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Duryea Day 2004 —
The Story in Pictures Part 2 of 2 — © Tue Sep 7 2004 |
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Does this model name look familiar ? It was
sub-titled, "The ride that's wrapped in velvet." And
this one is a burgundy beauty ! A 1948 two-door
convertible, purchased through the Internet in 2002, from a classic
car dealer in Missouri.
The
slogan
of this car manufacturer was, "When better automobiles
are built, BUICK will build them." As is so
prominent
in this magazine
ad,
Buick's trademark of design from 1942 through 1954 was its
toothy grill. Wanna count 'em ?
Bob and Sue Crowell of
Coopersburg
are the current owners of
this rare machine. Why rare ?
Bob explains. "There are only 50 registered 1948
Straight-8 Buick convertibles in the world. But the thing
that makes this one so rare is that: 1948 was the year that the
Dynaflow (Buick's first fully automatic) transmission came out
— which was very popular —
especially in the convertibles. But ours has a 3-speed
manual. And there aren't very many at all with that !
"Another thing about this car is that it has power windows, seat,
and top. But they're not electric, as the cars of
today. They're hydraulic — and they
didn't all work when we bought the car four years ago
— but they do now."
1948 was the 45th anniversary of the company which — in the early
days — was the Number Two auto maker in the United States (behind
only Ford).
•••
David Dunbar Buick was born in
Scotland
in 1855.
Buick, and
engine designer, Eugene C. Richard, were pioneers of the in-head
valve system, which improved the efficiency of both fuel intake,
and combustion.
Interesting hubcap. Even your photographer — and the adjacent
'56 Ford — got into the picture.
•••
Oh – the Buick grill teeth-count ?
There have been tooth enumerations to as few as nine.
But, on the 1948 Roadmaster, 'twas 21.
This is (a very small part of) Flea Market Row.
Officially, the
Boyertown
Community Park name of this road is "Campbell Drive"
— but on Duryea Day, it's lined with
myriad
tables and tents of general merchandise and crafts, and especially,
auto related parts, pictures, models, and memorabilia.
This year, we had about 60 stands.
One of them was courtesy of Charles Ciprick of
Birdsboro,
who, along with his wife, has been offering
tees
and trail signs at venues throughout (especially)
Berks
and
Lehigh
Counties for the past 5 years. He says, "Our items take people
back to simpler times." Nostalgia is nifty. And it's real fine
to feel good — which sums up the major theme of Duryea Day.
This is what's known as a Rolls-Royce, SC Saloon. The white
1961 vintage, with its perennial and unmistakable, "in your face" grill,
is owned by Dave Browne of
Wind Gap.
A 1957 Lincoln Premiere 2-door hardtop with the "stick-out" tail
fin, featured only for one year. This black beauty,
with red and black interior, is owned by Lee Caleen of
Bechtelsville,
who classifies its caliber on the back
badge:
ABUV PAR
A study in contrasts. On the right, in
"dent"
condition, a red
1956 MGA, with black leather interior, owned by Leland Wesner of
Perkiomenville
— but don't let its rough edges
sideswipe you.
Given a
tome
of time, and proper perspiration, 'twill hold candle
to the trophy truck beside it, owned by Robert G. Shuttleworth,
Jr., of
Gilbertsville.
The red 1946 GMC Series Two pickup truck went for $964 when
new — 58 years ago — including the options of heater, front
bumper, oil filter, and air cleaner — but without other
offerings of rear bumper, clock, radio, and cig lighter. Its
train
specs are: 228 cubic inches, 3-speed manual
trany,
and 4.11
rear.
Bob has been showing this jewel at Duryea Day — as well as
countless other shows in southeastern and central
Pennsylvania
— for many years. Its awards and trophies
— 4 of which decorate the running board today
— in truth, belong to Robert's late
father, who was the meticulous restorer of this fine specimen of
hauleria.
A 1936 Hudson Terraplane 4-door sedan in 2-tone blue, owned by
James
Dunckley
of
Langhorne.
