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Evans Clearfloat Lighter w/ CJ-5 **SOLD**

July 26, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: This sold for $66 plus shipping of $15.

This unique lighter with an entombed jeep model has already reached $26 (+$15 shipping) with four days to go.

dudley-cj5-lighter

“What a great piece. During the 1950s and 1960s Evans teamed up with the Clearfloat Company to create various see through lighters with miniaturized items “floating” inside. This one has a miniaturized figural Willys Jeep.

The lighter is also marked “Dudley”. Likely, this piece was a gift from the Jeep Dealer of Dudley, Massachusetts to their Jeep Customers. If anyone knows more about them, please drop me a line and I will add it to the info.

The Jeep inside this great decor piece is superbly detailed. I have pictured it from all angles for your inspection. Since the craftsmen at Clearfloat made these lighters by hand, there are no two of them alike. This special piece is in excellent condition with a snappy action. The flint tube is clear and a it has a great spark from the new flint that was installed for your convenience.

Here is your chance to add this Good-Looking Evans Clearfloat Décor Table Lighter to your collection – Thanks for looking.”

dudley-cj5-lighter3 dudley-cj5-lighter4

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1965 Salem Jeep Club Article

July 25, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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This article from the May 24, 1965, issue of the Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, follows the Salem Jeep Club’s trip with the Yakima Mountaineer’s Jeep Club (I’m not familiar with that club name) into the Cascade Mountains, specially the Ahtanum area west of Yakima.

1965-05-24-capital-journal-salem-jeep-club-jeepers-rough-outside-lores

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January 1950 Pop Mechanics Sky-High Painter

July 24, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles, Magazine, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Gayland spotted this unusual setup for painting tall places from a jeep. This was published on page 114 of the January 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics. Just hope it isn’t a windy day!

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The is a better look at the rigging:

1950-01-pop-mechanics-ladderless-painting-p114-2

And a close up of the jeep:

1950-01-pop-mechanics-ladderless-painting-p114-3

 

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1943 Photo of Sioux City’s North Junior’s Jeep Purchases

July 24, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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This April 02, 1943, photo highlighted Sioux City’s North Junior School’s purchase of not one, but two jeeps as part of the “buy a jeep” bond campaign. They were the first school to buy one (and the first to buy two) jeeps. The Secretary of the United States Treasury presented the school with an award for its efforts.

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April 02, 1943, Sioux City Journal

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Photo of Soldiers and Landing Craft w/ Jeep on eBay

July 24, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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The photo is dated May 5, 1985, probably because it was placed into a newspaper on that day. In my opinion it looks like a staged photo, given all the decorations on the jeep and the way the soldiers exit the landing craft, yet still provide the photographer a great look at the jeep. No description provided.

View all the information on eBay

wwii-landing-craft1 wwii-landing-craft2

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January 1950 Popular Mechanics Article on Tinkertown

July 23, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles, Unusual • TAGS: , , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: Jerry contacted me about a locomotive jeep he would like to restore (see near bottom). He noted that it was used at Tinkertown and found this older post while hoping to learn more. So, this post is a complete redo of an early post that focused just on photos in a January 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics.

It is probably no surprise that the Los Angeles metroplitan area was a hotbed of theme parks and carnivals following World War II. In particular, there was Beverly Park, which is claimed to be the park that stimulated Disney’s interests in theme parks.

One of those carnivals was a traveling kiddie carnival called Tinkertown. Articles show it existed at least from 1950 through 1952, operating in Monrovia, Wilmington, Los Angeles, and other LA area towns.

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December 06, 1951, Wilmington Daily Press, Wilmington, California. Tinkertown Kiddie Carnival announcement.

Tinkertown appears to have owned, at one time or another, at least four unusual jeeps. One was a fire jeep made from a CJ-2A, shown below in red.

A second jeep appeared to have been a stretched (probably surplus) WWII jeep made into some kind of fire jeep used to tow a small Ferris wheel.

The article above refers to the jeep as a “fire engine”; perhaps it was modified during WWII? Here’s a better image:

1950-01-popular-mechanics-stretched-jeep-lores

A third jeep-related setup was a train possibly made from a jeep (or jeep-engine-powered at the very least). It is pictured here:

 

The fourth known jeep was a jeep turned into a locomotive. It’s the one Jerry now owns (along with two of the tram cars), one he’d like to restore. It’s in surprisingly complete condition. He’s hoping to learn more about the manufacturer and/or Tinkertown. Here’s a photo of his train:

jerry-tinkertown-train-lores

Here’s how it looked in 1950:

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