What retro delights do you enjoy?

Let me see if I can identify the cars....58 Pontiac Stratochief convertible in dark copper and white , 56 Ford Crown Victoria in yellow and white with cruiser skirts, 57 chevy 2 door hard top in Bronze and white, 56 Olds convertible with the 3 port holes on the front fenders on the far left by the fence. DeSoto hard top in blue and maroon, 59 Ford in salmon and white on the right with the trunk lid up. Oh and a 56 Porsche speedster convertible on the movie screen. How did I do ? JIM B.
 

Let me see if I can identify the cars....58 Pontiac Stratochief convertible in dark copper and white , 56 Ford Crown Victoria in yellow and white with cruiser skirts, 57 chevy 2 door hard top in Bronze and white, 56 Olds convertible with the 3 port holes on the front fenders on the far left by the fence. DeSoto hard top in blue and maroon, 59 Ford in salmon and white on the right with the trunk lid up. Oh and a 56 Porsche speedster convertible on the movie screen. How did I do ? JIM B.
All but the Olds. Buick had the port holes. :)
 
If I don’t have someone’s car to work on, I sit in my den with the scanner on listening to state police calls and checking things out on the computer. I watch very little TV, but I may catch a movie on the laptop.
 

If I don’t have someone’s car to work on, I sit in my den with the scanner on listening to state police calls and checking things out on the computer. I watch very little TV, but I may catch a movie on the laptop.
Seeing as we have been talking "sort of " about cars.......What was your favorite PSP patrol vehicle, with what engine. Why was it your favorite? The Ontario Provincial Police retired guys I know, all liked the 440 Plymouth with the torque flite 727 transmission. Heavy on gas, could require 2 fill ups per shift if you were pushing it hard. JIMB.
 
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These are a few retro items we have in our home.

A mantel clock in working order that DW bought for $5 at a yard sale.
Mantel Clock 1.JPG

A floor lamp from early years in my parents' marriage, hence from my childhood home

Torchere Lamp.JPG

A "duck phone" (it works, as a landline phone)... given to me by a friend
Duck Phone.JPG

We also have two desk-set landline phones, though they have push buttons rather than dials. From the late 1980s, I think. But we've got iPhones, too. DW likes vintage light fixtures, so we've got some others, both ceiling fixtures and desk lamps. Interior of our home is a mixture of quite modern and vintage — an architect friend called that "post modern".

When I started out in journalism, I did more photography than writing. Nostalgic feelings still have me saving some Nikon film equipment: lenses, camera bodies, and a motor drive
 
Seeing as we have been talking "sort of " about cars.......What was your favorite PSP patrol vehicle, with what engine. Why was it your favorite? The Ontario Provincial Police retired guys I know, all liked the 440 Plymouth with the torque flite 727 transmission. Heavy on gas, could require 2 fill ups per shift if you were pushing it hard. JIMB.
My last vehicle before retirement was my favorite. It was a Ford Police Interceptor. It was built on the Explorer platform, but with an extended body. It had a 3.3, V-6 engine rated at 136 mph and a 10-speed automatic transmission. Very roomy cab and with all the devices it had installed, it needed the room.
 
My last vehicle before retirement was my favorite. It was a Ford Police Interceptor. It was built on the Explorer platform, but with an extended body. It had a 3.3, V-6 engine rated at 136 mph and a 10-speed automatic transmission. Very roomy cab and with all the devices it had installed, it needed the room.
What happens with vehicles like that after they're taken out of service & replaced with newer models? I can't imagine they'd be sold on the open market.
 
They are stripped out of all police devices and lights and the painting is also either colored over or just the printing is removed and then they are sold at one of the state’s auctions. Some are also offered to smaller PD’s that need a vehicle cheap. Some are also sent out of state for sale. They aren’t crushed, except for a few that are pretty well beat up.
 
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When we got married in 1968 the UK's communication systems, namely phone and mail, were nationalised. The phone was called an appliance, and you rented it. The provider was known as The G.P.O. General Post Office. We managed to purchase our appliance when the phone system was privatised. It still works and sits in the hall where it amuses visitors who call.
View attachment 365444
Back in the early 1960's the scooter Mods were giving all and sundry grief on the roads. Motorbikes weren't something that appealed to me, but I was taken by a Harley Davidson that I had seen in a museum. It looked so huge and retro. But this was the 60's and it was all Mods and scooters. A fateful ride on the pillion of a friend's scooter ended a love of two wheels. We were knocked off the scooter by a car driver who had failed to obey a give way sign. Miraculously we were unscathed, however, I made a promise to my Father, nothing on two wheels, unless it's a pedal cycle.

