Here’s an old photo that Jason Shafer might appreciate: a highway maintenance crew from the Missouri State Highway Department in 1945 with a very sharply-dressed highway patrolman and his 1942 Chevy, which has painted trim and no hubcaps due to wartime restrictions. Looks like they’re cooking up a batch of hot tar.
Having seen many pictures of this persuasion this one is new to me. Plus, it’s one of the better ones I’ve seen.
Of all things, my first question was where this was taken. “The Junction Inn” isn’t the most unique name ever although the terrain indicates this picture was taken in the south half of the state.
That ’42 Chevrolet is also an odd-duck given the limited timeframe in which they were made with the painted trim (a piece I did on a ’42 Hudson revealed the “blackout” models by all manufacturers were built in like a 30 or 45 day timeframe). In turn, the Patrol’s museum here in Jefferson City has a ’42 Chevrolet on display with a chrome grille and bumper.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/law-enforcement-classics-a-trip-to-the-retirement-home/
Information about the ’42 Chevrolet at the Patrol’s museum stated they ran these cars for a couple hundred thousand miles and all were pretty much toast by the time news ones were being made again.
To me it appears they are painting stripes on the road. The narrow machine on the right is a striper; it has been reduced in width, and lengthened in wheelbase, which makes sense given it drove down the middle of the road so it was directly over the centerline.
The black truck is the nurse truck for the striper and one can see a wee bit of white paint on the barrel on the left. Also, that hose (right above the open door) is covered in paint.
My understanding is the Patrol was involved with traffic control and attitude adjustments.
There are all kinds of good things going on in this picture. Paul, I’m glad you found it. It’s made my morning.
Looks like it was taken on US-66 in Crawford County, just north of Leasburg.
The crossroads (current day “Old 66” and Route H) was then known as Leasburg Junction. It appears that the photo was taken along 66, looking eastward. The best I can figure, this is the location – back then, H didn’t extend to the north of Rte. 66, so the Junction Inn building was located right where the current intersection is. It appears that the buildings in the far background are still standing:
https://goo.gl/maps/81xSLjYRcaWJc6of6
Here’s a 1955 aerial (I apologize for the watermarks) of what I think is the Junction Inn site.
I’ve marked the building – has the same wide parking area as in our featured photo, and the road bends similarly. Route H goes through this site now, since it now leads to I-44.
Then I’ve driven right by this location many times.
From the 2012 article
“It really makes you wonder what you could learn if these cars could talk.”-JS
That’s how I learned a door could be “a jar”.
Mind elaborating some?
It started with Chrysler, which came out with an electronic version using the same synthesized voice as a Speak-and-Spell. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that electronic wonder, but if you want to know why my generation has so little regard for the teaching profession, it’s because we were traumatized by that gloomy voice telling us, “That is incorrect.”
Anyway, Chrysler’s Electronic Voice Alert was a total nag. Not only did it tell you about lights, doors, fuel and parking brake, but it would also badger you to fasten your seat belt, plus it would pester you about potential problems with the engine (low coolant, low oil, low washer fluid, etc.) and lecture you about the consequences of inaction.
Chrysler’s EVA also promoted you to talk back: Early versions of the car would warn, “A door is ajar,” prompting many drivers to reply, “No, it’s a door.” (Chrysler later changed this to “please close your passenger door.”) If the engine had a problem, the EVA might say, “Your engine oil pressure is critical. Engine damage may occur.” Yeah, well, if the engines were screwed together correctly in the first place, maybe the oil would stay inside the crankcase where it belonged. You can hear the EVA go through its complete post-ajar litany in this video.
This is the link for the whole article: https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/miracle-1980s-talking-car-265020#:~:text=Chrysler's%20EVA%20also%20promoted%20you,engine%20oil%20pressure%20is%20critical.
I tried and failed in a 5 minute attempt to ID the two trucks. I thought the one on the left was a Chevy/GMC, but that ridge on the fender doesn’t look right.
This is a great picture. I love photos of old highway patrol cars, and I love old photos of those rare 1942 models of anything, so this is double good.
It looks to me like the left front fender of the truck has a sort of partial cover on it, tho I can think of no reason that that would make sense. About the chromeless ’42s–were there not a certain number of these cars that actually were fitted with chrome trim which was overpainted or whatever to make them compliant with the wartime regs? I have either read this or been so told by someone whose opinion I was inclined to accept. Very nice picture indeed.
Love the 42 Chevy, but hate the botched AI colorization.
Here’s an easier on the eyes black and white version.
Ah, very nice…
I’m near StL and I swear that building seems familiar from my “country road drives with car guys” – wonder where it was taken-
Nice piece of America! Thank you.
The guy I bought my Superminx from had a 1940 Hillman with blackout trim it still exists in another collection, very rare car being wartime production/delivery,
My 94 year old Dad says that when he was a young kid, that when him and his buddies saw the tar truck, they would break of a chunk of cold tar and chew it.
I’m guessing it wasn’t what we think of as tar, today.
Love it!
The feature photo this month, on the homepage of the remarkable website documenting the history of Ontario highways, is the inaugural Ontario Department of Highways Emergency Road Patrol from 1963. Brand colours were chrome yellow and black.
“The unit responded to various freeway traffic incidents, including collisions, vehicle breakdowns, flat tires, First Aid and even minor vehicle repairs. In fact, if a motorist ran out of fuel along Hwy 401 across Toronto in the 1960s, the DHO would even supply up to a gallon of complimentary gasoline in order to ensure that the disabled vehicle could be safely driven off of the freeway for refuelling! The DHO Emergency Road Patrol was an intriguing early example of freeway traffic and incident management by the Department, in recognition of growing traffic volumes along Hwy 401 and the immediate effects these incidents often had on traffic flow. The Emergency Road Patrol was very well-utilized – the unit responded to over 23,000 incidents by the end of the 1963/64 Fiscal Year.”
That flat panel on the front of the stripper truck is a mirror pointed downward to the road, so the driver can see the old strip. I think this photo is from the same location & same time. I did not mark where on the internet I found this photo, possibly Joe Sonderman.
The billboard for Onondaga Cave corroborates what Eric703 suspected for location. It’s near Leasburg on Old 66.
This is the Stripper truck from the side. Again, I did not mark were I found this photo.
The other side of the Stripper truck, marking the ‘No Passing’ line in the center of the driving lane, something Missouri did at this time.
Excellent job of finding these additional pictures. Fascinating truck.
Neat! Here’s an article explaining how this vehicle worked.
Also, I hadn’t noticed in the original picture just how narrow this lane striper was. Apparently it was only 3 feet wide (“to minimize interference with traffic”), and the original truck chassis and body were cut lengthwise, narrowed down, and reassembled, at the Highway Department’s shop.
That’s an interesting read!
-White lines used on asphalt, while black lines were used on concrete (seeing that would be a rough go at night)… Single dashed white line to designate center of road, turning to a solid white stripe in curves. And dashed yellow lines in the center of vehicle travel lanes to designate no passing zones.
Hmm… Might something in this vein be a good future CC topic (I’m being a bit lazy and haven’t done a dig to see if it’s already been covered)? Though things like colors and patterns of pavements, signals, sign shapes and so forth have long been standardized, but there were a lot of different approaches in the earlier days. One thing I do remember as a young kid in the mid 1980’s, were flashing amber lights embedded at curb level on some medians in the Portland, OR area. They looked a bit like cast iron storm drain grates with an incandescent bulb and lens… I haven’t encountered them in other locations.
This is beyond cool .
-Nate
I can’t imagine all the work required to do this