– photo courtesy of theoldmotor.com
No, please be my guest and have a longer look at the above photo. I’ll be more than happy to wait; after all, it’s Valentine’s Day, and I have a delightful little box of all-sorts sitting beside me, taunting me for my attention!
Ah, you’re back! Great! I was utterly impressed by the ingenuity of the, “Auto Wash Bowl”. And what a wash bowl it was! First appearing in St. Paul, Minnesota, the bowl soon became a hit on the Chicago car circuit.
Chicago’s answer to bathtubs for big cars arrived in the form of a large basin-shaped construction. At a reasonable price of just 25 cents, an attendant would place a cover over the car’s radiator to protect it from the car cleansing! Car owners would then drive ‘into’ the bowl, complete several circular laps while the ridged concrete of the bowl removed some of the mud and dirt from the vehicle’s undercarriage.
– photo courtesy of picasaweb.google.com
Interesting the car in the above newspaper ad is referred to as, “Henry”, don’t you think? Ah, Mr. Henry Ford, methinks you’ve had more than your fair share of motorized monikers!
A resounding, “Everybody out of the pool” was heard (just kidding; but it would be rather funny, don’t you think?) For those who needed the deluxe cleaning, a quick drive out of the bowl and into a service bay was in order, where an attendant would take over to, ‘finish the job’ (I did say it was the, “Chicago Way” now, didn’t I?) *grin*
For those who wanted to jump in with both feet (and car), you, yes YOU could own your very own automatic, automobile bathing bowl:
– photo courtesy of picasaweb.google.com
Ah, Saturdays at the ‘ol Auto Wash Bowl; good, clean, car fun!
Does it get all that nasty salt off the entire car? 🙂
*LOL* Excellent question, John!!! 🙂 Cher xo
Ha ha ha – such early innovation! No really surprised they decided it was easier to spray the water on the car. Our luck and we’d have stalled after driving into the pool 😉
*biggest grin* It was quite something, wasn’t it? Ah yes, the sprayer was no doubt soon behind the ‘bowl invention’, as it were! *LOL* I would be stalled after the pool, too!! Cher xo
Fascinating – that’s why I so enjoy your blog, Cher, full of surprises and often with an unassuming educational slant to it.Wonderful stuff.
Thank you so much, Don! You have literally made my week! I do appreciate your thoughtful words! Thank you!!! Cher xo
lol if they only knew of Vancouver floods lately 😛
Flooding in Van? What’s going on, Andy? Happy Valentine’s Day, by the way! *extra ice cream* Cher xo
Well, a month ago now we had non stop torrential rain in North Van that flooded at least 30 homes, like literally turned their basements into swimming pools, caused the city over 5 million in damages :O
Oh no! I had no idea! We don’t get a lot of Canuck news here as you can probably imagine. I’m really sorry about that. 🙁
Oh I was fine, I’m on the other mountain, where we were okay except for some heavily flooded on and off ramps which proved an interesting drive, the poor kids though that were affected :-/
Ah, well I am really glad you were fine! Yes, the poor kids that were affected; that must have been really difficult for them.
Hapee Valentines! xo 🙂
What a great story. So advanced at the time. Now, you can just run your car through a tunnel of big, heavy brushes and other instruments running across your car and hope for the best. If all goes well, the dirt is removed and none of your car’s external parts are scratched or worse, left dangling, as you pull out.
It was really advanced at the time, wasn’t it, Bruce? Oh my goodness, yes, those contraptions are almost too powerful, I think. I wonder how many ‘extra’ items have been left behind after a day of an automatic car wash! Perhaps the auto wash bowl wasn’t such a bad idea after all! Cher xo
Brilliant and perfect. I really laughed. Thanks for sharing. Hope you are surviving the cold. Hugs, Barbara
Thank you so much, dear Barbara! I am so glad to hear that! Yes, we are staying inside a lot this weekend! Thank you also for the reblog! Muchly appreciated!! Hugs, Cher xo
Reblogged this on IdealisticRebel's Daily View of Favorites.
Wow those were the days…I wasn’t there but still those were the days…
Quite something, wasn’t it! Cher xo
I guess those were simple times….
Indeed, they certainly were!!
That’s certainly a fascinating slice of Chicago history – would love to have seen it in action!
Me too, Veronica! It must have been a sight to see! And I am sure for the time it seemed ‘advanced’! Cher xo
Well, that’s one solution to the problem of washing cars, although it seems like it’d have problems with how Model T’s had the power to churn through a straight line at a middling speed.
I am thinking the industrious ‘inventors’ of the wash bowl didn’t think everything through before opening up the bowl, as it were! Somehow I think necessity was the mother of this invention, despite its shortcomings! I do think it looks rather fun though, don’t you think so? *grin* Cher xo
Salt was not widely used as a road de-icer in 1924.
My question: During the Chicago winter, does it become the Auto Ice SKating Rink?
That is such a great question! It actually doesn’t; however, in Canada, many places it certainly does become Auto Ice Skating Ring! *LOL* Perhaps back in 1924 Chicago it sure did! 🙂 Cher xo
I love this idea, it’s really cute! I’m not sure it would have given the cars a thorough cleaning, and I imagine it wouldn’t have been too kind on the car’s machinery! However, it’s really adorable!
Hi Em! *LOL* Oh yes, I agree! When I first saw the photo I honestly thought this must be a joke! Hehehehe Knowing that it was real makes it all the more funny! Thank you, my dear! Cher xo
Ha Ha! Brilliant!!!!
*LOL* Isn’t it funny, Ritu? Thank you! Cher xo
I want One!!!
Hee hee!!! xo
OMG! Thanks for sharing it. It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. I would’ve liked to have seen it.
LOL Isn’t it funny, Pam? I feel the same way! Hahaha Cher xo