Director’s Thoughts, AUGUST 2016
As the year is whisking by, we are now in the midst of the “DOG DAYS of SUMMER”. These dog days are the hottest, most uncomfortable part of the Northern summer. The Old Farmer’s Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year with the least rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere. The American weather and farming annual, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, explains that “the phrase ‘Dog Days’ conjures up the hottest, most sultry days of summer,” coinciding with the heliacal rising of Sirius, the dog star, in the constellation Canis Major. While the correlation between the hottest and most humid weather of the year with this specific calendar period has not survived the broadening of weather understanding and communications to global, the correlation of the rising of Sirius with extreme heat has been sufficient in enough climes in the Northern Hemisphere such that the association of dog days “with hot, sultry weather was made for all time.”
As many of us know, DAF happens during this time of the summer. It is HOT, HUMID & DRY! However, despite this time, we all DO survive. REMEMBER, VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED TO PARK BUICKS ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 7TH! You are to be there, preferably, by 7:00am. If no volunteers help park BUICKS, this amazing spot will be forfeited next year. Do we really want to lose this patch of shady grass right @ the entrance to this annual show? This instruction comes from the Ontelaunee Region AACA. If you want to volunteer, please contact Sally Getz before August 1, 2016. 610-377-6130.
Your elected Director, Sally Getz
“Free Spirit” Chapter Meeting Minutes, July, 2016
No meeting held this month in lieu of the summer hiatus!
NEW MEMBER: CORRECTION & ADDITION!
Please make the following correction in your BUICK rosters: Loren/Jody Hulber of 7250 St. Peters Road., Macungie, Pa. 610-967-6044, lhulber@ptd.net, 1954 Buick Roadmaster, 76C.
Please add our newest member to your roster: Mr. Franklyn Miscione of 281 Cherryville Road, Northampton, Pa 18067. 610-262-8369 (H), 610-509-4178
JWR & Bob Greens Car Collections, June 18, 2016
It was a most beautiful, gorgeous, & sunny day for a drive to Frackville & Orwigsburg, PA. 14 “Free Spiriters” thoroughly enjoyed their entire day!! In fact, our chapters’ newest member, Mr. Franklyn Miscione, & 2 of his friends joined us all for a most delightful day! We started our day out by meeting up @ the Starlite Diner & Lounge, Allentown, PA. As we made our trek to the higher mountainous elevations to Frackville, Pa, the sites of farmland & coal areas were interesting. Mr. Doug DeGrassi, curator, met us as we pulled into the parking lot of JWR Car Collection. Once inside, OMGoodness! WOW! Cars cars & more cars everywhere! From Packards to Ferraris, from Limosines to horse-drawn buggies, from British cars to Muscle cars, OMGoodness! One has to see it to believe it! Approximately 150 cars were viewed. We even got to view a just restored Army Tank that was on display during a recent air show in that area. What a collection it was!
A snack was consumed @ a near-by German-Presbyterian Cemetery under the shade of a tree lined road. Where we parked, get this, was the plot of Pete Pope’s extended family! Now, honest to goodness, I had no idea he had family buried @ this site, honest! Pete enjoyed a little visit to his extended family.
Off, then to Orwigsburg we went to Bob Green’s car Collection. This collection compiled of spectacular Muscle cars! Besides the cars, the license plates and porcelain signs on display were ravishing. Mr. Green began his love of the car hobby by dealing in communications, such as the CB radio! This collection was extremely cool!
After the enjoyment of viewing such car collections, we broke bread together & our taste buds enjoyed the hospitality of the McKeansburg Inn. Many discussions were heard around the table on the day everyone had. Many “THANKS” to everyone who attended this wonderful & exciting day!