Come 1993, and it was our silver wedding anniversary, that promise to Dad went forgotten. The motorbike in the photo is called a Heritage Springer Softail, it's a model that echoes a Harley of much earlier years. We had it for five years, not a wobble, near miss or close shave, not once. Best of all, I made a substantial profit when we sold it.

View attachment 365442
The Taron camera was one of those purchases that, later, proved to be a lucky find. Lucky in that nowadays they are much sought after by collectors who are happy to pay a high price. I bought it from a camera shop about a year after we were married, it's a 35mm rangefinder, (whatever that means.) Our photo albums are testimony to the clarity and use of that Taron.
Like the telephone, it still works, but in the digital age finding someone to develop celluloid is all but impossible.
View attachment 365443
This is my Wurlitzer Jukebox along with which I have a collection of vinyl records.
Much of that collection is pre-fifties, the love of Big-Band and the Swing era stems
from our love of dancing Latin & Ballroom.
View attachment 365454
"Are my seams straight?" was a question that I would be asked every time we were heading out to the next dance or heritage function.
The advent of the fashionable miniskirt, which exposed the legs to well above the knee, made pantyhose a necessity to many women. The shorter hemlines remained popular for many years. Sales of pantyhose soared and in the early 70's, exceeded stockings and have remained so ever since.
There is something classy about seamed stockings, but sadly, they were somehow hijacked by pornographers and to admit a liking for them gets you tarred with that insidious brush.
All of this I value very much. Even the seemed stockings are much more classy than pantyhose, which is rejected by most women nevertheless today.
 
My last vehicle before retirement was my favorite. It was a Ford Police Interceptor. It was built on the Explorer platform, but with an extended body. It had a 3.3, V-6 engine rated at 136 mph and a 10-speed automatic transmission. Very roomy cab and with all the devices it had installed, it needed the room.
Thanks for your reply about " your favorite patrol vehicle ". What is the PSP policy now about pursuits ? What about using the PIT , is that allowed, or not ? JIMB.
 
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Thanks for your reply about " your favorite patrol vehicle ". What is the PSP policy now about pursuits ? What about using the PIT , is that allowed, or not ? JIMB.
PIT is allowed and practiced at the State Police Academy.
 
A retro culinary delight, Big, soft pretzels used to be sold by venders in discount stores that my parents would frequent. These pretzels were as cheap as they were good…three for 25 cents back in the day! They were served warm, handed to you in a paper sleeve or napkin, and mustard was available in squirt bottles if you wanted it.

Today, you’d have to spend several dollars just for one comparable pretzel, if you could find any. The big, soft pretzels of my youth dwarfed the size of what grocery stores today laughably sell as frozen “SuperPretzels…”

IMG_2492.jpeg
 
A retro culinary delight, Big, soft pretzels used to be sold by venders in discount stores that my parents would frequent. These pretzels were as cheap as they were good…three for 25 cents back in the day! They were served warm, handed to you in a paper sleeve or napkin, and mustard was available in squirt bottles if you wanted it.

Today, you’d have to spend several dollars just for one comparable pretzel, if you could find any. The big, soft pretzels of my youth dwarfed the size of what grocery stores today laughably sell as frozen “SuperPretzels…”

View attachment 366728
I need to make some.
 
The Ontario Provincial Police retired guys I know, all liked the 440 Plymouth with the torque flite 727 transmission. Heavy on gas, could require 2 fill ups per shift if you were pushing it hard. JIMB.
Yeah baby... The Vermont state police had those same cars, and while working for the State garage, I hopped up a couple of them by reworking the carbs and tweaking the timing. No better way to have a state trooper be your buddy than giving him a more racey cruiser. :)
 
So… round 2 on the yarn I bought last year in Seattle (previous vest pattern attempted was not best choice for a number of reasons). While I was in Savannah last week, stopped in at the Unwind Yarn Shop and the very helpful lady guided me in picking out a pattern better suited to my yarn and printed of the beginning part of the pattern

So this is what I’m going to attempt….

