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Washington, D.C., circa 1927. "Four Wheel Drive Auto Co." Our second look at FWD's big lugs. National Photo Co. Collection glass negative. View full size.
I noted the sign for Menominee Trucks and Buses, which were manufactured in Menominee, Michigan (the Upper Peninsula), just over the border from Marinette, Wisconsin. Oshkosh Truck now owns FWD and its Seagrave fire truck division.
Publicity shot? Older model on left. New one on right. Solid vs pneumatic tires. Kerosene (?) headlamps on left. Electric on right.
[Those are acetylene lamps on the right. Note the vent holes and the tank. - Dave]
We had FWD dump trucks in the Sea Bees (MCB#7) during the 1960s. They looked very much like Internationals. I have never seen them since.
Can you imagine the arm strength it must have taken to turn those steering wheels? No Bowflex in the basement needed when those drivers got home!
The truck of Tim the Toolman's ancestors.
Here are 6 ways of comparing the 1927 half buck to the 2008 version, from
measuringwealth.com:
$6.20 using the Consumer Price Index
$5.17 using the GDP deflator
$13.02 using the value of consumer bundle
$20.47 using the unskilled wage
$29.54 using the nominal GDP per capita
$75.57 using the relative share of GDP
There is a sign inside the garage that reads "Minimum Labor Charge 50¢." I wonder what 50 cents would have gotten the customer? The only thing I could think of is perhaps inflating tires.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any cooler than the last dump truck shot, here are two of them. The youngster driving the one on the left looks real happy to be there. The guy on the right, not so much.
I wonder if that kid is still sitting on the steps at No. 14 watching the goings-on?
The guy riding on the solid rubber tires seems happier than the guy riding on the nice pneumatic tires.Maybe because he's too young to know better.
I got a laugh out of the completely different facial expressions on the two drivers.
It looks like one was just simonized and the other wasn't.
... an "auto laundry." None of this pansy "brushless" stuff, we'll introduce good ole car Martinizing. I'll have an IPO up next week.
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