In the "modifieds" department, a
blower
is always an eye-catcher. This is a 1965 Chevy II Nova 2-door
hardtop with a baby blue metalflake paintjob. Owner Dave Duvall
of
Chester Springs
filled us in on the details.
It's a 355 cubic inch V-8, topped by a Weiand 871 supercharger,
and two Carter 4-barrel carburetors. In this configuration, it's
rated at 400 horsepower — so the 3.73 rear ratio is plenty high
enough to make it scream !
Dave — whose alias is "Blue Novas" — also brought his 1962
Chevy II Nova to Duryea Day 2004. This one is also baby blue
(albeit non-metalflake). The powerplant is a standard straight 6
with a one-barrel carb, developing 3½ horsepower — no, no, I'm
just
kidding.
It's a rotating turntable, on which is mounted a mini-model of a
Schuco Shell Service Station, complete with 8 tiny cars.
Duryea Day 2004 had 2 bands. Here is Steppin' Out. Left to
right,
Here are the Straight Shooters. Left to right,
The teeterboard has always been a popular feature of Duryea Day,
not only for participants, but also for spectators who leer,
cheer, and sometimes jeer drivers as they attempt to balance
their cars on this giant "seesaw." We're not showing you the
pictures of those who "just couldn't
cut the mustard."
But here
is Bruce Lynch of
Pennsburg,
who
mustered
the knack. Although he
didn't get it on the first try, he has an excuse: it's not his
car. The green & white 1973 Dodge Challenger 2-door hardtop is
owned by his mother-in-law, Donna Klaumenzer of
Green Lane.
This impeccably detailed red 1937 Chevy 2-door coupe was truly
awe-inspiring to watch on the teeterboard. Not only did
owner/driver Bob Strunk of
Boyertown
balance it on the very first
try — he sat there while the announcer talked to the crowd about
the finery of the automobile — and when the front end of the
board began to dip, he adjusted to balance again in a mere
heartbeat — to the wild applause, gasps, and cheers of the
assembled mulitiude.
Wooh !
John and Joyce Stine of
Chester Springs
are watching (and
studying) others on the teeterboard, as they wait in line to
"give it a go."
Their beautiful red pickup is a 1934 Ford,
which John purchased in 1957, when he was 16 years old.
It has a 310 cubic inch flathead Mercury V-8 "stroker" motor, topped
by 3 two-barrel Stromberg carburetors.
Back again for its "we've lost count" return engagement at the
39th Annual Duryea Day Antique & Classic Car & Truck Show and
Flea Market is the ever-popular "barrel train." The kiddies
really enjoy it, and we had a wonderfully sunny day this year
— with zero rain.
A mere
scrimption
of the
scores
of trucks on display at the 2004 Edition of Duryea Day.
Starting from the right,
One of the interesting distinctions that the
Indian holds is that:
if you see a motorcycle in a black & white movie —
it's nearly certain that it's an Indian.
Bob, and wife Ruth, have 5 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren,
and two of their sons help run the
orchards. ••• Among Bob's
vehicle collection is an immaculate baby blue 1951 Pontiac Super
Chief — which, he says he'll part with
— if the price is right.
Again this year — as is the custom at Duryea Day
— your admission fee included a complimentary visit
to the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, located just 9 blocks
away from
Boyertown
Community Park. This was the shuttle
bus — supplied by Walnut Woods of
Boyertown.
The pretty-in-pink is Lauren
Mounce of
Birdsboro,
accompanied by father Tom, one of our cherished Museum volunteers.
And speaking of Museum volunteers, here are four more, left to
right,
Ted Maurer is an auctioneer, on Brookwood Drive, in
Pottstown.
He likes, and collects, antique cars. Here is one
of them — a blue 2-door, 4-passenger, 1924
Dodge coupe. But Ted doesn't work on cars.
For that, he relies on mechanical wizard Keith Story, owner and
operator of Ancient Auto Service, on East Lancaster Avenue,
in
Downingtown.
