JC Whitney

[mjoekingz28]

The problem from the JC Cayer thread sparked a memory of the old JC Whitney catalog.


When I was in high school, the internet was in its infancy. AOL was used for dial-up with those discs there were everywhere. *67 was used so an incoming call on the landline didnt disconnect you. Home computers were starting to get popular.


Anyway, during this period (early 90s) catalogs and mail order C.O.D.s were not uncommon. I remember the crazy outlandish stuff JC Whitneys had, but I never ordered from them but got the catalog alot.




Anyone purchase from them?

 

[jd_1138]

My uncle was a big fan of JC Whitney. Their catalogs were fun to read in the bathroom. And they had one for air cooled VW's, one for 4x4's, one for classic cars, one for motorcycles, etc..

 

[southalabama]

Dad got the catalogs. Must have ordered because they kept coming.

I found the catalogs fascinating reading.

 

[anndel]

The problem from the JC Cayer thread sparked a memory of the old JC Whitney catalog.


When I was in high school, the internet was in its infancy. AOL was used for dial-up with those discs there were everywhere. *67 was used so an incoming call on the landline didnt disconnect you. Home computers were starting to get popular.


Anyway, during this period (early 90s) catalogs and mail order C.O.D.s were not uncommon. I remember the crazy outlandish stuff JC Whitneys had, but I never ordered from them but got the catalog alot.




Anyone purchase from them?

AOL??? I had CompuServe using a 9600 baud modem from US Robotics. Before that it was a 2400 BPS and 1200 BPS before that.

Love those JC Whitney Catalogs. I used to read them in class in Intermediate and High School. Always had them taken away by the teacher.

 

[DocsMachine]

I've got a couple copies from the mid-70s, that I got with some other old magazines a few years ago. Long before they had separate issues for different stuff.

There's about forty different kinds of hood ornaments, five or six different trumpet-like horn sets, that fake cat you'd put in the rear package tray and wire up the eyes to your turn signals, more CB radios than you could shake a stick at, and the occasional interesting bit like an entire Jeep body tub.

And the shipping- remember "please allow six to eight weeks for delivery"? Now you can get it off Amazon in two days.

Doc.

 

[95riosnake]

Back in those days I was in highschool and drove a 1990 S10 Blazer 4x4 and I remember ordering a double cup holder insert for my center console, it was a nice piece. That's the only thing I ever ordered from them. They really did have some interesting things in those catalogs, albeit a lot of it was junk. It still made for interesting breakfast reading!

 

[Sanny81]

In the 90s my dad always got JC Whitney catalogs in the mail. He ordered a lot of stuff for his Jeep back then through them.

 

[wornoutoldman]

I bought many things from them over the years 1970s through the early 90s. I was living in the Chicago burbs at that time so going to the store was always a fun way to spend a day. They carried quality items at reasonable prices and had a bargain area that was not to be missed. Also always a bodyman or mechanic loitering in the parking lot that would fix you up while you waited. Just buy your parts and pay the man. Their VW and motorcycle parts were pretty great.

 

[66HertzClone]

There sure were some weird things in their catalogs. My all time favorite was a central distribution system for greasing the steering system fittings. A roll of plastic tubing that your were to run to each fitting, an adapter to allow the tubing to connect to the threaded hole in the tie rod or whatever. A manifold to connect all the tubes to and a fitting in which you would pump in the grease.

Just try and picture that freaking mess.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

me and a buddy were just talking about the old jc whitney catalogs. lots of cool odd stuff in them. I kinda miss them.

 

[tncatadjuster]

I liked the back deck speaker grills that looked like pipe organs. Many cool things in those pages.

 

[jhnlngn]

me and a buddy were just talking about the old jc whitney catalogs. lots of cool odd stuff in them. I kinda miss them.

Then have them send you a new catalog.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/

 

[Bronson]

Back in the 70's I ordered a motorcycle "glass pack" for My Triumph.
I also ordered some cheesy specialty tools which were of a quality that make Harbor Freight look like Snap--On.
Catalogue was a good bathroom reader.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

I loved JC Whitney. But I always went to the store (Warshawsky in Chicago). There was usually quality parts in those white boxes. Fel-Pro gaskets, TRW suspension parts. And plenty of junk, too. I wanted to see the item before I paid for it. A bit like Harbor Freight in a way. That reminds me that Whit-shawsky was selling Pittsburgh tools back in the 90s.

 

[Antique Engine]

I got their catalogs through the 70s and 80s but pretty much forgot about them until this past Monday. I wanted a Luk brand clutch and typed the part number into the Google machine and JC Whitney popped up as the cheapest price. When I went to their website they had a popup window for additional 10 percent off. All total, they smashed any other price I could find. They beat Amazon by nearly 50 percent ! Order placed and tracking number the next morning. Fedex is delivering it tomorrow.

I guess what I'm saying is that it appears they have transitioned from those cheesy catalogs of yesteryear to a modern viable web-based mail order company if anyone cares to give them a chance.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

I used to laugh at all of the adds on they sold. Their flag ship trucks looked like this monstrosity:

 

[MJD1]

Always got a kick out of the tiny print they used. Also the fuel saving gimmicks, the way they made it sound, your vehicle would almost produce it's own fuel.

 

[Richard Cranium]

And the battery additive, put this in once and never need another battery

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Their warehouse is about 30 miles from me. They still have the catalog(s). Occasionally I'll order something from them. If I'm in the area and have time I'll visit their clearance room, usually find a good deal on something I don't need.
Yes they have some lower grade merchandise and quirky accessories. A lot of items are the same you could get at any other store.