Cue Dionne Warwick’s “Say a Little Prayer” 😉

IMG_1513.jpeg
 
Yeah baby... The Vermont state police had those same cars, and while working for the State garage, I hopped up a couple of them by reworking the carbs and tweaking the timing. No better way to have a state trooper be your buddy than giving him a more racey cruiser. :)
Let me guess, you advanced the timing, and put in bigger jets, and perhaps put a spacer under the carb ? And perhaps opened up the air intake housing a bit, by mounting the top cover upside down ? Smile. Some of the OPP 440 Plymouths had dual forced air ram hoses that ran from under the front bumper to the carb air intake that were removed in the winter time, as they tended to get clogged with snow /ice. All of this was "not approved by Command Head Quarters " of course. JIMB
 
My last vehicle before retirement was my favorite. It was a Ford Police Interceptor. It was built on the Explorer platform, but with an extended body. It had a 3.3, V-6 engine rated at 136 mph and a 10-speed automatic transmission. Very roomy cab and with all the devices it had installed, it needed the room.
Many of the police agencies in this area used the Crown Victoria for patrol vehicles, pretty much the entire time that the Crown Vic was manufactured. The Wikipedia Crown Victoria article states that the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor available from 1992 to 2011, but my employer, SBCSD was using a Crown Vic version when I hired on in 1985. Nowadays you can see some of the old Crown Vics that had been decommissioned and auctioned off, being driven by some nostalgic druggie.
 
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A retro culinary delight, Big, soft pretzels used to be sold by venders in discount stores that my parents would frequent. These pretzels were as cheap as they were good…three for 25 cents back in the day! They were served warm, handed to you in a paper sleeve or napkin, and mustard was available in squirt bottles if you wanted it.

Today, you’d have to spend several dollars just for one comparable pretzel, if you could find any. The big, soft pretzels of my youth dwarfed the size of what grocery stores today laughably sell as frozen “SuperPretzels…”

View attachment 366728
Last time I had those was at one of our local restaurants. They served it with beer cheese, yum, and a grainy mustard. It was so good. $10!
 
Let me guess, you advanced the timing, and put in bigger jets, and perhaps put a spacer under the carb ? And perhaps opened up the air intake housing a bit, by mounting the top cover upside down ? Smile. Some of the OPP 440 Plymouths had dual forced air ram hoses that ran from under the front bumper to the carb air intake that were removed in the winter time, as they tended to get clogged with snow /ice. All of this was "not approved by Command Head Quarters " of course. JIMB
Close. Yes... bumped the timing, but my secret was putting a spread bore holly carb and low restriction air cleaner with a home made cowl induction cold air set up. That worked better because as in Canada, slush tended to clog any kind of lower mounted ram air tubes. I also removed the smog pump assembly. (I know... hang my head in shame).
 
Close. Yes... bumped the timing, but my secret was putting a spread bore holly carb and low restriction air cleaner with a home made cowl induction cold air set up. That worked better because as in Canada, slush tended to clog any kind of lower mounted ram air tubes. I also removed the smog pump assembly. (I know... hang my head in shame).
Ah ha. I thought about a bigger CFM Holley carb, but rejected it because of the costs involved. The cowl induction, was it drawing air from the base of the windshield area? Smog pump ? What smog pump !!! I like your way of thinking. Sort of like a certain NASCAR guy, named Smokey ??

JIMB.
 
Many of the police agencies in this area used the Crown Victoria for patrol vehicles, pretty much the entire time that the Crown Vic was manufactured. The Wikipedia Crown Victoria article states that the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor available from 1992 to 2011, but my employer, SBCSD was using a Crown Vic version when I hired on in 1985. Nowadays you can see some of the old Crown Vics that had been decommissioned and auctioned off, being driven by some nostalgic druggie.
Off on a tangent. Was San Bernadino the home of the original Hell's Angels chapter way back when ? Somewhere in the back of my brain, that idea is rolling around. I' m thinking way before Sonny Barger was the national Prez. JIMB.
 
Off on a tangent. Was San Bernadino the home of the original Hell's Angels chapter way back when ? Somewhere in the back of my brain, that idea is rolling around. I' m thinking way before Sonny Barger was the national Prez. JIMB.
I believe so, perhaps in the city of Fontana.
 


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