Bill’s Old Bike Barn Tour, September 24, 2016
Join us on a tour to Bill’s Old Bike Barn in Bloomsburg, PA. We will meet at the Schnecksville Diner, 4527 Rt. 309, Schnecksville, Pa at 8:30am for breakfast, or if you like just a cup of coffee. From there we will proceed to the Bill’s Old Bike Barn at 9:30, taking the scenic route. The ride should take about 1 hour & 45 mins. At Bill’s Old Bike Barn Museum, you will be free to take look around & enjoy at your own pace. There is plenty to see, not just old motorcycles. It’s a step back in time. When we have finished our time travels at the museum, we will head out to lunch, (pay your own), at May’s Drive-In, Berwick, Pa. May’s is only about 3.3 miles from the museum. The Drive-In is celebrating its’ 60 years of business! After lunch you are free to head home or stop at a few places in Bloomsburg, such as:
O’Donnell Winery 25 Hayes Road, Berwick, 570-759-1375
The Red Mill Antiques 44 Red Mill Rd, Bloomsburg, 570-784-7146
Lavender & Old Lace 1111 Lightstreet Rd, Bloomsburg
Or visit some covered bridges.
Member (any age) = $4.00 each member
Non-Member/guest (any age) = $8.00 each person
Please, RSVP, to Kathleen Duckett, 6023 Riverview Rd., Slatington, Pa 18080 by September 19th. 610-760-2467
John Dunlop, Charles Goodyear and the History of Tires
The rubber pneumatic tires seen on millions of cars across the world are the result of multiple inventors working across several decades. And those inventors have names that should be recognizable to anyone who’s ever bought tires for their car: Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop.
Of these, none had so great an impact on the invention of the tire than John Dunlop and Charles Goodyear.
Charles Goodyear and the Invention of Vulcanized Rubber None of it would have been possible without Charles Goodyear, who in 1844 — more than 50 years before the first rubber tires would appear on cars — patented a process known as vulcanization. This process involved heating and removing the sulphur from rubber, thus making the rubber water-proof and winter-proof and allowing it to retain its elasticity. While Goodyear’s claim to have invented vulcanization was challenged, he prevailed in court and is today remembered as the sole inventor of vulcanized rubber. And that became hugely important once people realized it would be perfect for making tires.
John Dunlop and the Pneumatic Tire Robert William Thomson (1822 – 1873) invented the actual first vulcanized rubber pneumatic tire. Thomson patented his pneumatic tire in 1845, and his invention worked well, but it was too costly to catch on. That changed with John Boyd Dunlop (1840-1921), a Scottish veterinarian and the recognized inventor of the first practical pneumatic (inflatable) tire. His patent, granted in 1888, wasn’t for automobile tires, however: it was intended for use on bicycles.
Later Developments In 1895, André Michelin and his brother Edouard, who had previously patented a removable bike tire, were the first to use pneumatic tires on an automobile.
In 1911, Philip Strauss invented the first successful tire, which was a combination tire and air filled inner tube. Strauss’ company the Hardman Tire & Rubber Company marketed the tires.
In 1903, P.W. Litchfield of the Goodyear Tire Company patented the first tubeless tire, however, it was never commercially exploited until the 1954 Packard.
In 1904, mountable rims were introduced that allowed drivers to fix their own flats. In 1908, Frank Seiberling invented grooved tires with improved road traction.
In 1910, B.F. Goodrich Company invented longer life tires by adding carbon to the rubber.
Goodrich also invented the first synthetic rubber tires in 1937 made of a patented substance called Chemigum
Streetcars – Cable Car
On January 17, 1871, San Franciscan Andrew Smith Hallidie patented the first cable car, ultimately sparing many horses the excruciating work of moving people over that city’s steep roadways. Using metal ropes he had patented, Hallidie devised a mechanism by which cars were drawn by an endless cable running in a slot between the rails which passed over a steam-driven shaft in the powerhouse.
After gathering financial backing, Hallidie and his associates constructed the first cable railway. The track ran from the intersection of Clay and Kearny Streets along twenty-eight hundred feet of track to the crest of a hill 307 feet above the starting point. At five o’clock on the morning of August 1, 1873, a few nervous men climbed aboard the cable car as it stood on the hilltop. With Hallidie at the controls, the car descended and arrived safely at the bottom.
