51 Kaiser getaway car--the watermelon caper

When I was growing up in and around Conroe, Texas, there were still quite a few farms. Watermelons were a substantial source of income especially in the area west of Conroe. I doubt farming can compete with the real estate developers today as Conroe and Houston are almost the same now.

All these watermelons were a temptation for boys on a hot early summer night--sneak in to a patch and pick a couple to enjoy the sweetness. We figured the farmer had calculated that in to the price of raising the melons. Much earlier when we lived in Louisiana I can remember walking through a melon patch on the way to a favorite pond for a swim. The harvest was over by this time but still many melons left. So many in fact that we did not hesitate to crack them open and just scoop out the heart to eat and then go to the next.

I got my driver's license shortly after turning 14 in the fall of 1951. We had a 51 Chevrolet pickup (it was loaded with two extras--radio and deluxe heater) and a 51 Kaiser Special. I learned to drive in the pickup but soon graduated to the Kaiser since my dad used the pickup for work. My mom did not drive so I had the job of taking her to the grocery store and on other short trips. At some point I drove for a trip she and my brother and I took to see her family in San Antonio. That was either in the summer of 1952 or 1953. I thought I was pretty important by then!

I pretty much had permission to drive the car on almost any night especially in the summer. And my dad had an account at the local flying red horse (Magnolia) station so I could fill it up when needed. Sometimes the other boys along with me would throw in some change to get gas which was as I recall was around 25 cents per gallon.

Anyway some local guy had managed to get his car shot at by a farmer and had the damage to show for it. Of course we had to try to prove we could do the job without getting shot at. We may have thought the guy had invented his story or maybe we were just stupid...

After some long-term planning (about 15 or less minutes probably) we had our master plan for the job. We would drive out to the area and drive up and down the road which split the patch into two sections. We figured if there was anyone on guard we would spot him for sure I guess. As I recall the moon was close to full and there was reasonable visibility into the patch even with the lights off. Of course there was also good visibility for someone to see a car driving up the road, turning around, and then repeating the trip from the other direction. Naturally that was not included in our long-term plan.

Anyway the all clear was given and the caper was on. I stopped the car and the guys hit the field in a sprint. All but Skeeter made it back and into the car. His door was open and he was starting to load a melon in when the shots were fired. I hit the gas and Skeeter grabbed on to the door and managed to get in the car. We could hear the rock salt (I guess it was) hitting the metal. It sounded like cannon balls to me and I could visualize the holes in the car. Fortunately for us the rock salt shot did not do any damage to the car or to us.

I can't recall for sure but this may have been our last watermelon heist.

Dad's Birthday--trips from long ago

If my Dad was living he would have been 103 July 14. My brother called me that day and we talked about when we were kids living in Louisiana. I am about 20 months older then he is.

One of his memories was going to Shreveport to eat Mexican food. This was always a treat. Dad was a big fan of Mexican food and even when he was in the last years of his life he liked to have a kind of burrito casserole that I prepared for him. He was known as Mollie to friends and relatives when much younger because he was always making hot tamales. Mom said she used to get a little disturbed at him for this since he would use up needed food items to make tamales.

My brother also remembered that we used to drive to an area near Shreveport (Greenwood I think) to swim in a large facility that would likely be a water park if it were around today. We both recalled it was large and fun. I think it was shut down due to some scare about polio.

My Dad liked to scare us by driving fast up hills on the unpaved roads we traveled. This was of course before seat belts and my brother and I would bounce up and down in the back seat almost hitting the roof when we topped over the hills. We thought it was fun!

In those days the little town where we lived was connected only by gravel roads to the outside world. And actually the paved roads were not very good. It used to be said that boundary line between Texas and Louisiana did not need to be marked because the highway always narrowed by two feet at the border. It was always dusty from traffic and it was a big day when the town people had the road through town oiled to lessen the dust. The road was eventually paved about the time we moved away to Texas.

I was thinking after my brother's call about another big event that took place in Shreveport and that was the Louisiana Hayride. We attended the "farewell" Hank Williams show when he was leaving the Hayride to join the Grand Ole Opry. I had to look up the date for that and it was June 3, 1949 so we would have been traveling in our 48 Frazer Manhattan my Dad had bought the previous summer. Adults had to pay 60 cents and kids 30 cents for admission according to the source I found. We left the show while Hank was still doing encores. We listened on the car radio as we drove. I remember the announcer saying something like "the next 30 minutes of the Lovesick Blues will be brought to you by...." Later in the summer we moved back to Texas.

Any trip out of our town was an adventure but these trips were special. The "biggest" trip ever was a family vacation to Colorado, but that's a story for another day.

