Scanning Around With Gene: Maintaining Your Car and Your Home

Gene Gable

The latest service woes of Toyota made me oddly nostalgic for the days when it was assumed that most cars would be in the shop frequently and everyone had a relationship with their dealer or mechanic. In 1960, if you got 75,000 miles on a car you were doing pretty good. My last Honda didn’t even require a major service until 110,000 miles. There’s no question that cars have become dramatically more reliable, and “service” now refers mostly to the occasional trip to JiffyLube for an oil change.
So this week I dug up a series of promotional mailings done by Chevrolet from 1952 to 1964, which had a theme of “maintaining your car and your home.” Each mailing consisted of a folded 11″ x 17″ mini poster that, on one side, promoted Chevrolet dealer services, and on the other gave handy tips on household repairs and how to use various tools and hardware. Click on any image for a larger version.




In those days the mechanics were all men, and many of the promotional flyers showed women as the customers. Some came right out and said that Chevy dealers were so trustworthy that even a woman could feel comfortable taking the car in for service.



Regular tune-ups were common back then. Cars needed new spark plugs, points, and the carburetors always seemed to need adjusting. We didn’t have modern fuel injection and computer-controlled engines; making an engine “purr” was something you did with a screwdriver and a good ear.



These particular mailings contained guides to household tools and chores, which were meant to be hung in the garage and used as reference material. If you went in to your local Chevy dealer, you could pick up a version printed on card stock so it would last longer on your garage wall.



I particularly like the artwork of all the nails and screws and various tools. Some of these pieces are still relevant today. A few basics have changed, but nuts and bolts are pretty much the same. And even though paint now claims to be less toxic, you still need a brush or a roller to apply it.



As for the Chevy service promotions, they aren’t a whole lot different either. There’s a big stress in these flyers about proper lubrication, keeping your tires in good shape, and replacing shock absorbers.



One thing that seemed more prominent back then was the need for regular body work to take out all the little nicks and dings, and the advice to regularly apply a good paste wax. Automobile finishes are clearly better these days as well, and thanks to flexible bumpers, you don’t seem to get nearly as many dents.


Sometimes I wonder how we survived driving around in those big, heavy cars with such powerful engines (and no seat belts in many cases). Dash boards were often metal, maybe with a little padding if you were lucky, and no one imagined something as bizarre as an airbag.


So while I don’t really miss the cars of the era, I still value the home maintenance advice and tool guides Chevrolet put out. I learned more about pegboard hooks and paintbrush styles than I thought possible, and now I know the difference between a fence staple and a double-pointed tack.