Back to the 50s

A cool, early 1950s Oldsmobile convertible!

Today is Father's Day, and my beautiful spouse took me to Sunrise Sunset in Lakewood for breakfast. Then we just drove around various areas looking at houses and whatever else we could see. It turned out to be a day of flashbacks to the early 1950s, as we saw several sights from that era.

First on the list of sights is the above red convertible. It was going by so fast that I barely had time to grab the camera and take this shot as it went by. It wasn't that the driver was speeding, as he was not. It was just almost not enough time to capture the image. I think this is a 1952 Oldsmobile. Nice ride, isn't it? Or as Peter Griffin from TV's Family Guy would say, it's "freakin' sweet!"


An old International Harvester pickup truck.

In two different neighborhoods, I saw two vintage pickup trucks. The photo above was built by International Harvester, a company I discussed last December on this very blog. I like the look of this vehicle, and even its tires have a look of rugged service and no-nonsense transportation. I believe this is a 1953 model.

The second pickup was the one below, a 1950 Ford F-1. While both of these had some rust on the bodies, they were in overall very serviceable condition, and could be restored to their full glory with some work. Also notice the flat windshield. Guess that was before the use of curved glass became commonplace.


Ford pickup from an earlier time

Also this morning near the restaurant, I saw something else that reminded me of the 50s; this old Montgomery Ward power reel mower. You don't often see power mowers that are not of the rotary variety anymore, but here was one sitting out by the street and the trash. The resident of the home where it was located was in his yard, so I asked if he would mind if I took a photo of it. He said I could have it if I wanted. The thought crossed my mind, albeit very fleetingly, as I don't need it, have no place for it, and I know the lovely wife would not want it around either. It did bring back a memory though. My dad used to have a red power reel mower starting when I was about 5 years old. I still recall how he used to mow the yard at the rental house in Bellaire, Texas that we called home for a few years. That little house was still around until about a year or so ago, when it was torn down to make room for a big custom house as part of the ongoing gentrification process now taking place in Bellaire.

I guess this old mower has cut its last blade of grass, and will hereafter end up in a landfill. Too bad, but like many of us, it has seen better days.


Old Montgomery Ward power reel lawn mower