Given San Francisco’s steep terrain, the cable car came to define the city. Writing in 1888, Harriet Harper declared: “If any one should ask me what I consider the most distinctive, progressive feature of California, I should answer promptly, its cable-car system. And it is not alone its system which seems to have reached a point of perfection, but the amazing length of the ride that is given you for the chink of a nickel. I have circled this city of San Francisco, I have gone the length of three separate cable lines (by means of the proper transfers) for this smallest of Southern coins.”
The success of the San Francisco line led to the expansion of that system and the introduction of street railways in many other cities. By the 1920s, most United States municipalities had abandoned horse drawn cars for electrically powered cars
History of the Streetcar
The first mass transportation vehicle in America was called an omnibus. It looked like a stagecoach and was pulled by horses. The first omnibus to operate in America began running up and down Broadway in New York City in the year 1827. It was owned by Abraham Brower, who also helped organize the first fire department in New York.
There had long been horse-drawn carriages in America to take people where they wanted to go. What was new and different about the omnibus was that it ran along a certain designated route and charged a very low fare. People who wanted to get on would wave their hand in the air. The driver sat on a bench on top of the omnibus at the front, like a stagecoach driver. When people who were riding inside wanted to get off the omnibus, they pulled on a little leather strap. The leather strap was connected to the ankle of the person who was driving the omnibus. Horse-drawn omnibuses ran in America cities from 1826 until about 1905.
The first important improvement over the omnibus was the streetcar. The first streetcars were also pulled by horses, however, instead of riding along a regular street, the streetcars rolled along special steel rails that were placed in the middle of the street. The wheels of the streetcar were also made out of steel, carefully manufactured in such a way that they would not roll off the rails. A horse-drawn streetcar was much more comfortable than an omnibus and a single horse could also pull a streetcar that was much larger, and carried more passengers, than an omnibus.
The first streetcar ran along Bowery Street in New York, and began service in the year 1832. It was owned John Mason, a wealthy banker, and built by Irishmen, John Stephenson. Stephenson’s New York Company would become the largest and most famous builder of horse-drawn streetcars.
The second American city to have streetcars was New Orleans, Louisiana, in the year 1835. The typical American streetcar was operated by two crew members. One man, a driver, rode up front. His job was to drive the horse, controlled by a set of reigns. The driver also had a brake handle that he could use to stop the streetcar. When streetcars got bigger, sometimes two and three horses would be used to haul a single car. The second crew member was called the conductor, who rode at the back of the car. His job was to help passengers get on and off the streetcar, collect their fares, and give a signal to the driver when everyone was on board and it was safe to proceed. He gave this signal by pulling on a rope that was attached to a bell at the other end of the car that the driver could hear.
The first major attempt to develop a machine that could replace horses on America’s streetcar lines was the cable car in 1873. Cable cars were hauled by a long cable that moved slowly under a city’s streets. To convert a streetcar line from horse cars to cable cars required digging a ditch between the rails and building a chamber under the track from one end of the line to another. This chamber was called a vault. When the vault was finished, a small opening was left at the top of the vault. Then a long cable was placed inside the vault. The cable ran under city streets from one end of the streetcar line to the other. The cable was spliced into a big loop and was kept moving by a huge steam engine with massive wheels and pulleys that was located in a powerhouse at the side of the street. The cable cars themselves were equipped with a device that extended down below the car into the vault and allowed the operator of the car to latch onto the moving cable when he wanted the car to go, or let go of the cable when he wanted the car to stop. There were many pulleys and wheels inside the vault to make sure the cable was able to go around corners, as well as up and down hills.
The first cable cars ran in San Francisco. The largest and busiest fleet of cable cars in America were in Chicago. Most large American cities had one or more cable car lines by the year 1890.
Frank Sprague installed a complete system of electric streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, in 1888. This was the first large scale and successful use of electricity to run a city’s entire system of streetcars. Sprague was born in Connecticut in 1857. In 1878 he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and began a career as a naval officer. He resigned from the navy in 1883 and went to work for Thomas Edison.
