It is almost springtime, and it won’t be long until parade-season for St. Patrick’s Day and other festive occasions. I remember when I was growing-up, my late dad would regale me about all the past vehicles he owned in his lifetime. His family owned an early Model-T as well as later, a Ford Touring car; and later his father (my grandfather) bought a 1934 Buick Roadmaster.
My dad worked at Boeing-Wichita during the entirety of World War II and told me how domestic automobile-production halted due to conversion to manufacture of military necessities. Once that WWII was over, people flocked to buy a variety of Fords, Chryslers, and Chevrolets (or variants...such as the upper-crust Lincoln-Continental, or a 1956 Cadillac-Fleetwood with the two tail-fins with tail-lights in which one had a “button” to push and a spring would flip it upward to reveal the gasoline-cap. That was back in the day of “Full-Service gasoline stations” and that mechanism drove young boys crazy, since they didn’t know where to insert the gasoline nozzle.
My dad said he owned a Hudson car, an Austin (not to be confused with an Astin-Martin); a Nash, two Studebaker cars, and three Studebaker trucks (yes, Studebaker DID manufacture pickup trucks and boy, were they sturdy). My dad and I hauled many loads of gravel from a local quarry with those trucks.
When I was going to school at Wichita State University in 1982, I drove our 1975 Dodge and it was dependable. Yet, my dad’s 20-year-older Cadillac mentioned earlier, was far more advanced. The Caddy had electric-windows; an automatic radio-antenna; and an automatic headlamp dimmer. My Dodge had none of that engineering. Still, it got me “to and fro”. Additionally, my folks had a 1960 little red Fiat. It was one of the tiniest cars in the world. My parents would joke that the little FIAT could fit inside the trunk of that huge ‘56 Cadillac.
Two brands which had special meaning for my dad were “the Kaiser-Frazer” automobiles and the “Willys” cars. My dad was a loyal customer of those firms. Only recently, I found out that the Willys Corporation was the maker of the original WWII JEEPS. Just by happenstance, I drive a 2007 Jeep today.
It is hard to fathom but in March 1926 (exactly 100 years ago) the head of the Willys-Overland Company was John North Willys of Toledo, Ohio. He was a dedicated 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar York Rite Mason, and a Shriner. At that time, it was said that most of the department heads in that company were members of the Masons, and that there were over 400 Masons who were employed by that Company at that time. Mr. Willys was fair to his employees and fair to his customers.
John N. Willys was known for fairness and cooperation; and consequently he was picked to be the United States Ambassador to Poland from May of 1930 to May of 1932. When he came home, he was devastated to learn that his beloved auto company had been mismanaged. And, the accompanying Stock Market Crash of 1929 deepened the financial situation even worse. The company declared bankruptcy reorganization in 1933. Mr. Willys tried to turn things around for his company, but he died August 26, 1935 at the fairly young age of 61.
I’ve seen many parades in Kansas over the years. I occasionally like to see the Shriners in Wichita drive their bright orange 1949 Willys “Jeepsters” in parades. They brighten-up any parade.
James A. Marples
Ebson, Kansas
