Lacey Lady

First saw this story in my print copy of Hemmings Motor News, then found this website.  So, you're a gas station owner at your own birthday party in 1947.  What do you do for fun?  Well, why not make a bet that you could use a B-17 Flying Fortress as a canopy for your gas station, borrow $15,000 in cash from a friend at the party (who had it on him), go to Oklahoma and buy a B-17 that you don't know how to fly?  Then, you could try to fly it ALONE, crash it into another B-17, convince the base commander to write it off and sell you another one much cheaper.  Finally, bribe the local fire department with whisky to let you borrow their pumper trucks to siphon aviation fuel out of the other B-17s, fly it back to Oregon (with a copilot this time), and win the bet by putting it atop your gas station.  That's what Art Lacey did.  Seems like a perfectly normal birthday party to me.  Find out how to help restore the Lacey Lady here.

1940 Automobile Buyer's Guide

Ratings and reviews are commonplace in the social media era, but the publishers of the 1940 Automobile Year Book and Buyer's Guide were setting some pretty high standards for consumer information.  Posted on Hemmings, this guide included way more information than most folks would ever think necessary, either back then or even now.  As the Hemmings' post noted:

Besides the pages shown, other charts compare all the 1940-spec cars’ batteries, bearings, body finish, brakes and weights, capacities, carburetors, clutches, head room, leg room, hoods, radiators, springs, ventilation, wheel bases, and a whole lot more. And even exhaust valve seat inserts and steering post locks are compared.

Fun With Milk Bottle Caps

Here is a fun little item, posted on Dull Tool Dim Bulb, brought to you from the American Sealkap Corporation.  The book contains instructions for various activities and craft projects using SealKap bottle caps. 

It Happened One Night

Here is a nice lobby card, posted on Vintage Ads, for the 1934 film, It Happened One Night.  A fun movie, it is the story of a runaway heiress being accompanied by a (unknown to her) reporter after the story of her running away.  There are some great scenes relating to intercity bus travel, complete with stops at tourist courts.

Period Appropriate Motoring Attire

This post on the Hemmings blog discusses the importance of accessories; specifically - period correct clothing to go with your vintage car.  The post has several references to resources for those interested in vintage clothing, regardless of whether that interest relates to automobiles or not.  One interesting point to me was that the desire for a "complete package" can run both ways.  While many folks may become interested in vintage clothing as an accessory to their vintage car, there are some, like the couple pictured here, who acquired their vintage car as an accessory to their vintage clothes.

1939 Nash

Although the ad for this 1939 Nash, posted on Vintage Ads, makes only a slight mention of it, one of the neatest features of the pictured sedan was the bed.  Introduced in 1936, the rear seat back hinged up, and in doing so opened up the trunk to the passenger compartment.  Two adults could sleep with their legs and feet in the trunk, and their heads and shoulders on the rear seat cushions.  I saw photos of one for sale a few years ago, and it was a cool-looking car, inside and out. 

Top Christmas Gifts Of 1948

Vintage Everyday posted this list of the top Christmas gifts sold by Macy's in 1948.  Lots of apparel on the list, including shirts, ties, nylons; as well as items like pearl necklaces, whisky and music.

National Recovery Admnistration Sign

Here is another find from the Nashville Flea Market in October.  Straight from the New Deal, this is a metal National Recovery Administration (NRA) sign.  The NRA (no, not the National Rifle Association) was a federal agency created during the New Deal to help the country recover from the Great Depression, and businesses would hang these signs to show that they were participating in NRA programs.  It appeared to be original, and I have not found any reproductions available.  The asking price was $75.  Interestingly, I found another such sign in similar condition at another booth for $80.  I had not seen even one, much less two, of these signs prior to this occasion. 

Sinclair Gasoline

I found this post on Vintage Ads interesting because it is an ad for oil during wartime, when it was heavily rationed.  To the extent the manufacturers could still sell to the public, they still needed advertising.  

Old Magazine Articles

I found this site some time back, and occasionally have time to browse it.  Old Magazine Articles is a private site with scanned collections of thousands of old periodical articles.  The subjects are indexed, and include cars, movies, radio, history, politics, World Wars I and II, as well as a variety of other topics.