Dirty Work

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 10/25/2018 at 16:48 • Filed to: None

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Original caption: June 1939. “Migrant steeplejack removing the crankcase from his automobile while his father blocks up the front wheel near Prague, Oklahoma. When he secures a job, the entire family, consisting of his father and mother, wife and sister, all help with the painting.”

Click photo credit for full size

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 16:59

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Under a car, on a sketchy-looking jack, which isn’t even on pavement.

But hey, it sure looks like he has two cigarettes dangling from his mouth!

Safety 3rd!

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 10/25/2018 at 17:05

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I looked closer, and I don’t think they are cigarettes. Not sure what they are.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:07

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I actually thought the bottom one was a cigarette with a long ash.

Top one isn’t though - perhaps keeping the bolts in his mouth so he doesn’t lose them in the grass.

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:09

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Looks like a 26-27 Chrysler.

Urambo Tauro > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:10

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...removing the crankcase ? With a speed handle/drill?

Party-vi > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:13

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That lower one is definitely a cigarette

ttyymmnn > fintail 10/25/2018 at 17:18

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I at least had the Chrysler part figured out from the radiator badge!

ttyymmnn > Urambo Tauro 10/25/2018 at 17:19

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Nowhere to plug in his impact wrench. 

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:21

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Yep, not the toughest one.  Also note the badge shape is repeated in the design on the headlight bezels.

lone_liberal > WilliamsSW 10/25/2018 at 17:22

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He was a steeplejack in the 30s which means he climbed tall buildings with minimal, if any, safety gear so I doubt that working under the car caused him much concern. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:24

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“ On the first Saturday of May each year there is a ‘Kolache Festival’. It celebrates the Czech culture brought from the ‘old country.’ One can learn more at the Prague Historical Museum on the town’s main street, Jim Thorpe Boulevard, which is named for the town’s most famous son, the Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe.”

Urambo Tauro > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:53

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Obviously lol.

Still wondering how much of the “crankcase” the caption writer expects this guy to be able to remove from underneath though. Going off of fintail’s ID of this as a ’ 26-’ 27 Chrysler, my google-fu tells me that it likely has a straight 6 flathead under the hood. Which apparently has a conventional oil pan. Is that what he’s removing?

glemon > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 17:54

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That looks like a very spindly jack, in the dirt, holding that car up. Yikes.

Also, one cigarette, two cigarettes? Or is the second thing a tool or toothpick or something.

ranwhenparked > fintail 10/25/2018 at 18:26

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The 15 year old Buick LeSabre of its day. A stoutly built, long running car for someone needing cheap and reliable transportation. Think they were still building those engines into the 1970s, too.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Urambo Tauro 10/25/2018 at 18:30

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I would think so.

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 10/25/2018 at 18:30

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We’ve got our own representatives of the Czech community here in TX. There is a well known bakery called the Czech Stop in West, TX that is famous for their kolaches. Any trip to Dallas requires a stop in West.

ttyymmnn > glemon 10/25/2018 at 18:32

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Not sure. Others have said that it’s a cigarette on the bottom. I’m not so sure.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 10/25/2018 at 20:35

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We were just there last Thursday! So good... I also  need to make it down sometime for a tour of the Shiner brewery.

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 10/25/2018 at 20:43

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I toured the brewery years ago, but they weren’t brewing that day. But we still got the samples!

glemon > Urambo Tauro 10/25/2018 at 21:19

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If I remember "The Grapes of Wrath" right, they made some "babbit" bearings by the side of the road for their Model T

WilliamsSW > lone_liberal 10/25/2018 at 21:59

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Yeah this was  probably relaxing for him. 

Urambo Tauro > glemon 10/25/2018 at 23:00

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I’m gonna have to check that out.