1934 Packard V12 LeBaron Speedster, Danbury Mint
Looking a little worse for the wear, I found the 1:24 diecast scale model '34 Packard today. It's missing a bumper (which is probably tucked around here somewhere), some little trim pieces, and the tires are cracking where I painted the whitewalls black—I've never really been a fan of wide whites. The bright red paint is fine, the pseudo-leather interior is a bit cracked, but the absolutely classic lines are as flawless as they were when LeBaron and Packard created the real car in the throws of the Depression. Click on the image, as always, to see it much larger.
It's sitting on top of some of my antique books, dating back to the early 1800s, also with badly cracking leather on their bindings. There are several Edison phonograph records, cylinder records dating back to the very early 1900s—these are the "rough" ones. I have a small suitcase with about 75 pristine cylinders in it, but I like to look at them so I leave these well-used ones out. Everything is situated on the top shelf of the secretary in the photo in the post below. Eagle-eyed readers will notice a cute novelty dog toy at the top right. He's a bit lopsided these days, but if you press down on the square wooden base, depressing the round button on the bottom, the dog will go limp at every joint and fall over. When you release the base, and the button is free to come back out, the little doggie stands back up straight again. I have no idea why this item was created, but can you imagine a small child today being happy to "play" with something that isn't interactive or have an electronic keyboard and monitor, lol?
• Here's a link to the exact scale model, in pristine condition. I've had mine for 20 years at least, and actually prefer mine now that it's achieved a patina, lol.
• Here's a link to a page of '34 Packard V12s. Scroll down a bit for a bright red LeBaron speedster like my model. It might be the exact car the mint studied for the model, but in these photos it's displayed with steel disc wheels I don't believe I've seen before on a Packard of that vintage.
CASEY, I HAD ONE OF THOSE DOG TOYS WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG. GEE, I WISH I HAD THAT TOY. I WOULD SEND IT TO YOU.HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU STORE ALL THIS STUFF. I USE THIS WORD STUFF LIGHTLY. IT SHOULD BE BELOVED THINGS. WHEN I LOOK AT ANYTHING OF OTHERS I ALWAYS THINK ABOUT THEM FOR A WHILE. MOSTLY MOM.
ReplyDeleteWORK HARD TODAY. I WISH I WAS A MOUSE IN YOUR HOUSE SO I COULD WATCH YOU CREAT YOUR MASTERPIECES.
GRANNY
Good Morning all who browse here! I love your model MORE because of the wear! As for the little doggie, I had a "plastic" version...how fun were they? I also LOVE the 3 little piggies sitting to the left side of the photo...cute. My gma had quite a few little things like that.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any of the little bisque(I would guess) black babies with articulated arms and legs and head I think...they were sold in bins at the dime store (Ben Franklin store..did you have those where you are??) I LOVED them and how I wish I had a couple! They were adorable. Also wish I had the little wiener dog that would "walk" downhill with his little movable legs...was only 3" or so..those are the two things I have thought I wished I still had
Have a sunny fall day...hope you had no frost..it was 60 in here this a.m. so was chilly!
mare
That Packard looks better with a little wear -- the way a car like that would have looked as a daily driver in the 50s had it survived the war. My Dad was a UPS driver and one of the stops on his regular route was a Shell station in Hillsdale, NJ. The owner of the Shell station lived just around the corner from the station and had a boat-tail Packard Speedster. His name was George Jepson and he and his car, along with a 1934 Packard victoria were featured in some magazine that I had, probably in the late 50s. Both the Speedster and the Victoria looked like well-used but still serviceable cars -- the way cars are supposed to be when they're more than 20 years old! It annoys me when I see movies set in period and all the cars are colorful and perfect looking with clean white wall tires, etc. That's not how most of them looked in the period in which the movie is set. For one thing, white walls were VERY rare and paint didn't stay shiny for very long. Where is authenticity? On Casey's blog!!
ReplyDeletePaul, NYC
P.S. I also had one of those toys where you pushed the button and it collapsed -- it probably was a dog but I don't remember for sure.
Granny: You can see how I have to put everything around here: on top of each other, lol. I have tables on top of tables, everything is stacked, but I don't mind. I love my stuff. It cheers me up when I look at it all and remember where each and every piece is from.
ReplyDeleteMare: I do have a few little black dolls, but I'm not sure they were Five and Dime store items. Yes we had Ben Franklin stores here!
Paul: If you like wear and tear, or the upscale version of that "patina" you've come to the right place, lol! You make a great point about white walls and paint. Paint could fade terribly in just a few years. As late as the 1960s, cars in Connecticut rusted through in 5 years or less. My Infiniti is 12 years old now and except for a few parking lot dings, and a few small dents in the passenger side roof near the B pillar from a falling tree a few years ago, it could be brand new, and it lives outside with very, very little care. By the time Hoohoo's '58 Tbird was 12 years old, it had been painted twice, had the engine replaced once, and had been consigned to the junkyard for 2 years. There was very little to salvage by 1968 and it was GARAGED it's whole life! I'm amazed when I see any car from the 50s around today because I know she took really good care of hers and it still disintegrated before her eyes.
Granny, "Mouse in the House" great title for a children's book.
ReplyDelete