentice tire guy

[keith]

Great picture! Dave is that a 40 ford or 40 Merc? Can't see the taillight to tell. Both makes had pivoting rear 1/4 windows. Do you remember....he..he..?

[DKheld]

Pretty sure it's a '37 Chrysler Airflow.

[Ian M Greer]

Boy, Dave you talk about the iron on patches and sewing on top . I'm with you 100% , but you know it was part of everyday life , I never thought of my family as poorer than others. I remember my mom buying the old style, cloth side running shoes for $2.00 . I was a happy kid . ( Remember Not All Birds Fly South ) Ian

[simplyconnected]

Boy, Dave you talk about the iron on patches and sewing on top . I'm with you 100% , but you know it was part of everyday life , I never thought of my family as poorer than others. I remember my mom buying the old style, cloth side running shoes for $2.00 . I was a happy kid . ( Remember Not All Birds Fly South ) Ian

We must be related somehow, Ian. The kids in my neighborhood never spoke in terms of wealth, we were too busy playing baseball, flashlight tag, touch football and a host of other games. All the moms were just as happy to shoo the kids outside. I think it was the only way they kept the house tidy.

Comic books and baseball cards (with gum) cost exactly five bottle returns (that we always seem to find). Instead of swapping them all my buddies brought theirs and we passed them around in circles under a tree in someone's back yard. We 'read' comic book pictures before we could read the words. They always made perfect sense. We used the baseball cards in the spokes of our bikes.

God Bless the inventor of bicycles and Western Auto stores. Bikes were my main mode of transportation for over ten years. Early on, I learned to fix flats, chains, bearings, baskets, racks, handlebars, seats, pedals and axles (mostly on my paper route bikes). Other neighborhood kids brought their bikes to my house because their tire was flat for weeks, waiting for their dad to fix it.

Aah, the good ol' days.

[YellowRose]

How Our Webmaster Got His Start...

I, probably like many of us on this Forum, can echo what Dave said to a great degree. Like him, I rode my bike all over the country around me and learned to fix it as needed. Until I got my Candy Apple Red Cushman motor scooter around 15 or 16. Then that became my mode of transportation. I played many of the games he did, and did many of the things he did, just as many of you did, I am sure. If you wanted to find me, look in the woods, along a creek bed fishing, or tending my traps for critters. In my mid teen years, when school was not in session, you would find me on the golf course, caddying single or double all day long and making money to support myself.. His post brought back many fond memories for me. Ahhh, yessss. Those were to good ole days for sure. Now, when see my grandchildren, they have their nose stuck in their iPhone, or iPad.....

[Ian M Greer]

Hey what about marbles , as a kid I had a Black Velvet bag with all my precious cats eyes in all sizes . We would play for hours a school in the play yard , no kids of today play marbles ! Remember playing football with the little miniature rubber football . We had fun as kids we didn't need any computer games , lap tops etc. Did you guys ever play conculls ( probably not spelled right ) with dried out chestnut on a string bashing your challenger's and he yours the winner being the one that didn't brake . All kinds of fun and it didn't cost a cent . (Remember Not All Birds Fly South ) Ian

[simplyconnected]

Hey what about marbles , as a kid I had a Black Velvet bag with all my precious cats eyes in all sizes . We would play for hours a school in the play yard...

When Mom found out I wanted a bag for marbles she quickly sewed one up, complete with draw strings. Over the years I must have lost my marbles.

The summer we moved in, our side-street was paved with real cement. All the kids went nuts when it was done. We quickly caught on to 'curb ball'. The little kids and the girls liked to play foursquare and kickball. We used the driveway for pitching practice but our sandlot was less than a block away. Each of my buddies had a bat so there was a great variety for all the kids, big and small. My bat was a club with a big barrel and thin handle. I could hardly 'hold it out' when I got it.