After 1888, many cities turned to electric-powered streetcars. To get electricity to the streetcars from the powerhouse where it was generated, an overhead wire was installed over city streets. A streetcar would touch this electric wire with a long pole on its roof. Back at the powerhouse, big steam engines would turn huge generators to produce the electricity needed to operate the streetcars. A new name was soon developed for streetcars powered by electricity; they were called trolley cars.
National Aviation Day in the United States
National Aviation Day is observed in the United States on August 19 each year to celebrate the history and development of the aviation. It coincides with the birthday of Orville Wright who, together with his brother Wilbur, made significant contributions to powered flight.
What Do People Do?
On this day, some schools organize for students to participate in classroom activities that focus on the topic of aviation. Activities include: discussing aviation history, including the efforts of the Wright brothers, Amelia Earhart and other aviation pioneers; and engaging in interactive tasks about airplanes and other means of flight transport, as well as careers associated with the aviation industry. Aviation enthusiasts and students may visit museums about aviation history and technology. Some people visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina at this time of the year.
Background
In 1939 President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed August 19 to be National Aviation Day. The day coincides with the birthday of Orville Wright, who piloted the Wright Flyer. He and his brother Wilbur are given credit for building the world’s first successful airplane with aircraft controls that enabled them to steer the plane. Orville Wright made the first flight for 12 seconds and 120 feet around the site of Wright Brothers National Memorial on December 17, 1903. They were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft but they are the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed wing flight possible. The Wright brothers’ status as inventors of the airplane has been an issue of debate, particularly as there were competing claims regarding other early aviators. Another national observation in the United States is Wright Brothers Day on December 17 each year.
Each year the president may issue a proclamation to: designate August 19 as National Aviation Day; call on government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on the day; and invite people living in the United States to observe the day with appropriate exercises to further stimulate interest in aviation in the United States.
Symbols
Images of early flight pioneers (including the Wright brothers), airplanes and other flight vehicles, aviation industry workers (such as pilots) and any other images linked with the aviation industry have been seen on material used to promote National Aviation Day
Charles F. Kettering, Inventor of Electric Self-Starter
Charles Franklin Kettering, the American engineer and longtime director of research for General Motors Corp. (GM), is born on August 29, 1876, in Loudonville, Ohio. Of the 140 patents Kettering obtained over the course of his lifetime, perhaps the most notable was his electric self-starter for the automobile, patented in 1915. Early in his career, Kettering worked at the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio, where he helped develop the first cash register to be equipped with an electric motor that opened the register drawer.
With Edward A. Deeds, he formed Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO), a business dedicated to designing equipment for automobiles. Kettering’s key-operated electric self-starting ignition system, introduced on
Cadillac vehicles in 1912 and patented three years later, made automobiles far easier and safer to operate than they had been previously, when the ignition process had been powered by iron hand cranks. By the 1920s, electric self-
starters would come standard on nearly every new automobile.
United Motors Corporation (which later became General Motors) purchased DELCO in 1916, installing Kettering as vice president and director of research at GM from 1920 to 1947. During his tenure at GM, Kettering was instrumental in the development of improved engines, quick-drying automobile paints and finishes, “anti-knock” fuels (designed to reduce the damaging process of engine knocking, which occurs when gasoline ignites too early in an internal combustion engine) and variable-speed transmissions, among other innovations.
Kettering’s passion for invention spread far beyond the automotive industry: He helped develop the refrigerant Freon, used in refrigerators and air conditioners, and took an active role in the medical industry, inventing a treatment for venereal disease, an incubator for premature infants and artificial fever therapy. Highly devoted to education, he helped found the Flint Institute of Technology in 1919 and the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) in 1926. In 1945, he and longtime General Motors head Alfred P. Sloan established the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
AUGUST HAPPY SUMMER!
5-7 – Carlisle Truck Nationals, Carlisle, Pa
5-7 – DAF, Macungie, Pa
7 – 7th Annual 4UDREW Car Show, Doylestown, Pa. 267-218-2866
13 – Car & bike Show, Warminster, Pa
14 – 4th Annual BOP Show, AACA Museum, Hershey, Pa. radioman@ptd.net
28 – 3rd Annual child Charity Car Show, Scranton, Pa. joecarra35@gmail.com
SEPTEMBER 2016 HAPPY LABOR DAY!
