Pinstriping line in factory

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Hudsons 1930? Interesting the use of women 2 to a car

[hook]

6 hours ago, Dave Mellor NJ said:

Hudsons 1930? Interesting the use of women 2 to a car

With high heels, no less!

[mrspeedyt]

wow. attractive women. even back then..

an attractive woman is always stylish. 

good advertising.

[TAKerry]

And a dress!

 

I think it was on here someone posted a pic of pinstriping modern'sh caddies (I think). The had a large template the length of the car that was followed.

[Alex D.]

I would like to find a woman like that now to pinstripe my Cadillac. I can't tell from the pictures if she is using a brush or some kind of wheel. 

[EmTee]

Interesting that a different person striped each side.  I wonder if any of the owners ever noticed any differences from one side to the other?

[Walt G]

One person on each side because it would speed up the time it took to get a car done or perhaps go into a warmed area to let the paint  of the stripe set up faster.

time was money even then.

Companies that made woody station wagons had patterns made out of masonite to use to trace on wood sheets  to get the flat panel sections for the doors and tailgate/rear quarter panels all set and cut ready to assemble.This for "production" work where a station wagon was on offer by a manufacturer - was done for Packard, Chevrolet , Chrysler etc. I had seen these patterns many decades ago when I was in contact with the son of a man who worked building the bodies for the Cantrell Co. of Huntington, NY.

[Str8-8-Dave]

So I had a friend who was an expert pinstriper.  His name was Paul Hatton.  He taught my brother's high school buddy how to paint cars.  His name was Wayne Fietzer and he wound up with a career at Dearborn Steel Tube running their paint department.  

 

Paul was semi-retired and had a small shop inside a cyclone fence on Ford Rd. in Garden City, MI and I had my first 31 Buick on the day I stopped to visit with Paul.  While there he told the story of his Ford retirement arrangement after he first, striped a few Lincoln Mark III's at the Wixom assembly plant by hand, then talked Ford B&A into letting him design an automated pinstriping line for the plant, which he did, got paid handsomely for, and retired on royalties.

 

So, while I was there a guy pulled into the lot with a freshly repaired 1968 Ford LTD someone side-swiped and for which the local dealer sent the guy to see Paul about getting the pinstriping replaced.  It was a nice warm summer day and Paul got out his pinstriping box, a modified fishing tackle box, whose top tray compartments had been soft-soldered so they would not exchange liquid from one compartment to the next.  That tray was host to a small fortune in pinstripe brushes soaking in solvent.  In the bottom tray were rags, a thinner can and many tubes of pinstriping paint.  Paul spread a cotton pad on the hood of the car, split open an old phone book on the hood, then applied a daub of pinstripe paint to a page in the phone book and started thinning it with a camel hair pinstripe brush.  After Paul became satisfied with the mixture he started down the front fender of the car that was missing the pinstripe at a nice slow but steady pace, all the while, never looking at the pinstripe he was expertly laying, instead keeping eye contact with the customer and carrying a banter with him.  When Paul got to the door he inquired if the customer would like to have a mono-gram of his initials on the doors.  "Oh- that would be wonderful!"  he replied and gave Paul his initials.  Paul had the mono-gram in place on the damage-repaired side of the car and was working the quarter panel, by now, probably 10 minutes into the job, when the customer made the first mistake.  He asked Paul how much his services would cost for the job.  Paul, still looking right at the customer, still moving steadily down the quarter panel, stated his charge would be $500!.  Then the customer made the fatal mistake and complained that $500 was an outrageous amount of money for what would have been 20 minutes, tops, if Paul had finished the job.  Paul's expression suddenly changed as he suddenly stopped painting, took the brush back to the paint box and cleaned it and replaced in in the box, closed the box, removed it, the phone book and the fender pad from the car and took it back into his office.  He returned with a rag saturated in lacquer thinner and started at the front fender and at about the same steady rate as the paint went on, the paint was coming off the car, all the while carrying on a conversation with the customer about how some folks just don't appreciate fine arts anymore.  When Paul finished, he pointed at the fence gate and told the customer "There's the gate you came in, you can use the same gate to leave!"   