And then one day Mr. Maurer came upon this unusual-looking
vehicle.
Que es ?
Officially, it's labeled a "Phantasy Truck",
but the common term is a peddler's truck — which is
distinctively different from a huckster's truck.
•••
A huckster's truck is typically open on the sides and back, and as
it is driven down the street, all of its wares are openly visible.
Customarily, a huckster's truck is used as a rolling produce
department — that is, hucksters drive around town selling fruit
& vegetables.
On the other hand, a peddler's truck is traditionally closed on
the sides — having a dozen or so drawers and/or
flap-doors, which make sure its goods stay with the truck as it's
driven around town. •••
What does the peddler
peddle ? Usually little things: needles,
scissors, knives, and other types of tools (which you probably
would not want to eat). •••
Well anyway, Ted saw this Phantasy Truck, and it first kindled
the collector in him. But as he thought more about it, he
realized that he might use it as a rolling billboard.
After all, wouldn't you take a gander at it if it passed you on
the street ?
So he bought it, and painted it up to promote his business. He
didn't really plan to use it as a peddler's truck — as that form
of merchandising pretty-much went out of style about 50 years
ago. What should he put behind those flap-doors ?
The boy in Ted spoke up: Why not make it a rolling train-yard
— mostly for fun, partly as educational, but
very unique.
Ted contacted his "car man", Keith (shown here in the picture),
and asked him, "What do you know about model trains ?" Keith
said, "Nothing." Ted replied, "Good. I'll tell you what I want,
and you can go from there."
And that's what they did. Ted (with the green suspenders, on
the left) needed to decide on generally how he wanted it to look, and
what should be included. The classic model railroader will pick
one gauge, and stick to it. But Ted said, "What's fun about
that ?! I don't want it to look right. I
want it to look wrong." So he elected to use every gauge
available in his little truck, and make it multi-leveled
— but without
opaque
divisions, as much as possible.
•••
Well, Keith certainly had his work cut out for him !
Ted determined that it should be putz-style.
The word comes from the German "putzig", which means, "funny,
whimsical, amusing in a quaint way, humorously odd."
And that's what – it certainly is. Ted explains: "Though the
theme is to be unserious, it has actually become a study in
gauges. All 8 of 'em are in there: G, Standard, O, O27, S, HO,
N, and Z."
"G" stands for "Garden." The cars are nearly 3 inches
wide, and are customarily used in outdoor gardens. That's
the widest of the eight. At the other extreme is
Z-gauge. Its track width is about half the width
of your little finger — that is, a quarter of
an inch ! To get a perspective on this, here Ted
holds a Z-gauge locomotive. It's not even as tall as
the width of his thumb !
What's a steam engine on somebody's porch doing in the midst of
a train display ? Who knows. Ted said it was putz-style. He
also says, "This is always an incomplete project. We are
continually making additions, changes, what-have-you."
Though it was not something we expected to see at Duryea Day — it
certainly was a delight. I hope he brings it back next year, so
you can see it too.
Thank you to all who attended, presented, supplied, or helped in any way to make Duryea Day 2004 a great success. It would be impossible to name all the Museum volunteers who assisted in a zillion ways — we are grateful for your time & your toil.
We especially acknowledge our partner of many years, the Pottstown Region AACA. It is their members whose experience, and energy, and smiling faces make the car show, the flea market, the car corral, and many other aspects of Duryea Day, a memorable event. So thanks, Pottstown Region, for a great job again in 2004.
We would also like to thank our prime sponsor, National Penn Bank — along with our other two sponsors — WBYN, 107.5 Alive — and YellowBook.
And this year's photographer would especially like to thank his chauffeur, Karla Rosenbusch of Reading, a recurrent volunteer to the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles.
Thanks to all — See ya next year.
— Museum Webster
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| This Duryea Day 2004
Story in Pictures (Part 2 of 2)
was last updated and verified as being
accurate information as of
Tuesday, October 11, 2005. |