|
|
| 'Manson Before the Storm' ... is the title of this painting by artist Bob Cunningham. He invites viewers of his artwork to "take a ride down Main Street in charming Manson, Iowa, circa 1946, more than three decades before these buildings were lost in a devastating tornado." The blue rumble-seat convertible with three occupants is a 1939 Plymouth Deluxe.
Prints and posters of this image are available for sale here. (posted 2/5/21, permalink)
|
|
|
| Stylish Sampan: A two-tone lavender-over-purple 1939 Plymouth-based Sampan bus can be seen fourth from left in this photo from 1951. Sampans were open-air jitney-style buses based on passenger automobiles and could be found on the streets of Hilo, Hawaii from the 1920s through 1976. The cars in the photo are (L to R): early postwar 1946-48 Plymouth, 1948 Chevrolet, 1939 Buick, 1939 Plymouth, 1947 Cadillac.
The first sampan was built in 1922 by Fukumatsu Kusumoto, who at the time was a taxi driver in Hilo, Hawaii. He was distraught over the increasing fares for taxis, so decided to build a small bus-style vehicle that would seat up to 8 people. He used a Model T Ford for his first Sampan. The car was cut just behind the drivers seat, the back was rebuilt with wooden bench seats along both sides. Mr. Kusumoto founded and owned the Hilo Sampan Co. By the late 1930s, sampan bus fares had dropped from 15 cents to 5 cents as competition increased.
In Hawaiian, sampan buses are called kaa huli aku huli mai, the 'face one another' bus, after the bench seating arrangements. A 1971 article promoting tourism to the big island called them "as anachronistic and beloved as San Francisco's cable cars."
Later Sampans were based on larger - and nicer - passenger cars and had padded bench seats or lounge-style wraparound seats. By the mid-1970s the open Sampans were mostly gone, replaced by air-conditioned, fully-enclosed airport-style mini-buses and the county-owned Hele-On public transit bus service. (posted 3/3/21, permalink)
|
|
|
Watch Where You're Walking: In a staged scene, an oblivious bookworm walks in front of a 1939 Plymouth. He looks a bit like Burgess Meredith, perhaps because of the spats and umbrella, just like his Batman character, The Penguin. And Meredith played quite the bookworm in the 1959 Twilight Zone episode, 'Time Enough at Last'. (posted 4/6/21, permalink)
|
|
|
| End Of The Road: A photo - posted on The Old Motor website - was taken in the mid-1950s at a Pennsylvania wrecking yard. It shows a dark-colored 1939 Plymouth two-door sedan with sealed-beam headlight conversion and Buick-style portholes on the front fender.
The junkyard was located about fifty miles South East of Pittsburgh, PA. "Many of these vehicles likely made their last trip on the way to Pittsburgh, PA, to be melted down in the 'Steel City' mills as a part of new steel produced there to feed the Postwar manufacturing boom." Many were probably rust buckets, too, in the era of heavily-salted roads in winter. (posted 5/4/21, permalink)
|
|
|
Steep: The third car from left, a 1939 Plymouth coupe, is parked on a hill in San Francisco. (posted 6/1/21, permalink)
|
|
|
| Almost Everything For Your Car: A service tech checks out a 1939 Plymouth two-door sedan with a scope at Frank Ridley's Super Service Garage, located at 10th and Wilshire Blvd. in pre-war Los Angeles. Frank also dispensed Polly gasoline and sold U.S. Rubber tires, car radios and portable radios at his garage.
His showroom had a 1940 Mercury Eight convertible on display. (posted 7/1/21, permalink)
|
|
|
Immediate Delivery: A dark-colored 1939 Plymouth four-door sedan sits on a postwar 1940s used car lot. (posted 8/4/21, permalink)
|
|
|
A Day Out: A family prepares for an outing in their 1939 Plymouth four-door sedan. The dog at lower right doesn't seem particularly enthused. (posted 9/3/21, permalink)
|
|
|
Waiting For The Ferry: St. Ignace Michigan ferry dock - 1942 postcard with red 1939 Plymouth at right, blue Sharknose Graham at left front. (posted 10/1/21, permalink)
|
|
|
Scene From A Gas Station: This 1940s-era photo shows a 1939 Plymouth coupe parked at a Texaco station on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. (posted 11/2/21, permalink)
|
|
|
| Pre-War Idaho: A photo taken in Twin Falls, Idaho in May 1941 shows a row of parked cars. Third from left is a 1939 Plymouth in a beige or gray color. It has an Indiana Speedway sticker on its vent window. (posted 12/2/21, permalink) |
|
|
| Shoveling Out: After a winter storm, a black 1939 Plymouth sedan is slowly getting unburied. (posted 12/29/21, permalink) |
