Re: Late 1920's shop photo

Posted by 58L8134 On 2015/7/23 12:32:41

Hi

Noticed that too, eh Guscha? Smoking was one of the few 'pleasures' those rugged fellows were usually allowed. Guesses the "No Smoking" sign was more for the consumption of the insurance man than for the employees. The way cars burned oil then, it wasn't for concern about respiratory health.

A couple shops like that were still operating around here when I was a kid in the early '60's, set up during the Model T years. One had been a blacksmith shop from the horse-and-buggy day, still had the forge, machining tools run by the belt-and-overhead-pulley system. "Barn-like" and poor lighting was the general norm for most small town shops. Heating was always by a big old stove that burned whatever was cheap and handy: wood, coal, used motor oil, cut-up railroad ties, even old tires. The heat was a blast-furnace near the stove, pretty cold most anywhere else, all had open rafters like those in the picture. Some places had a good number of windows, others cave-like; the drop light was the mechanic's friend.

"Sterner-stuff" is a good characterization of those old-time mechanics, working under adverse condition, having to fix everything and anything that came through the door. The few that I knew were gruff but ultimately helpful and very knowledgeable and skillful. Most all liked to swear and did so with enthusiasm, and quelled their aches and pains with boilermakers or other hard liquor. They were the salt-of-the-earth, a generation now all faded away. They took a great store of mechanical knowledge with them.

Steve

Addendum: The diamond-shaped sign next to the "No Smoking" sign, what is legible in part "Membership in the Automotive Club Southern Calif." and "Insurance" is some clue to the region where this shop was located.