– photo courtesy of theoldmotor.com
Please be my guest and look more closely at the above photo. I’ll be more than happy to wait!
Ah, you’re back! Great! I was utterly impressed by the “Auto Wash Bowl” ingenuity.” 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 sizeable basin-shaped construction. For just 25 cents, an attendant would place a cover over the car’s radiator to protect it from the car’s cleansing!
Car owners would then drive ‘into’ the bowl and 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
Interestingly, the car in the above newspaper ad is called “Henry.” Ah, Mr. Henry Ford, I think you’ve had many 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 anyone 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!
The Chicago Files 