Q&A: July 4, 2019 Edition
Q. I retired from UPS 23 years ago and remember our Peterbuilt and some Mack tractors having the horn buttons in the Apr. 25 Q&A.— Phil Emerson, Riverside, Calif. A….
Q. I retired from UPS 23 years ago and remember our Peterbuilt and some Mack tractors having the horn buttons in the Apr. 25 Q&A.
— Phil Emerson, Riverside, Calif.
A. Thanks for helping us focus the identification. I was thinking delivery trucks, which didn’t quite fit with Reo and Diamond Reo. It seems more likely, then, that Dale Thompson’s horn buttons may be from over-the-road UPS tractor-trailers.
Q. I have a friend who recently had this door given to him. He now hangs it in his hunting camp “man cave.” He just retired from the Potsdam, N.Y., police force. I’m wondering if someone could identify the year and make of car.
— Jeff Scovil, Colton, N.Y.
A. I see evidence of a push-button door handle with key lock below, located just below a side body crease. The crease, and another on the lower part of the door, may not show up well in print but, when combined with the severely-sloped A pillar set back from the hinge line of the door, I think it leads to a 1966-’67 Plymouth Belvedere, a model popular for small-town policing. Did Potsdam use Plymouth police cruisers back in the day?
Q. Being a military brat, I have lived in quite a few states. I understand the term “glove box” [a place to keep gloves], but here in Montana they call it a “jockey box.” Where does this term come from?
— Ron Glasson, Deer Lodge, Mont.
A. I grew up in New England, and my family always referred to a “glove compartment,” which is a generic term for a glove box. Wikipedia expands on this somewhat: “A glove compartment or glovebox or glovie is a compartment built into the dashboard of an automobile, located over the front-seat passenger’s footwell, and often used for miscellaneous storage. The name derives from the original purpose of the compartment, to store driving gloves. They were sometimes in a box on the floorboard near the driver, hence the word ‘glovebox.’ In most vehicles, the glove compartment closes with a latch, with the option of being locked with a key (often desirable when using valet service, or when parking with the convertible top down, or when the compartment contains a mechanism to open the trunk).” That verges on too much information, although the term “glovie” was new to me.
Under “Other local names,” however, Wikipedia goes on to say: “In Barbados, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, as well as parts of southern Minnesota and northwest Wyoming, the glove compartment is commonly referred to as a ‘cubby-hole.’ It is also occasionally called a ‘jockey box,’ especially in the upper Rocky Mountain states in the United States, such as Idaho. There’s also a screen pop-up arising from “jockey box” that explains: “A jockey box is an insulated container containing ice and water, as well as a long coil of hollow tubing. The device is used to cool beverages being served on tap in temporary locations.”
So I wonder, is it common to see cars with dashboard-mounted tap handles in Montana? What do other readers call a glove box? I remember an elderly uncle who called it simply a “pocket.”
Q. Does anyone know where I can find an original trunk mat for a 1941 Dodge business coupe? If so, please contact: Gene Johnston, 620-496-5431, Yates Center, KS.
A. Are you hoping for a new old stock mat, or a reproduction of good quality? Unless it’s stored under ideal conditions, rubber deteriorates over time, and if stored rolled up may take a permanent set. Failing that, you might be able to make an acceptable mat from modern material, unless, of course, you’re completing a prize-winning restoration.
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