Cool gift from my MIL

[Ray-CA]

My Mother-in-law found these photos (circa 1930's) and thought that they would look good in my new garage. I think she's right! The shot with the tow truck has my wife's Grandfather seated in the truck, his older brother is on the running board and the son of the shop owner is standing. The tow truck was in the Minneapolis area and the two gas stations were shot in the Southern California.

Thanks,

Ray

PS: If anyone in Minneapolis can take a current shot of 3412 Cedar Avenue I'd appreciate it.

 

[dladcock]

That's an awesome gift! You'll have a good feeling everytime you look at those.

dla

 

[Al Bundy]

How cool would it be to have those gas pumps in your shop?

 

[d.mcfarland]

Those are very nice! Gotta love old black and whites ... very humbling.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Here's a picture of 3412 Cedar Avenue, grabbed from Google Maps. It's a mile or two from my house.

Still an auto repair shop, and a pretty neat old building.

edit: the facade looks different, I think the big door in the present building must have been added at some point to replace a window.

 

[KCarGuy]

We have a Rep that works that Area.
I will send him one of these photos and the address and see if he could take a few Phone Pics for you.

 

[Stuart in MN]

The Google Maps picture is actually pretty clear, compared to what they usually look like. I could stop by there this weekend and take a few photos, maybe get one from the same angle as the original. There is snow on the ground so it won't look quite the same.

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

You might want to give a copy to the shop, assuming they don't have one. If they do...what else do they have? Hmmm...

 

[BigGMC]

I noticed there was a pretty good sale on tires at that Hancock station......

 

[Oldbear]

I might want to borrow your MIL.

 

[Bib Overalls]

The term "violet ray" gasoline caught my attention. I had never heard of it before so I did a little research on line and dug up this tidbit.

"Although the visible pump was popular, a problem arose when the sun shining through the cylinder caused a film to form on the inside, which was quite unsightly. Corning Glass Works then came up with a special blue-tinted glass that blocked the ultra-violet rays, which prevented this scum from forming."

Interesting.

I think that "Violet Ray Gasoline" was a brand as well as I found a reference to the "General Gasoline Company".

 

[Cobra5150]

The term "violet ray" gasoline caught my attention.

and especially fitting considering the OP's name.

Cool gift.

 

[JimVonBaden]

That's an awesome gift! You'll have a good feeling everytime you look at those.

dla

Agreed!It just gave me some great ideas for my garage with these:

My father and his racecar.

Jim

 

[Cougar67]

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=rg...0~h~-34.1~p~2.9~pid~5082&app=5082&FORM=LMLTCC


It's the same building! You can see the diamond design in the brick work. The right garage door was raised and it appears the attached building was stuccoed and the window was boarded up.
Great pictures!

 

[Stuart in MN]

I stopped by 3412 Cedar this morning while out running errands and took a couple photos. I see it's changed hands since the Google Maps photo above, but it's still an auto repair shop. The place next door is still a grocery store, too.

 

[Ray-CA]

Thanks to everyone. I've sent this topic to my Father in law (his Dad drove the tow truck) and he is enjoying the updates very much. I will try to contact the repair shop on Monday (or Wednesday) and see if they have any old photos etc. Maybe I can work out a trade if they do.....

Ray

 

[Stuart in MN]

Here's their contact info:

HD Tires And Oil Change
3412 Cedar Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407
(612) 208-0849

 

[rockchucker]

You might want to give a copy to the shop, assuming they don't have one. If they do...what else do they have? Hmmm...

100% ^


Old photos are the best. They really capture time and what life was like. When people were proud to be dirty because they worked hard.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

If those old photos aren't copy written, consider selling prints. I think guys would buy them. They are all very well done, especially if you can provide some history to them.

 

[Stuart in MN]

For the fun of it I searched the Minnesota History Center online photograph database to see what I could find. They didn't have any pictures of this shop but I did find one of a tavern that was just north of the grocery store - it was called the Nine O' Clock Club Tavern in 1958. I've enclosed another Google Maps picture for context, you can see the repair shop on the far left, then the grocery store, then the vacant building that was the tavern and finally a store that sells window shades on the corner on the right.

 

[Ray-CA]

If those old photos aren't copy written, consider selling prints. I think guys would buy them. They are all very well done, especially if you can provide some history to them.

They're not. They are in my in-laws collection of family photos.

Ray

 

[Stuart in MN]

One more picture...Cedar Avenue is one of the main through streets in south Minneapolis, back then it was paved with brick and was a major streetcar route (up until the early 1950s, Minneapolis had one of the largest streetcar systems in the country.) This photo is circa 1947, taken on Cedar Avenue about five blocks north of the repair shop. Behind the trees in the background is the city's oldest cemetery.

 

[diggler306]

How cool would it be to have those gas pumps in your shop?

My father-in-law has two of those gas pumps in his garage. He awkwardly jokes that when he's gone, his kids will unknowingly sell them for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I've been thinking about that tow truck...it looks to me like it's an older luxury car of some kind, cut down to make it into a truck; that was pretty common at the time, since they had big heavy chassis and engines, and were cheap for repair shops to buy and convert since they were just old cars.

There's some sort of logo on the hubcaps but I can't make it out. based on the general design I'd say it was built sometime in the 1920 to 1925 period, it would be neat to figure out just what make and model it was.

 

[Ray-CA]

I've been thinking about that tow truck...it looks to me like it's an older luxury car of some kind, cut down to make it into a truck; that was pretty common at the time, since they had big heavy chassis and engines, and were cheap for repair shops to buy and convert since they were just old cars.

There's some sort of logo on the hubcaps but I can't make it out. based on the general design I'd say it was built sometime in the 1920 to 1925 period, it would be neat to figure out just what make and model it was.

I just took a look at my 8x10 orginal and it's hard to make out also. It looks like side by side diamonds and I think I can see some type of lettering (?) in each diamond. Anyone have any idea(s) as to what manufacturer had a similar logo?

Ray

 

[MoparTrucks]

As awesome as those old photos are the research on the location and seeing the modern pictures compared to the old pictures was really cool.

 

[Ray-CA]

I'm going to take the photo to the San Diego Automotive Museum on Wednesday and see if they can id the truck.

Ray