 

[leg17]

Required reading in the tool-room back in the '60s:

J.C. Whitney (or Warshawsky's) catalog
Craftsman hand tool catalog
Sears farm and garden catalog
Road atlas book
updated hunting and fishing license info
current Shotgun News

 

[fsae0607]

Ah yes, I always loved to read the catalog back in the 90's. I ordered a carpet set for my Cutlass Supreme. I remember installing it on a hot summer day when I was 20 years old. It didn't have rigid backing at all, so the foot areas would always fold in and expose the floorpan.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

Then have them send you a new catalog.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/

not the same as the old ones with all the goofy stuff in them

 

[Roberts210]

........and that fake cat you'd put in the rear package tray and wire up the eyes to your turn signals........Doc.

Man oh man... I gotta get me one o' those.

 

[Robby321]

Damn I am getting old! I still have all the catalogs for VW's M/C's, trucks. And I rember when its was Warshawsky!
JC Whitney began its life in 1915 as The Warshawsky Company, a scrap metal yard on the South Side of Chicago. ..Link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JC_Whitney

 

[Showkey]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^How appropriate .......scrap metal.

 

[eborcim]

I always wanted to build a VW Beetle out of the catalog.

 

[LAROKE]

Back in the late sixties, I bought a "rebuilt" three-speed ****** for my '59 Ford from them. It arrived painted Ford Blue, including the mating surface and splines at both ends. Inside were rusty gears packed in some kinda graphite mixture. It worked but took a hell of a lot of cleanup.

 

[KRB52]

I used to love reading them cover-to-cover when I was a kid (70's). My FIL used to get them, too and has ordered stuff from them. He managed to bust one of the mirrors on his truck (2000-something Chevy) and was saying how much it cost to order one from JCW. They still have the light-up hood ornament of the guy thumbing his nose?

 

[zendriver]

Purchased a few things from them, but in 1984, for some body rust work, I purchased their 500 steel pop rivets, for $7.99.

Greatest bargain in the history of the world, since hardware stores sold them about $3 for 15!

I still have about 375 of them left.

 

[K-Dog]

Oh yeah !!!!!!!!
I had my 73 Volvo all decked out in their stuff back in 1987.

I am actually surprised they still exist.

 

[Robby321]

One more "it aint all junk"! Heck I restored in early 80's a 78 Chevy G20. To hippy style "**** wagon". Bet daily more stuff from JC showed daily. Friends mine the gas station called it the "JC Special". And it lasted 25 years until "gave up". But as I had and still do old Harleys with the brake switch off the rear master, and HD which never lasted but wanted $20? HA! Tried for $2 a same 2 prong switch for a VW. Still have many spares!
But that "battery additive", stop oil burning with a set "Screw in plug holes and then put the plug in". Oil can't get to it? Yeah, right! Gotta love the snake oil pushing! But how many here bought a "Mood Ring", or a "pet rock"? (Sucker born every minute!)

 

[creativecars]

If you bought all their stuff to increase mileage cars could make gas.

 

[WVBrady]

Best thing I ever got from them was a manual for my '67 VW Fastback for about $17. It was the official VM shop manual! Mechanic stole it out of my car.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I miss the old catalogs.... As a teen in the 70's it wasn't uncommon to drive in to Chicago from the suburbs to go to Warshawski's. What was even more amazing is all the JUNK I bought that I didn't know I needed.

I miss those days

 

[rharman]

Bought from them when you had to mail in an order form. Lot's of junky stuff.... I remember the "box of springs". Mostly useless collection but fun to have on hand. Bought a lot of little **** like that.

 

[redmondjp]

Oooh yes! As a kid, I read those things cover-to-cover from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. I used to pick a car (Jeep, VW Bug, etc) and then spend the afternoon decking the whole thing out with every part I could find in the entire catalog that would go on it (The Rolls-Royce body kit, for example, on a VW Beetle).

Around 1982, I actually ordered some parts from them for my 1941 Chevrolet - the still had "new" headlight trim rings and running board trim. The stock trim on the car was true stainless steel. What I got from J.C. Whitney was cheap chrome (that term is really too strong of a term, I don't know that there was enough chrome on the part to call it such)-plated mystery metal that was made in Brazil or some other South-American country. It shocked me. Those parts never got put on the car due to their poor quality.

But fun stuff? You bet. My favorite item of all time? Well, besides the "La Cucaracha" air horns? Winky the cat - which sat on your rear parcel shelf, and had red light-up eyes that you connected to your brake light circuit and turn signals. Darn I am still kicking myself that I didn't ever order one of those! Here's a post on it for those who have never seen one:

http://jalopnik.com/238353/if-you-cant-buy-it-build-it-wanky-the-safety-cat

 

[Bagherra]

The HF of the 70's....

 

[Hootbro]

The HF of the 70's....

Except those Harbor Freight catalogs of the late 70's and 80's also clogged up my mailbox with the same frequency as JC Whitney back then.

 

[383 240z]

There sure were some weird things in their catalogs. My all time favorite was a central distribution system for greasing the steering system fittings. A roll of plastic tubing that your were to run to each fitting, an adapter to allow the tubing to connect to the threaded hole in the tie rod or whatever. A manifold to connect all the tubes to and a fitting in which you would pump in the grease.

Just try and picture that freaking mess.

That system was factory installed on mid-20's-1940's Rolls Royce cars. The tubes were steel of course, but that was the basic system. Your driver pumped the grease pedal a few times before turning the engine over before every trip. Keith

 

[OccupantRJ]

I bought quite a bit from them back in the day. One item I bought often was convertible tops for small two seater cars, as back then I made a few extra weekend bucks installing small tops. I also used them as a substitute for a Hollander manual to see if the part number for one car would be the same part for another. Also bought quite a few VW beetle parts when I was into them.