 

Paul Hatton - Kustomrama

Edited January 19 by Str8-8-Dave
spelling (see edit history)

[JACK M]

HA ! 

If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

[Jim Skelly]

Our family used to go to Cloverdale Dairy in Garden City for ice cream on occasion.  Mom and my sisters would wait outside for us guys.  Dad, my brother and I would go to Steinmiller's Used Cars across the side street and look at the cars in the fenced in lot.  The 'nice' cars were $100-$125 each and the 'junk' ones were in the back for $75.  All were rusty to some extent, and most were from the mid-1950s on up.  This would have been in the mid-1960s.   Paul Hatton eventually took over the used car lot.  I recall he had an awesome '59 Impala sport coupe in the front row that was black with a red interior.  It had beautiful fade-out flames painted on the front fenders and hood in orange, red and - I think - silver.  All of us thought it looked really sharp.  The price was high, too.  I looked him up years later and he had moved to Ecorse or River Rouge on W. Jefferson along the Detroit River.  He was still doing paint work and was selling car-related stuff, so I stopped and talked to him for a while.  I mentioned the '59 Impala and his eyes lit up.  He said the guy who bought it ran it into a tree and had it stored in a garage or barn in a nearby county.  Paul had been trying to buy it back without success.  The car had a factory 4-speed trans.  He died several years ago.  

[Gunsmoke]

Are we sure they are all pinstriping? I ask for several reasons such as I don't see the expected pinstriping paraphernalia for the first 2 cars, the white smocks and shiny high heels would seem odd for painting. The first woman's car already appears to have the beltline striped and up close it looks like she is adjusting or cleaning something at the door latch. She has something non-stripper in her hand. The second car is also already pinstriped and she seems to be adjusting something related to the upper window surround (where there would not likely be pinstriping), perhaps installing runners or cleaning smudges. There is no evidence of a small paint tray or brush in any of the tool areas as I see. However, the back 3 women do seem to be doing something similar to pinstriping, and perhaps the first 2 ladies are simply tidying things up. 

[hook]

I don't think their doing anything. It looks to me to be an advertising photo. All the women on the other side are looking at the camera and not doing anything. I think all the women on the near side are posed.

[nearchoclatetown]

I think you are right, it is staged. Of all the factory pictures I have seen I have never seen women wearing high heals. I have been told by reputable sources that pinstriping and wood graining were entry level jobs. It would not surprise me that two people would stripe the car, one on one side and the other on the opposite side. But that is not what they are doing.

[TAKerry]

On 1/19/2024 at 9:39 AM, EmTee said:

Interesting that a different person striped each side.  I wonder if any of the owners ever noticed any differences from one side to the other?

I have read of instances where cars were differently badged from one side to the other. 

[TTR]

To me, it all looks like paint work touch-up cleaning and detailing, not pin striping, per se.

Edited January 20 by TTR (see edit history)

[30DodgePanel]

On 1/19/2024 at 9:15 AM, Str8-8-Dave said:

So I had a friend who was an expert pinstriper.  His name was Paul Hatton.  He taught my brother's high school buddy how to paint cars.  His name was Wayne Fietzer and he wound up with a career at Dearborn Steel Tube running their paint department.  

 

Paul was semi-retired and had a small shop inside a cyclone fence on Ford Rd. in Garden City, MI and I had my first 31 Buick on the day I stopped to visit with Paul.  While there he told the story of his Ford retirement arrangement after he first, striped a few Lincoln Mark III's at the Wixom assembly plant by hand, then talked Ford B&A into letting him design an automated pinstriping line for the plant, which he did, got paid handsomely for, and retired on royalties.

