You old enough to know what this is?
Remember when?
- Thread starter Jon O.
- Start date
These were very common years ago, at least up here in the cold country.
stubs300
Senior Member
Something Ford for sure, I'm thinkin a block heater? Gotta have electric close by for that.
300rag
It's Not Going to Shift Itself
We used to run them all day at the jobsite (free electricity). You just had to remember not to be sucking outside air at startup.
I had them in all my cars before I finally bought a house with a garage. When the Fury was new, a snow storm dumped nearly a foot of snow on the car. Figuring I would make scraping the ice off the glass easier, I plugged in the heater and let run for awhile. Unfortunately the snow on the roof melted from the bottom up and the melt water couldn't drain. When I finally opened the door to start the engine I found about 2" to 3" of water on the floor. I don't think it dried out completely until the following summer.
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
Built many flavors of this in the 50's!
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
I give, what is it?
Here is another one with a handle.
We would put a piece of lambs wool under it and then push it back and forth over our hardwood floors to really make the wax shine. As a kid my mother would wash the floor and then apply a thin coat of hard Simonize wax, it was my job to spend hours pushing that block of iron too make the floor glisten. If I remember correctly it weighted about 10 or 15 lbs and was fun at first, but after a few hours it was pure pain. I swore I would never own anything with hardwood floors. I was true to my word until a few years ago when my wife and daughter convinced me to buy house with some hardwood. Fortunately modern finishes do not require wax. My wife has a steam broom and once a week the hardwood gets a quick steam and all looks great.
stubs300
Senior Member
I still got mine somewhere from 50 years ago. I bought it at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago.
Jon O.
Well-Known Member
The finish that needs waxing like that is Shellac, the old time wood finish. Our house has that antique shellac finished woodwork, but luckily our hardwood floors are covered in some groovy green sculptured carpet. If you don't take care of shellac finishes eventually they loose their luster and get an "alligator" texture.
tbm3fan
Old Man with a Hat
The '80s? We did that in the '60s when the Stingray came out. More so we rode these without any protection. Rode some of these in the San Fernando Valley 1966-67. After moving to San Diego in 1968 never really saw them much more.
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
I don't remember, but these floors were built in the 40's so they were very likely some kind of varnish or lacquer. If shellac they should have turned white from all the water my mother used to wash them.
My modern floor is 3/4" tongue and groove with some kind of plastic varathane finish that seems to be impervious to all wear and tear. Even my daughter's two dogs digging for traction doesn't scratch the floor.
Jon O.
Well-Known Member
You are right, they would have turned white. Our house was originally built in 1910. Shellac fell out of favor in the 20's and came back in the light colored kitchen cabinets in the 50's. By that time they had a waterproofing layer on top.
The finishes they have out there now are great. I refinished our 70s era kitchen cabinets with an oil based finish and polyurethane a few years ago. They shine like glass even though they have had a rough 45 years, and my mom has always splashed water high and low when doing dishes.
My guess is our old floors were done with something like spar varnish. I refinished a old dinning room table that was lacquer, I stripped it down bare wood, sanded it down lose all scratches before slapping on a liberal coat of polyurethane. I used a big brush and didn't worry about brush marks. I set it aside for a couple of months until the surface was good and hard, then sanded it perfectly flat. To get all the imperfections I broke through in a few spots, so I slapped on ay coat. Waited another couple months and saned again. After a few cycles I finally had thed whole surface the way I wanted it. Then working with finer and finer grades of wet'n dry sandpaper IK got the surface like a mirror. The final treatment was a hand rub and polish with rottenstone. The result was a flawless mirror finish that felt like glass. Turns it the whole process is exactly the same one we use on our cars.
polara71
Old Man with a Hat
That's the way I was taught in wood shop. Three coats of poly sanding lightly between each with the final with the finest of fines, then the wax ...
tbm3fan
Old Man with a Hat
Don't see these guys too much anymore compared to what I remember on the streets of San Francisco in the '70s. Yet it seems there is one left.
Shoeshiner by Day, Sleeping on SF Streets by Night
Shoeshiner by Day, Sleeping on SF Streets by Night
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