Saturday, September 30, 2023

Cheap Shave



 This looks like a cheap cast metal spoke or leather shave, missing the blade and wedge, but I liked the material-saving hollow handle bottoms. Manufacturer wasn't proud enough of it to put their name on it...

Porsche,1956


 That's an image for a T shirt...

Relic


 Of some ancient pre-controversy advertising campaign...

Friday, September 29, 2023

Break-in line at the Ford plant, 1917


 After assembly, the engines were coupled to a DC motor and turned at 750 rpm till the amperage draw came down to 20 amps.

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Moto Guzzi 125


As advertised in Playboy.... Looks like the badges on the bike were touched up by hand... I don't think I've ever seen one of these bikes in person.
 

1956 Jensen

An attractive car? I'm undecided...


thanks, Bruce

British Car Day, 2023
 

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

BMW, feeling pretty good about themselves


Ok then...
 

Winslow skates


Samuel Winslow started his ice skate company in Worcester, Mass in 1857, in the 1880s, he added roller skates to the product line, both regular and inline styles. By the late 1800s, the company was the largest manufacturer of skates in the USA as ice and roller rinks became common forms of entertainment.
The Winslow company seems to have disappeared after being hit with a tax bill and penalties in 1931.



 

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Monday, September 25, 2023

Balata Belting

While looking for info on industrial belt and pulley systems, ads for belting turn up often in old industrial magazines. 

Balata is a hard rubberlike material made by drying the milky juice produced principally by the bully tree (species Manilkara bidentata) of Guyana and the West Indies. Britannica


 

Indian in 1974


 These days we could probably think of 8 reasons why your son's first bike should not be an Indian.

Sunday, September 24, 2023

GM RV



GM got into the RV market for a few years in the seventies. The powertrain was the front wheel drive Toronado unit. About 12,900 were made in total, approximately ten percent were the short wheelbase unit shown here.
 It's estimated that seven to nine thousand of the fibreglass and aluminum vehicles are still operational today.





 

Sidecar Sunday



British Experts Trial 1946

Saturday, September 23, 2023

Custom Dodge Desoto

                                       Bill Sherk, 60 years behind the Wheel, Dundurn Press, 2003


 A 1957 Desoto at the Cayuga, Ontario drag strip, with the hood removed for cosmetic reasons, side chrome trim removed but with fender skirts and full moon disc hubcaps added. Apparently the upholstery is now a leopard skin pattern. I would also expect to see (and hear) Thrush mufflers underneath. Truly a fifties custom.

We used to make things in this country #351 Perfect Machine of Galt, Ontario


 The Perfect Machine Company was in existence from 1914 to only 1923 on Main St. in Galt, now part of Cambridge. During that time they manufactured metal-working machinery and various cast iron parts. 

Friday, September 22, 2023

1951 Frazer


 Good lineup, good looking, conservatively styled cars, they were well received by the public. But Frazer closed their doors in mid year. They don't turn up often these days.. Previous post...

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Motorola AM-FM radio model 79XM211

Radar type tuning! Bakelite in forest green? I'm not sure I've ever seen green bakelite. 
Not a very good picture here.


Garford buses 1926


 The Garford Truck company started in Elyria Ohio in 1909, their first big sale was to the US post office. By 1925 they had moved 120 miles west to Lima Ohio and changed their name to Superior Body. Superior Body built mostly ambulances and hearses, by the end of the 1930s they were focusing on school buses. 1940 brought another name change to Superior Coach. Superior Coach lasted till 1980, under different owners and  with other product lines. 

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Can Am 175

This is the MXer, not the T'NT, but I want this one with lights, speedo etc. street legal. Love that down pipe and bazooka muffler.



 

Artisan 13B-4628 Phillips screwdriver

Here's another old screwdriver with celluloid handle and a rubber insulated blade. No information on this brand name that we can find online...



 

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Chevrolet 6400 truck


  Its nice to find these old trucks in farm country, they look cared for but not over-restored and generally seem to be leading a useful life. By the rear windows, this might be a 1954 model?



Coastliner RDC


An interesting scene for 2023, a Budd RDC sitting on a turntable in front of the 3 stall roundhouse in Rockland, Maine. There have been interesting things parked there before, and this is the unit the company will use for their Coastliner excursions.




 

Monday, September 18, 2023

One of my vices is- Another Monday Mystery

A reader, John, sent the link to this anvil-vise, recently sold on Facebook marketplace. The patent date is cast in the side, Sept 12 1912, but no makers name anywhere on it. Another little thing to research...

Thanks, John!

Thanks to info from Andy T (in the comments), we find this is covered by one of several patents granted to a C.E. Shields and was made by Rock Island Manufacturing.

 

Monday Mystery



Another cast iron thingy found at a used tool shop. The angular end could be a stove or carriage-type wrench, but the curvy end is pretty confusing. Any ideas or guesses?


It will stand on the curvy end, for what it's worth.





 0426. Lot of Two:
(1.) 32 (Charles G. Allen and Belcher & Taylor.) - - 8.25" wrench and pitman tool. Excellent. (R1-9)
(2.) Unmarked - - 8.25" like 32 wrench above, Excellent.

We have to thank Dave for finding that! (See comments) 
Now, how is it used?

Friday, September 15, 2023

Triumph X75 Hurricane by Craig Vetter

Show side
 

Other side...

 This bike was intended to be a BSA when Craig Vetter designed it in 1969, but somewhere in the corporate process, it was sold as a Triumph during the years 1972 and 73. About 1200 were made. 

Lots of info on the net about this beauty, I'd like one in my garage...