Kaiser Frazer Monthly Bulletin List

I recently took the time to organize my collection of Kaiser Frazer Owners Club news bulletins. The bulletins have been issued monthly since 1962 and represent one of the most valuable benefits provided by the club to members. Each issue has information about local, regional, and national events for club members along with ads for parts, literature, and cars for sale or wanted. Over the years I have purchased both parts and literature from ads in the bulletins and I have also sold a number of items.

If you are interested in collecting the bulletins I have compiled a list starting with the first issue in 1962. Tom Wilson, who was then the Treasurer of the club, had the idea of printing a bulletin on a monthly basis for club members. Evidently ads had been part of the club magazine in the early stages and since all the magazines prior to this time had a designation of Volume 1 Tom chose to start with Volume 2 for the new publication. The first issue accordingly is denoted Volume 2, Number 1 and has the date 9-62.

I have created a pdf file that lists all issues through October 1998. I have noted the approximate times of editor changes and listed the editors. This file is available for download at my site.


If you find any errors please let me know.

KF Parts in 1976--cheap by today's prices

I have been sorting some old files here lately and one item I ran across is a listing of parts and prices from Buchinger's Kaiser-Frazer Parts dated 1976.

There are some interesting prices for sure! Here are a few examples.

100154 vent shades for 51-55 Kaiser 4 door $14.50 for the set

207844 outside door handles 51-55 Kaiser $7.50

214411 full disc wheel cover 51-54 Henry J, Darrin $6.50

216221 heater control valve 51-54 Kaiser $14.75

202297 drive shaft support insulator 47-50 Kaiser, 47-51 Frazer $0.45

213734 r tail light lens 52-54 Henry J $6.25

213735 l tail light lens 52-54 Henry J $6.25

208469 master cylinder 51-55 Kaiser $14.50

If you had been into KF at the time would you have stocked up on any items? I joined the club in 1981 and I recall buying parts at the first National I attended in Pigeon Forge, TN. Some of these I needed at the time but many just looked like items that would for sure be needed some time in the future. I bought some overdrive electrical components for next to nothing that came in handy and I likely have a few things left even today that I have yet to need. I remember finding a whole unopened box of the 202297 drive shaft insulators listed above at a swap meet in Decatur TX (I paid $5 for the full box.) before the St Louis National. I kept a few for my use and took the rest with me to sell at my vending space. John Parker I think was selling these at the time for around $2.00 each and a car requires 4. I priced them at $0.50 each and really hawked them. Most people did not even know what they were. Some bought a spare set after I explained the use. John came by and saw them and told me he would buy any I had left over and I ended up selling him quite a few at the end of the day.

Another comment about the Buchinger's list is the order blank stated not to send remittance with order and that a bill would be issued for parts and shipping after the order is sent out! How many vendors follow this practice today?

Really big Kaiser...

I have been sorting out my advertising collection. I ran across what may be the largest Kaiser ever built. As far as I know this was a one-off item. The idea was to pack more passengers into the box so-to-speak and of course sell some magnesium and aluminum as well.

Here is the text of the ad (published in MOTOR magazine, date unknown, on page 129):

This 60-foot super-deluxe articulated bus was built at the California magnesium plant of the Kaiser-directed Permanente Metals Corporation. Rolling on Timken Bearings in the wheels, steering pivot, steering gear, steering arm, differential and pinion--22 in all--this marvel of the highways was built especially for Santa Fe Trailways. This manufacturer, like other leaders in the automotive industry, knows the importance of adequate bearing protection. Be sure to look for the trade-mark "TIMKEN" on every bearing you use.

Motor Trend and the 1951 Henry J road test

Someone from the KFOCI called me the other night to talk about literature and told me something I was not aware of. In the November 1950 issue of Motor Trend magazine there was a road test of the new Henry J. Most have seen that issue and noted the cover picture is the Henry J. But he had come across another version of that issue with a completely different front cover--the cover on it was of some custom car. The issue was denoted as Edition C which he suggested might have been for California. It is not at all uncommon to have regional editions of magazines now but I had never realized it was done back as early as 1950. He said the contents appeared to be the same as far as he noticed.

The most important new car in America--Special Issue of the Quarterly

I seem to be stuck on Henry Js. I was looking for a list of Quarterly magazines that I had published and ran across the special issue I did on the Henry J way back in 1987 (Vol 23 No. 2). Almost the entire magazine was devoted to the Henry J. We even reprinted the issue of the Dealer News that was done on the new cars (Vol IV N0. 20, October 1, 1950). This was used by dealers as sales literature and had a high press run. That is the reason it is fairly easy to find today. All Henry J nuts should have a copy of it in their collection.