 

So, while I was there a guy pulled into the lot with a freshly repaired 1968 Ford LTD someone side-swiped and for which the local dealer sent the guy to see Paul about getting the pinstriping replaced.  It was a nice warm summer day and Paul got out his pinstriping box, a modified fishing tackle box, whose top tray compartments had been soft-soldered so they would not exchange liquid from one compartment to the next.  That tray was host to a small fortune in pinstripe brushes soaking in solvent.  In the bottom tray were rags, a thinner can and many tubes of pinstriping paint.  Paul spread a cotton pad on the hood of the car, split open an old phone book on the hood, then applied a daub of pinstripe paint to a page in the phone book and started thinning it with a camel hair pinstripe brush.  After Paul became satisfied with the mixture he started down the front fender of the car that was missing the pinstripe at a nice slow but steady pace, all the while, never looking at the pinstripe he was expertly laying, instead keeping eye contact with the customer and carrying a banter with him.  When Paul got to the door he inquired if the customer would like to have a mono-gram of his initials on the doors.  "Oh- that would be wonderful!"  he replied and gave Paul his initials.  Paul had the mono-gram in place on the damage-repaired side of the car and was working the quarter panel, by now, probably 10 minutes into the job, when the customer made the first mistake.  He asked Paul how much his services would cost for the job.  Paul, still looking right at the customer, still moving steadily down the quarter panel, stated his charge would be $500!.  Then the customer made the fatal mistake and complained that $500 was an outrageous amount of money for what would have been 20 minutes, tops, if Paul had finished the job.  Paul's expression suddenly changed as he suddenly stopped painting, took the brush back to the paint box and cleaned it and replaced in in the box, closed the box, removed it, the phone book and the fender pad from the car and took it back into his office.  He returned with a rag saturated in lacquer thinner and started at the front fender and at about the same steady rate as the paint went on, the paint was coming off the car, all the while carrying on a conversation with the customer about how some folks just don't appreciate fine arts anymore.  When Paul finished, he pointed at the fence gate and told the customer "There's the gate you came in, you can use the same gate to leave!"   

 

Paul Hatton - Kustomrama

 

I had an uncle that was a very gifted sign painter, pinstripe and mural artist as well. 

Sound like the guy should have recognized (without being told) he was in the presence of a true artist/craftsman. 

What a fool...

 

Thanks for the chuckle and taking the time to post that story... it brought back some good memories of my uncle.

[30DodgePanel]

I think it's definitely possible they were trying out a new tool. They all seem to be holding the same device and the cans on the carts are seperated for a reason (colors?).

 

 

Here's an example of one such device. I'm sure they had other similar tools during the era as they tried filling the need. Not everything was done by freehand brush as we might think.

 

 

 

Finished window and windshield frame

 

Touch up paint colors? It's possible

 

Why all the cans or jars on the carts that seem to have funnels on top?

 

Edited January 20 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[Gunsmoke]

Another thing, the hoods are not in place, so should we assume the hoods were pinstriped separately? This photo of a nicely restored 1930 Coupe does not show pinstriping around window.

[Steve Moskowitz]

On 1/20/2024 at 9:44 AM, TAKerry said:

I have read of instances where cars were differently badged from one side to the other. 

That is a fact!  In GM, particularly at the B-O-P plants where multiple brands were on the assembly lines we would get some funny combinations at times with mismatched emblems, floor mats, wrong owners manual and even key fobs.  The worst, and we will never know how it happened but the assembly lines hardly stopped for anything at Olds in the early 70's so we even got one fender on a Cutlass painted the wrong color.  I'm guessing final inspection thought it funny and let the dealer fix it.

[John_S_in_Penna]

4 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

...we would get some funny combinations at times with mismatched emblems, floor mats, wrong owners manual and even key fobs...

I saw an unusually wrong mismatch on a Ford Thunderbird

a few years ago.  At the Hershey Region's annual cruise-in,

one person had a Ford Thunderbird circa 1984 with a front vent

window on one side, and a full ventless front window on the

other side!

 

Front vent windows were optional.  The owner had documentation

that the car came that way from the factory.

[Harold]

Back around 1970 my cousin was selling new Dodges and was very proud to have the first Dodge Demon in Brooklyn as his demo.  The car had a 'Duster' nameplate on its right front fender instead of the 'Demon' it should have had (came that way from the factory)!

[Crusty Trucker]

 

 

A DeSoto back in '57 or '58 was delivered to a customer with the hood lettering spelled "DETOTO". The dealer begged the customer to bring it in for a "correction", but she declined . There was an article and pictures in the local paper (and a very embarrassed dealer).