3 – 51st Duryea Days, Boyertown, PA
4 – Hanover Township Car Show, Bethlehem, Pa
6 – Monthly chapter meeting, Starlite Diner & Lounge, Rd. 100/78, Allentown, Pa. Dinner @ 6:00 pm, meeting @ 7:30 pm. Guest speaker is Mr. Ed Tremba from AAA on “Older & Wiser Drivers”.
11 – Strausstown Car show, Strausstown, Pa
18 – BOP show, Star Buick/GMC, Easton, PA
23-25 – Swap Meet, Englishtown, NJ
24 – “Bill’s Barn & Old Bike Tour”, Bloomsburg, Pa. Tourmasters Kathleen/Thomas Duckett. (CHAPTER EVENT)
OCTOBER 2016 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
3 – NOTE DAY CHANGE!!Monthly chapter business meeting, Starlite Diner & Lounge, Rts. 100/78, Allentown, Pa. Supper @ 6 p, business meeting 7:30 pm. NOTE DAY CHANGE due to Hershey Show. Nominations will be taken for Secretary, Treasurer, 2 BOD.
5-8 – AACA Hershey Fall Meet, Hershey, Pa
30 – 40th Annual Old Car Show, Kempton, PA (CHAPTER EVENT)
CARS/PARTS “FOR SALE”
1939 Buick Special (41) 4-DR Trunk back Sedan, unrestored original car, Straight 8, manual transmission. Runs well! Rebuilt engine & components, brake system, drive train, transmission. Upgraded carb, electronic ignition, oil filter, NEW exhaust system. WW tires. Pics available. $16,500/negotiable. Ken Davis, 610-489-1649. kwmcdavis@verizon.net
1951 Buick Super (51) 4 dr. Excellent condition. Everything works, drive anywhere. Original paint interior. All mechanical things have been replaced or improved. 59,000 original miles. $11,500. William@ 610-970-7183, 484-948-6213.
1962 Buick Skylark Conv. Overall GOOD condition. Various NOS chrome installed. Runs/drives nice! Transmission, rear, top & rear window good. Dave’s Int. restorations, 525 Chestnut St., Emmaus, Pa 18049
1975 “Free Spirit” Buick Super Rare. Has the whole package minus the pace car script. T- tops bucket seats & console floor shift. Tilt wheel w/ original brushed aluminum three spoke wheel. 1800 made. This car is 100% complete minus trim rings & center caps. Comes w/ four original wheels & 4 appliance spoke wire wheels. 350 Buick 4 barrel & t-350 automatic. Needs complete restoration. CLEAN TITLE! $3500.00 obo Paul 605-9960.
1981 Buick Regal 4 DR dark green, garage kept. 75K mi. 717-576-7588
1987 Buick GN, T-Top blk w/ grey/blk int., orig parts, EXCELLENT condition, 3200 ORIGINAL miles. Stored in heat controlled garage. $28,500 (OBO), gbrentano@verizon.net
1996 Buick Riviera Diamond White w/ excellent burgundy leather interior. 106K miles. Supercharged, chrome wheels, astroroof. Garaged kept. New tires 9,000 miles ago. Super clean; not driven in winters; used for BDE Tours. Cold AC. Well maintained Buick. $7000. If not sold before, will be at BCA Celebration in July. Ed Lenny BCA # 7534 Allentown, PA. lugnuts36@icloud.com , 610-751-7700
In Search Of
1948 Buick Special 2 door back chrome. Doug @ 570-573-0948.
1951-52 Buick Mustache Bar to be rechromed, very hard to find! $400.00. William, 610-970-7183, 484-948-6213.
1951-52 Buick Roadmaster RH grille bar extension. C. Wenger, 433-710-6624, crewzn@broadstripe.net
1967 Buick Electra Conv. 610-730-4599, dwebster80@gmail.com