Question For You Old Schoolers

[Guest thug23]

I have a 1950's car ( I'm 24 years old) and I remember seeing in TV shows and movies etc. different things on the dashboards and rear dash areas such as bouncing bobblehead dogs, and hula girls that wiggles their grass skirts when you drove and all that kind of stuff.

My question....I want to buy something like that to make the car look like its back in the old days but I don't know what to get and exactly where to put it.

What where some of the things people bought back in the day?

I already know that big fuzzy dice where once hung off the rear view mirror which is cool but I'm looking for something to fill the void on the front and rear dash areas.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[51dyno]

I had a white cat were the eyes would light wen stepping on the brake, that was the early version of third brake light.

[keiser31]

They still make the Hula girls...I have a few. You can get them at novelty stores or online.

[Dave@Moon]

Cars were dressed up (in my memory) based on the social/economic status of the owner just like they are now. An older person in 1958 who'd mount an accessory compass on the dash would be no more likely to pair it with a kid's fuzzy dice then someone today would pair a skull-shaped chrome shift knob with a dashboard bud/flower vase.

So when you say you want to dress your car up "too look like the old days", you have to ask "Who's car from the old days?"

A teenager might have fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror, "Winky the Cat" on the back shelf ( CHMSL Not Bruce Enough For You? Try Winky The Cat! - bruce - Jalopnik ), and lake pipes. A grandfather might have curb feelers, a compass, and pleated clear plastic seat covers. Either one might have had a "cowboy knob" on the steering wheel.

But, one has to remember that this was not a time when people had as much disposable income as we do. 2 or 3 items in a car was a lot then. From my memory, I cannot remember any car as overdressed as the typical street rod of today. If you really want to be authentic, add as little as possible to get the effect you want.

But most of all, have fun!:cool:

Edited April 6, 2010 by Dave@Moon
bad typing (see edit history)

[Dave@Moon]

I had a white cat were the eyes would light wen stepping on the brake, that was the early version of third brake light.

Winky the Cat lives!!!!:cool:

The 1950s versions were hooked up to whatever the brake lights did, including flashing for turn signals.

[Guest thug23]

Cool start, Thankx.

[jscheib]

What about bronzed baby shoes. Usually placed there, as I recall, by a young wife to make sure anyone geting in the car realized the driver was already a father. Am I right?

John

[stock_steve]

I kinda like those translucent water-transfer decals that go on the inside surface of your window that make it look like there's a bullet hole in the glass.

I realize there's a "current update" of that idea, which appears to look like bullet holes that have chipped off some of the paint on your car's body, exposing a bit of "gray primer" underneath. Those have very quickly become overused.

But I'll bet if you look around, you might be able to come up with one of those old school bullet hole decals for the glass.

[joe_padavano]

Isn't like half the JC Whitney catalog still devoted to items like the hula girl and the cat? Try JC Whitney for all Auto parts - Car, Truck, Jeep, Motorcycle & RV Parts.

[Barry Wolk]

Personally, I don't think you should put any of that stuff on your dash if it has no personal meaning to you. How can you relive something you've never experienced?

Just my $.02, and worth every penny of it.

[poci1957]

So when you say you want to dress your car up "too look like the old days", you have to ask "Who's car from the old days?"

Thug23, I think Dave here is right, you have to decide if your car is to represent, say, Don Draper from "Mad Men" or the Fonz, because they would not likely be the same. What kind of car do you have?

JC Whitney sounds like the place to start too. Enjoy, Todd

[Richard Lichtfel]

I guess I'm an old schooler. I had a new 1951 Ford Victoria, I lowered it 2 inches, put dual Porters with chome tips (what did they call those? echoe cans or something) dual spots and a Mallory ignition system. That's all, the car was clean and beautiful. I don't recall any of my friends putting anything in the back window or dash unless it meant something to them, like a necklace or panties hanging from the mirror. The police were always looking close at cars that were lowered and loud and if you had something on the dash or rear window they would stop you for obstructing your vision, that's probably why we didn't put much there.

[Rusty_OToole]

Fuzzy dice are way overdone. I don't recall even seeing them before the 70s.

Rubber shrunken heads were all the rage in 1957. So were "dingle balls" around the top of your windows.

For the slightly older group, old enough to be married and have children, your baby's first pair of shoes.

Personally I think it's corny and dangerous to clutter up your vision with such junk but to each his own.

Of course, paint your wheels red. I don't know why but it was the first thing you used to do when you got a car.

White rubber mud flaps with glass jewels on them.

My uncle always had the coolest cars. I don't know where he got them but somehow he found them. For years he had a whip antenna like a police car's that he put on every car. It must have been 6 or 8 feet long. It went on the back bumper pan. I don't think he ever connected it to anything it was just there.

[poci1957]

Fuzzy dice are way overdone. I don't recall even seeing them before the 70s.

Personally I think it's corny and dangerous to clutter up your vision with such junk but to each his own.

Of course, paint your wheels red. I don't know why but it was the first thing you used to do when you got a car.

I hate fuzzy dice and also think clutter is bad--less is more in this case.

