And this is the unrivaled hands down best ice cream parlor on Planet Earth, end of discussion
Can you stroll into your favorite ice cream parlor and ask for the booth where Al Capone or the Beatles ate? Then STFU
Wilson's in Door County WI (since 1906) is a worthy runner up, and fueled by Wisconsin's mighty cows
Protip: when in Austin try Nau's Enfield Drug, a survivor old timey drug store soda fountain (and RIP Pearson's Drug Store in Iowa City)
Last but not least, the hot roddiest ice cream parlor in America, the iconic Nite Owl. Since 1948. 830 E. Layton Avenue, Milwaukee Wisconsin, my bosom hot rod buddy @ropekechris proprietor. Tell 'em Dave sent you
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A happy #davescaridservice Winter Solstice to all who celebrate! I don't, because frankly the whole winter business is not my cup of tea. Literally leaves me cold, not unlike this unfortunate 1959 Buick convertible in a vintage LIFE magazine shot.
On the upside, at least the sunset has stopped receding, and the coming snow and ice give me a chance to hone my car ID chops. But not even the brutal snows of Chicago can obscure the mighty tailfins of a 1959 Cadillac 4 door hardtop.
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Shovel, shovel, shovel.
This shot from 1960 NYC by Robert Doisneau shows French cellist Maurice Baquet trying to open the door to his 1957 Oldsmobile. Best hail a cab Mo, lest you want to play your big fiddle with frostbite.
As the Thanksgiving weekend winds down and your leftovers disappear, I would like to commemorate the season in a very #DavesCarIDService way: with a salute to Mayflower-themed Plymouth and Native American-themed Pontiac.
Both Plymouth and Pontiac were relative latecomers to car making, and both were corporate-created brands aimed at a similar market niche. GM created Pontiac in 1926 as a low priced companion brand to Oakland, and Chrysler created Plymouth in 1928 as a low price alternative to Dodge.
And they were both created with a distinct branding identity: Plymouth redolent of proud Mayflower pilgrims, and Pontiac of proud Native Americans. "Pontiac" actually comes the Michigan city where the plant was located, but they played the Native American connotations to the hilt.
In the spirit of the season I will show some of the ornaments that displayed that pride. First, Plymouth with their increasingly stylized Mayflower:
1934, 1936, 1938, 1948. Alas, the Plymouth Mayflower was stylized out of existence in 1955.
I suppose my kids got a lot of served a lot of unrequested Beatles in their music classes, but at least they didn't have to deal with that fucking Peter Paul & Mary folk music shit that I was faced with
RIP to the great Jim Abrahams, of Zucker-Zucker-Abrahams fame. At the U of Wisconsin, they founded the Kentucky Fried Theater, that led to their first movie.
Later they returned to Madison and funded the absurdist Pail & Shovel Party to run for student government, with a campaign promise to bring the Statue of Liberty to campus. They made good on it with a replica on frozen Lake Mendota, and also installing over 1000 plastic pink flamingos on the campus quad.
Hail and farewell to a great Badger and a great prankster.
btw the movie "AIRPLANE!" was based on was the forgettable 1957 melodrama "ZERO HOUR!" It's apretty hilarious to watch now because you realize AIRPLANE! mostly follows it scene by scene but with added gags.
The thing about Zucker-Zucker-Abrahams is they combined the two most powerful genres of comedy: Jewish and Midwestern.
Smirk all you want about Midwest humor but I'll just point to MST3000, the original Onion, John Hughes, and most of the original National Lampoon.
Only a few grocery shopping days left until Thanksgiving, so it's time for #DavesCarIDService to talk turkey!
The fate of this crated gobbler seems to be slowly dawning on him as his comrades are being unloaded from back of a 1947 Dodge 3/4 ton dually.
*the above illustration was from a 1947 Dodge truck ad. The '30s to '50s were sort of a high watermark for the advertising illustration arts, especially around the holidays. I've been able to find several delightful ones featuring our dimwitted but delicious Thanksgiving dinner guests of honor, like this one for the stunning 1939 LaSalle. Like the turkey, LaSalle had a short lived future; the brand was retired by GM after the 1940 model year.
What is the TURKEY'S magic power? For me, it's the power to make me fall asleep during a Detroit Lions game. But apparently this one has the magic power to grow to Godzilla proportions in the back of a 1939 International truck. Gobble gobble, who's Thanksgiving dinner now?