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'AN OLD LOOK PARODY'

 
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:41 pm    Post subject: 'AN OLD LOOK PARODY' Reply with quote

It has often been said that GM's 'Old Look' buses bring to mind the shape of a loaf of bread.

I thought it would be amusing just to show you what a rolling loaf of bread really looks like.

Seen below (upper) is a custom made bread delivery truck fabricated by the Boyertown Body Company for a Pennsylvania bakery.

At one time Boyertown of Boyertown, Pa. was the premier maker of retail delivery van bodies in a variety of unusual styles and was a prime contractor for the U.S. Postal Service in the forties as can also be seen (lower) below.

Enjoy.

Photos courtesy of NYPL Digital Gallery.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY


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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 501
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. Linsky,

The first one looks more like one of our modern box buses with fender skirts. Laughing The second one looks like the truck they used in the episode of Hogan's Heroes that had a load of gold in it. Never mind that it was a post-war American truck! Laughing

Dave
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dave,

The first photo was really a joke just for the fun of it, and you're right - it could pass for one of today's 'box' buses.

The photo of the mail truck is more interesting.

It might be a little before your time but these trucks were the 'mascot' of the U.S. Postal Service and there were thousands of them, and I believe they were mostly if not all Ford chassis - Boyertown was a big Ford chassis customer.

Here's a bit of history;

Thanks to the economic depression and war your mailman was still driving antiquated model "A" Fords as late as 1948. In 1949 the U.S. Post Office finally replaced them with 2,050 of these 1949 Ford based "walk-in" mail trucks developed by the Boyertown Auto Body Works, a successor to the Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory.

You're right about Hogan's Heroes but I'll give you a better one.

One of these trucks was used as an armored car in an episode of the 'Superman' series back in the fifties starring George Reeve (my hero).

Photo borrowed from the Superman Fan Club.

Mr. 'L'

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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 501
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the info on the trucks, Mr. Linsky. I'm a Superman (TV series from the 50's) fan too. Laughing
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ripta42
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Location: Pawtucket, RI / Woburn, MA

PostPosted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Those Parcel Delivery vehicles were the first generation of the Ford F-series, which continues to this day.
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shortlineMCI



Age: 54
Joined: 07 May 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's very funny. I say..put a school bus which looks just like a block of cheese between two of those bread looking buses. You get a cheese sandwhich. Laughing
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thought you'd like a bit more history on U.S. Mail Trucks as long as we're on the subject;

Pictured below with a story attached are an early thirties Model A and AA Ford which were the backbone of the fleet for two decades.

In 1929 Postmaster Walter F. Brown spearheaded a bill that authorized funding for the US Postal Service to replace their aging fleet of surplus WWI Parcel Post delivery vehicles. A line of standardized bodies were eventually agreed upon and bids for the various body contracts were accepted during June of 1929. Although the dimensions differed, depending on the cubic footage of the bodies, the construction of all three body sizes was the same.

The specifications called for simple 96 to 250 cu ft bodies built using integral mortise and tenon frames joined by Plymetal (¾ inch steel-covered plywood) panels with no shelving. The rear mail compartment was accessible from the driver’s compartment via a lockable sliding door built into a hollow behind the driver’s seat.

The mail compartment was also accessible from the rear using a pair of outside hinged doors that were locked in place by raising a built-in tailgate. Some versions used totally enclosed bodies while others utilized metal-screened doors that included built-in nitrite-coated canvas curtains for inclement weather use. Driver’s entered the front compartment via bi-lateral sliding doors that could be held open during hot weather.

York-Hoover Body Co. of York, Pennsylvania was awarded the contract to build four-hundred 96 cu. ft. postal body, all of which were placed ½-ton Ford Model A cab and chassis. The Mifflinburg Body Co. of Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania was awarded the contract to build five-hundred mid-sized bodies for the ½ ton Ford Model A chassis as well as five-hundred-fifty similar-sized bodies for the larger Ford Model AA.

One June 28, 1929 the August Schubert Wagon Co. was awarded the contract to produce the two-hundred-fifty 200 cu. ft. and one-hundred-fifty 215 cu. ft. bodies specified in the contract. Although the bodies were supposed to be delivered within 4 months, various delays in manufacture prolonged the delivery schedule and the final body wasn’t delivered until June of 1930. Schubert received a reported $325 for each body.

Some information and lower photo thanks to the 'Postal A/AA Website.
Top photo taken in Buffalo, New York courtesy of NYPL Digital Gallery

Quite frankly, it appears as though both the mail truck and mail box in the top image had just been ransacked!

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY


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