And MY uncle talked about the painting your wheels red too. I think Buick did this originally, he says everybody did it to their car, even though only an inch of wheel was visible around the wheel cover.

Thug23, a thought, you should get a few vintage 1950s car magazines and look at the accessory ads.

[Guest cben09]

Hey dude,,wanna Pepsi,,,,,Naa,,,just gimme the dime,,,Ben

[Guest windjamer]

Dont forget the traffic light hanging in the rear window. Showed green when you steped on the gas, yellow when you let off and red when you tuched the brake.

[Guest cben09]

Personal item,,Keychain,,but in the old days,,,the item was to have a gas bottle key for the lights,!!! AND don't forget to blow out the tail lamp before filling the gas tank,,,the heavy vapors go right into the chimney,,really do,,Ben

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I've had things like cigarette dispensers that clamp on the steering column.You take cigarettes out of the pack,put all 20 in the hatch and it dispenses them one at a time. Some of them would even light them up for you and had cigarette or car advertising on them. Many Catholic had Mother Mary\ St Christopher statues on the dash or hanging.Recent graduates always hung their tassles on the mirror.

[Fleek]

Blue Dot tail lights that make them glow purple when on at night. It was a must have item for early 50's fords like Green Dragon's 51 Vic in our part of the world. On other cars too. They may be illegal in some places now, but they sure looked cool.

[Paul Dobbin]

How about a necking knob on the steering wheel. Allows one handed driving and frees up the other to hold your girlfriend close. Works better with automatic transmission, unless your girlfriend likes to shift.

I have one in my 35 Ford truck that fits down inside the wheel so as to not break my fingers when the car staightens out.

My 2 cents.

[Guest]

Personally, I don't think you should put any of that stuff on your dash if it has no personal meaning to you. How can you relive something you've never experienced?

Just my $.02, and worth every penny of it.

Plus some of that stuff was just another piece of shrapnel in a accident.

Don

[john2dameron]

What I remember on the inside of a car in the '50's was dice or booties hanging from the mirror and a necker's knob on the steering wheel. Also the shrunken head things. They were hideous. The outside got all the adornments. Dual combination rearview mirrors/spotlights, Oldsmobile 3-bar spinner wheel covers or Dodge Lancer 4-bar covers, blue dot tail lights and many a car featured a squirrel tail hanging on the antenna. After the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser came out in '57, Cruiser skirts were the big thing. They looked especially good on '56 Fords and Mercurys and '57 Fords and Oldsmobiles. Of course any car had to have dual exhausts with chrome tailpipe extensions. Some people even fitted a dummy pipe on their 6-cylinder cars to make it look like split header duals. And many of us removed things like hood ornaments and trunk lid ornaments to get a clean look. Today I'd just want a car to look the way it did when it came from the factory.

[Barry Wolk]

I'm with you. I haven't adorned a car with anything at all in almost 40 years. The last mod I made was honeycomb wheels on my '68 Firebird, in '73.

I have young employees that sometimes ask me for advice. One wanted to put a body kit on his Honda. I told him that the only one that liked it was him and that it would make the car worth less on resale because people will think he abused it. Cars are purest when you leave them alone.

I'm 58 years old but I really don't remember the '50s like some people do. Maybe that's why I don't revel in it.

[stock_steve]

Blue Dot tail lights that make them glow purple when on at night. It was a must have item for early 50's fords like Green Dragon's 51 Vic in our part of the world. On other cars too. They may be illegal in some places now, but they sure looked cool.

Shoot, how could I forget blue dots!

Agree they look 100% old school-cool...and also that they're likely illegal in most states.

Buy yourself an extra set of tail light lenses, and some blue dots from JC Whitney--that way you'll have your original (unmodified) set of lenses handy for if/when you get in trouble for running the blue dots!

[TG57Roadmaster]

Something that can be added, and quickly removed, is the ubiquitous litter bag.

They were offered by most dealers and many businesses like insurance companies,

parts stores, gas stations, etc.

Free advertising for them, cleaner roads for us, and a swell accessory

easily stashed when not needed...

Larger, click once after opening to enlarge.

From my 1965 Chevy Dealer Merchandising Materials Catalog,

this Striping Kit was a nifty way to add a little dash to your

8-year-old Chevy sedan...

Larger

The Roadmistress does without a striping kit,

but she does sport an insurance company

litter bag with the outline of the lower 48,

in red, white & blue, natch.

TG

BTW, the leather key rings/cases that had the dealer name and a ginchy

marque logo...that catalog lists them at 250 for $26.95. If only...

[Guest Skyking]

I used to hang my graduation tassel from my mirror.

[Guest John Chapman]

Don't forget the plastic Jesus for the dash...

Sun-faded umbrella for the package shelf...

A suicide knob for the steering wheel...

The garter from the prom for the rear view mirror...

HS graduation tassles to augment the garter...

Rifle rack for the rear window.... (never mind... that's for pickups...)

Pine tree air freshener...

[stock_steve]

...Pine tree air freshener...

That reminded me of the impressive collection of pine trees in a Checker Cab that was displayed, I think in DPC, at Hershey 2009: