Vulcanizers In The Motor Age, Part I

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I spent last night, flipping through a 1919 Motor Age, browning and brittling as it nears the century mark. I wish I could post all 150 pages, as interesting as they are, but of course, you would fall asleep by page 20. As I am no Kerbey the Riveter, I know nothing about machines or cars in general, so most of these words my mouth had never spoken. Vulcanizers, carborundum valves, aloxite wheels?

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I don’t know what a “jobber” is, but the magazine is filled with the term. And who’s this Dutch girl?

Motor Age 1919Between the Velie Six and the Cleveland Six, I hadn’t heard of half the automobile manufacturers. See how many of these you recognize.

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Here’s the Cleveland Six. Ain’t she a beaut?

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Check out this handy luggage carrier. So convenient!

Motor Age1919008With “The War” having ended only the year prior, life was getting better and better.

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Stay tuned for Part II, as we discover more of the 95-yr-old Motor Age.

Crazy Eyes

Sometimes I look through old yearbooks and wonder, “What in all that is holy?”

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My best guess here is that these fellas are wearing Groucho Marx glasses. Except that there aren’t any glasses at all. And Groucho was neither blond nor ginger. In fact, Hirschfeld drew Groucho with facial hair as black as night.

http://artthreat.net/2012/02/groucho-marx-what-this-country-needs/
http://artthreat.net/2012/02/groucho-marx-what-this-country-needs/

So I’m terribly vexed.

Dry As A Dead Dingo’s Donger

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Last night’s view near twilight was a sight to behold. I could hear Eddie Rabbit rise from the dead, singing, “Well, I love a rainy night, it’s such a beautiful sight…” Of course, folks around here have learned not to get our hopes up. We’ve been (literally) burned too many times to count, hopeful at the sight of darkening clouds and ominous thunder, only to watch it pass us by. While Al Roker chats gloats about rainstorms across the country, central Texas is essentially Penny from The Rescuers, constantly passed over by would-be adoptive parents. For years.

We’ve been in drought conditions for so long, it’s nearly time for Penny’s quinceañera (were she Hispanic, which would technically make her Centavo, and that doesn’t quite have the same ring to it).

But it DID rain last night, and I even went out and danced in it, prompted by fellow blogger, Liz, if only for a few seconds. P.S. rain is cold.

So what if the lightning and thunder kept me up all night long? I’ll sacrifice my slumber for the good of our state.

Award-winning weatherman Jim Spencer keeps us abreast of local changes on his “First Warning Weather,” deciphering the Doppler Weather Radar and making predictions, but (to quote the Aussies), it’s as dry as a dead dingo’s donger.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/
http://www.austinchronicle.com/

All of our lakes are hitting record lows. The Lake Travis restaurants like The Oasis and Carlos ‘n’ Charlie’s, so popular for water fun and frolic in the 1990s, now overlook a low-lying lake covered with dune-like islands. When I visited Volente Beach on Lake Travis fourteen years ago, I could see the dry islands popping up even then.

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But now it’s much, much worse.

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/

At this point, I don’t know how we’ll ever recoup enough water to get things where they need to be. Our water bills are always in the hundreds each month; that’s par for the course to live in this area. Cattle are dropping dead right and left, reservoirs are drying up. But we won’t give up hope.

Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.” 1 Kings 18:41

More rain may be just around the bend.

Right On The Beam

As you can see, this ad dates from Christmas 1946, when the term “Coke” was becoming part of popular jargon. The gang says this little towheaded sprite (fun fact: Coca-Cola didn’t introduce Sprite until 1961) looks just like Coke tastes. Delightful? Effervescent? All I know is, I like his hat.

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And in case you’re looking for a Coke Date, Miss Clough here is available for appointments.

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Klute Hair Attacks Face

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Guard your cheekbones, sister! The header reads “Little Sisters of the Skull.” I don’t see a skull. And obviously one of these ladies is no little sister. The housemother’s pissy smile is reminiscent of Marlene Dietrich, the later years.

http://sniffandpuff.blogspot.com/
http://sniffandpuff.blogspot.com/

The weak are more likely to make the strong weak than the strong are likely to make the weak strong. — Marlene Dietrich

Actually, her face conveys a more Kanye West sentiment: You should be honored by my lateness. If you’re not familiar with the leggy, gender-bending bisexual and promiscuous Dietrich, then chances are high you also have no idea to what Klute hair refers. No worries! It was an old Hanoi Jane Fonda movie, where she displayed this curious hairstyle. Female sideburns that flip up and constantly poke the eyeball–who wouldn’t want that? Personally, I prefer Barbarella.

http://www.slashhair.net/
http://www.slashhair.net/

Evidently, Linda Bailey (in the Susan Dey Partridge Family vest) wanted it, and she appears elated with her decision.

71cactus032Fortunately for her, the hairstyle easily converted to the Joan Jett look, popular a decade later.

http://starcrush.com/joan-jett-hair/
http://starcrush.com/joan-jett-hair/

And she don’t give a damn about her bad reputation.

Miami Vice-Basilius

1971 U.T. Omega Psi Phi

Again–I did not pledge, so I cannot fully comprehend Greek life. All I can do is surmise that McBride and the Ride here bought dress shoes in bulk, with good arch support, in order to perform these complex yoga moves. This picture is 43 years old, so I doubt they can work their lumbar region like that these days, but stranger things have happened.

I like how Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, and Mike left enough personal space between groins to still seem tough and masculine. As far as personal preference, I’ll have to say Bertram has the nicest smile (Berri just seems angry or confused), and John Taylor (one of the long-lost Duran Duran Taylor boys) seems to smugly be bringing up the caboose (happy to have no one behind him). All in all, a nice portrait of unity, representing the four stated goals of the fraternity: manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift. Uplift?

Shirtless Jack “Jables” Black In Self-Satisfied Superman Stance

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Who knew the rotund spinning High Fidelity star was that into frisbee? Or shirtlessness?

http://capitalpictures.photoshelter.com/
http://capitalpictures.photoshelter.com/