Long ago on independence square (Kansas City, Jackson: AFB, plates, manufacturers)

[CaseyMO]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Do you recall an old man by the name of Casper Fopper? Rumor had it he was 86 years old and he looked mean, looked like a tramp and was always going through the garbage at all the stores on the four corners. He seemed to be physically fit for such an old man. No one ever bothered him.

I am not familiar with the name nor the story. But, I am familiar with this person...

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by CaseyMO

I am not familiar with the name nor the story. But, I am familiar with this person...

Stan Calvert, he was a good ole boy from my perspective.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

He had a huge stack of old tires behind this station that had been taken off cars when the owner bought a new set. I could not afford new tires or a new tire, so when I needed one I went back there and picked out the best one I could find. He charged me $1 for the tire and I don't believe he charged me to put it on my car.

I could not afford white wall tires, which were standard in the sixties, fifties, and earlier. No self respecting person would be caught dead without whitewalls on their car. So, to keep from being embarrassed and to keep up with the Jones folks, I put fake white sidewalls on my tires.

If the old tire I selected in back of the DX station was a white wall, it would not match my fakes. So the tire was turned to the black side and the fake mounted. A number of guys did what I did and you could look underneath the cars that had fakes and see a whitewall or two facing in under the car.

A fake white wall was a circular ring of white rubber maybe two, three, or four inches in width, depending on the tastes of the public at the time. The inner part of the ring was tapered and this part was mounted under the tire rim to hold it in place. The width of the white ring that represented the whitewall laid flat, most of the time, against the tire wall. One could tear a fake apart by parking parallel and hitting the curb.

Up close, anyone could tell a fake. From a few feet away, it was not so discernible. I always bought my fakes at the Western Auto on the northwest corner of Maple and Osage.

As time went by and tastes changed, I had to purchase a new set of fakes as whitewalls began to decrease in width during the fifties. After I was out of high school, I could afford genuine whitewall tires.

I think the whitewall tire thing ended after the white ring decreased in size to an inch or so wide. I seem to recall that at the end of the whitewall thing, some tires had two white rings maybe each being a half inch in size separated by a half inch black ring.

Nowadays, unless they are driving a really old classic, people would not be caught dead with whitewall tires on their car, chuckle.

[CaseyMO]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I think the whitewall tire thing ended after the white ring decreased in size to an inch or so wide. I seem to recall that at the end of the whitewall thing, some tires had two white rings maybe each being a half inch in size separated by a half inch black ring.

Nowadays, unless they are driving a really old classic, people would not be caught dead with whitewall tires on their car, chuckle.

Ah, yes, the narrow whitewall tires. Here is my '58 Chevy in a picture taken either in 1962 or 1963. Loved this car.

[CaseyMO]

This photo was taken by me in the 1957 to 1959 timeframe.

If you were driving south on South Kiger during these years and you crossed the railroad tracks that are just south of Walnut, and if you looked to the left, this is what you would have seen.

Now, if you look to the left you would see the houses on the south side of Elm Street.

[CaseyMO]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

There was a Blue Valley Studebaker in Independence but I cannot recall the location. Our next door neighbor purchased a new ’53 Studebaker. He also drove a Nash Ambassador.

There was a large Chevrolet dealer on Independence Avenue in the Fairmount shopping area..

Don't forget Latimer Motors which was on the SE corner of Main and Walnut.

Also, the dealer in Fairmount was Ross Chevrolet which later became Dahmer Chevrolet.

Here is a picture of Lund Studebaker. It was on Maple across from the Granada Theater.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by CaseyMO

Also, the dealer in Fairmount was Ross Chevrolet which later became Dahmer Chevrolet.

Wasn't the Fairmount dealer Browning Chevrolet at one time, perhaps the late 1960s-early 70s?

[CaseyMO]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Wasn't the Fairmount dealer Browning Chevrolet at one time, perhaps the late 1960s-early 70s?

According to what I have found online, it appears that Browning may have been there after Dahmer left. All I have found is what appears to be the taking of a car and a legal notice. The address is listed as:

BROWNING CHEVROLET, 10401 Independence Ave., Independence, Mo

I know that my father bought a new 1954 Chevrolet from Ross in Fairmount.

[CaseyMO]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Nowadays, unless they are driving a really old classic, people would not be caught dead with whitewall tires on their car, chuckle.

Speaking of classics, WCHS'59, how long has it been since you were last in Independence. Are you aware of the car show every Saturday night during the summer on Jackson?

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by CaseyMO

According to what I have found online, it appears that Browning may have been there after Dahmer left. All I have found is what appears to be the taking of a car and a legal notice. The address is listed as:

BROWNING CHEVROLET, 10401 Independence Ave., Independence, Mo

I know that my father bought a new 1954 Chevrolet from Ross in Fairmount.

My first car was a 1954 Chevrolet Belair. This is how it looked after a drunk rear-ended it.