New Holland self propelled baler

It's that time of the year! 

Good idea I guess, eliminating the tractor from the bale-making process for a more agile combination, but the downside would be another engine to maintain and store for 10-11 months each year. But they didn't catch on, only about 400 were made and sold in the mid sixties. I'd like one with a baler thrower on it.

 

Downtown Toronto, 1935

 The picture was taken near where the Eaton Center is now in late December, no snow yet that year! The fancy car on the right is a new Ford roadster with exposed spare and rumble seat. Parked on the other side facing us is a Chrysler Airflow. 

Bikes in the 'hood; 1991 Suzuki Bandit

I thought these 400s were beautiful when they came out and was quite disappointed when the larger differently-styled 650 and 1100 Bandits came out. 

 

A nice set

thanks, Greg!

 

Diner on the move

We made a quick trip to the east coast this week, (apologies for the gap in posts) and happened across this diner sitting on steal beams behind a closed brick-building diner in Farmington, Maine.

 Story here.

 

Electric car model

 I wonder if Elon Musk had one of these as a kid. 2 D cells, humph, they could be 18650 lithium cells. Or maybe 7000 of them!

Pocket-sized die set

Toolbox-sized tapping die for NPT thread. I expect each thread would require multiple passes while tightening the thumbscrew. No name that I could read on this old tool.

 

Starrett catalog

 Nice to have as a reference, and for the illustrations. 

Sidecar Sunday

1912, wicker was the thing for sidecars.

 

Casey Screwdriver

Nothing remarkable about this screwdriver... but how long has it been since a screwdriver was 59 cents? Another company with no online info at all that we can find. 

 

Rolls Royce engines in 1957

 

Central City Tire and Battery, 1930

The crew posing for the official photo. The Toronto business was located just north of Bloor and west of Yonge, pretty much center of town at that time. Gas and oil one block west. That area would be unrecognizable to these guys today.
 

Knife, J. H. Thompson

Nicely shaped knife. Another one of the many cutlery manufacturers in Sheffield, England, this company was a latecomer- starting in the midst of the depression, 1932. It specialized in all sorts of knives and lasted till 1960. More at "Is your name on a knife?"

The Bees knees

Whoever the graphic designer was, he looks to be having too much fun!

 

1939 Plymouth

The 1939 Plymouth Coupe was the among the last of the cars to offer a rumble seat and was also the first to have a power convertible roof.
 

Gananoque Steel Forging, 1993

Commemorative casting celebrating the renaming of the Stelco plant to Gananoque Steel Forging. The plant was then acquired by Mahle Engine Components in 1997 and was closed without warning in mid-December 2005. (Merry Christmas, employees!) 

 The usual corporate musical chairs game, the factory had started as Byers Manufacturing in 1865, in 1960, now named Stelco, it produced engine parts for Ford and Chrysler. There was a significant strike in 1990, then renamed GSF in 1993.  Bought by Brockhaus (Mahle) in 1997, the company continued to make engine components, towards the end it specialized in "cracked" connecting rods.  

 

CIL in wartime, 1942

 

Bill Coulson's new hot rod

Bill's new creation, cut down from an Austin van into something less practical- but faster- powered by a 350 Chev.
 

Can you hear me now?

Here's a set of Sanyo TA-393 Transceivers, complete with integrated circuits, looking like a 60's American car dashboard. Probably date to the early seventies, when electronic communication equipment was still too big to fit in a pocket. 
 

Brownie micrometer

  Apparently a product of the Brownie Tool Co. located in Minooka, Illinois, these appeared to be rather crudely made but they did cast their name in the frame. From Facebook comes a bit more information, The company was in business in the forties, a Mr. Brown invented a number of items, patented them, and formed the company to sell them. I wonder what he could have patented on such a common measuring tool...

Monday Mystery, Cast iron hook

Nice cast iron thing that warranted the cast-in number 25B469 from some company with a stylized logo (possibly CMP?). Hard to tell the original intent of this device, any guesses? but it should make a great heavy duty coat hook, only limited by the #8 screws holding it to the wall. 

 

6 cylinder Jaguar engine exploded view

With cam drive shown separately...

 

Sidecar Sunday

Paris Vintage Meet, 2023

 

Noonan Tail light

Cast aluminum tail light on an early Excelsior. Made in Rome, NY, but no information online that I can find.