 

 

[Larry Schramm]

In my years as a service rep for GM, I saw a lot of these types of mismatches.  Hub cap wheels on one side, chrome on the other. different badging side to side and like a Buick grill on the front and Pontiac identification on the back.  Chevrolet grills on the front and GMC tail gates.  You name it, I probably saw it.  It was definitely an interesting time in the domestic car business. 

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, Larry Schramm said:

In my years as a service rep for GM, I saw a lot of these types of mismatches.  Hub cap wheels on one side, chrome on the other. different badging side to side and like a Buick grill on the front and Pontiac identification on the back.  Chevrolet grills on the front and GMC tail gates.  You name it, I probably saw it.  It was definitely an interesting time in the domestic car business. 

Major oil companies has, or did have reciprocity agreements for packaging each other's products under their label.  There's a huge Petro-Canada refinery near Montreal that also packages Esso motor oil in cans and bottles for Imperial Oil.  It turn, Imperial Oil packages motor oil for Petro-Canada in Alberta.   While working at a Petro-Canada, we received a case quart size cans of 'Petro-Canada' 10W30 'High Performance' motor oil, with Esso 'Top 4' motor oil lids on the top.  The API ratings did match, so it was the exact same product.

 

Craig

[Larry Schramm]

29 minutes ago, 8E45E said:

Major oil companies has, or did have reciprocity agreements for packaging each other's products under their label.  There's a huge Petro-Canada refinery near Montreal that also packages Esso motor oil in cans and bottles for Imperial Oil.  It turn, Imperial Oil packages motor oil for Petro-Canada in Alberta.   While working at a Petro-Canada, we received a case quart size cans of 'Petro-Canada' 10W30 'High Performance' motor oil, with Esso 'Top 4' motor oil lids on the top.  The API ratings did match, so it was the exact same product.

 

Craig

 

I too was told years ago by an oil company executive, maybe 40 years ago that lubricant plants in the petroleum industry were so expensive that different manufacturers kind of share production capabilities at a particular plant.  Just changed the additive package and the can to run the next companies oil products.

[TAKerry]

I live very near del city, which is nothing more than a large refinery. It seems that all of the fuel in our area, from heating oil to gasoline comes from that one plant. Feeds all of the different gas stations.

[Don Jr.]

When I worked for a Ford dealer in the early 1970's we were sent down to Maw wah in New Jersey to the assembly line for an evening shift to see how the cars were built. One of the operations was a pinstriping area. As I recall a jig of sorts was suspended above the line and the worker pulled the jig down and attached it to the side of the car. He then walked along and had a tool that rode the track that had the paint in it. Took less than a minute to stripe a car. One guy on each side of the car. I was very impressed as to how a car was built that night. 

[Brass is Best]

The reason women are pinstriping the cars is simple. Women have a steadier hand than men. This is also why women are much more accurate at shooting firearms than men. So, most pinstripers would have been women. I have a great pinstriper who works on my cars. He has studied sign painting and pinstriping for years. He has shared lots of knowledge about the craft with me. I have even striped a few things myself. I will tell you it is not easy. It takes lots of practice and time to do it well. It is not cheap, but it is necessary to make a car look finished. Nothing bothers me more than seeing a car on the show field that should be pinstriped and it is not. To me the car is not finished. It makes me wonder what else was not done right. 

[TAKerry]

Not sure if there is any factual basis in that claim? 

 

There was a young lady demonstrating her pinstriping skills at the all invite car show at the AACA hq a couple of years ago. I believe she was from the middle of the state (PA). She did a fantastic job in spite of the difficult circumstances. Being in an open environment, tons of people watching and extreme heat. I apologize for not knowing her name.

[Marty Roth]

22 hours ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

That is a fact!  In GM, particularly at the B-O-P plants where multiple brands were on the assembly lines we would get some funny combinations at times with mismatched emblems, floor mats, wrong owners manual and even key fobs.  The worst, and we will never know how it happened but the assembly lines hardly stopped for anything at Olds in the early 70's so we even got one fender on a Cutlass painted the wrong color.  I'm guessing final inspection thought it funny and let the dealer fix it.

I once had a Company Car, Dodge Aspen on the driver's side, and Plymouth Volare for the Passenger's side. Both sides should have been awarded the LEMON label.

[Marty Roth]

2 hours ago, Brass is Best said:

The reason women are pinstriping the cars is simple. Women have a steadier hand than men. This is also why women are much more accurate at shooting firearms than men. So, most pinstripers would have been women. I have a great pinstriper who works on my cars. He has studied sign painting and pinstriping for years. He has shared lots of knowledge about the craft with me. I have even striped a few things myself. I will tell you it is not easy. It takes lots of practice and time to do it well. It is not cheap, but it is necessary to make a car look finished. Nothing bothers me more than seeing a car on the show field that should be pinstriped and it is not. To me the car is not finished. It makes me wonder what else was not done right. 

Many decades ago I Swapped with a respected Trimmer, well-known, and enjoyed driving my 1927 Chevy Capitol AA Roadster. Having the 4-banger rebuilt by a gentleman in Baton Rouge gave me the opportunity to paint and detail the firewall and solid disk wheels a very nice shade of yellow to match the yellow car with black fenders. My friend Elliott mentored me with the paint and wet sanding process. Shortly I decided that the wheels needed a red and black pinstripe, but the idea of painting those concentric circles had me puzzled for a bit, until I came up with "Inventing" a process.

 

Placing the axles on jack stands, I could hold the brush steady while slowly rotating each wheel.

 

Of course this may fall into the same category as the night, having enjoyed substantial adult beverages, I bought a polyfoam sailboard with plastic sail, set out across a lake, and had to invent "Tacking" to get back to my TR-2.

[JamesR]

On 1/19/2024 at 5:36 AM, mrspeedyt said:

attractive women. even back then..

 

I agree with your sentiment, but would change your wording a bit to read "attractive women...especially back then."

[wayne sheldon]

On 1/22/2024 at 4:52 AM, 8E45E said:

Major oil companies has, or did have reciprocity agreements for packaging each other's products under their label.  There's a huge Petro-Canada refinery near Montreal that also packages Esso motor oil in cans and bottles for Imperial Oil.  It turn, Imperial Oil packages motor oil for Petro-Canada in Alberta.   While working at a Petro-Canada, we received a case quart size cans of 'Petro-Canada' 10W30 'High Performance' motor oil, with Esso 'Top 4' motor oil lids on the top.  The API ratings did match, so it was the exact same product.

 

Craig

 

The same sort of badging thing happened with vacuum tubes for radios and televisions back in the 1950s and 1960s. My dad was part owner and chief repairman in a television sales and repair shop in the 1950s. Certain tubes were made better by one company than by others. Good repairmen knew the coding on the tubes themselves to tell who actually manufactured a given tube. GE, Sylvania, a dozen others. The box label didn't necessarily mean who made the tube! The tube inside would even be labeled to match the name on the box, only the source coding numbers would tell who really made it, if you knew what the numbers meant. And some tubes it made a difference.

I don't remember the details anymore. But there was one commonly used television circuit tube that he was adamant only one manufacturer to be used. No matter what the box said, he checked the tube itself!

[8E45E]

Also applies to margarine, which mostly all come from the same vat, regardless who's name is on the plastic tub it comes in; Imperial, Becel, exclusive grocery store brand, et al.

 

Yes, there are usually discreet telltale symbols and lettering, with a 'run number' on the packaging somewhere from the OEM.

 

Craig

[Barney Eaton]

While in high school in the late '50's I did pinstriping and flames.   Lived in a small town so I was not doing it daily but pinstriped mostly dashes, hood and trunks. 

Did a lot for a guy with a '50 Ford convertible, it had a continental kit with a flat cover and put flames on the cover.   Put purple scollops on a white Lincloln coupe.

All the pinstripes were done with pinstriping brushes that were purchased a the local hardware store.   I did not have a compressor or paint gun so all the painting was done with a metal tube fly sprayer and it worked pretty good.   By adjusting the paint viscosity, and the distance from the surface being painted the finish was probably as good as the factory paint.    I still have my pinstriping tool box.......only wish I had a camera back then and snapped some photos.