What’s
Happening! |
- The group is off on their annual summer break so these hard
workers can spend time with their families and other projects. Don and
Carol need a diversion for sure with all leadership, hard work and
lunches they provide. You can bet though that many of these guys and
gals will continue with related Futurliner projects at home during the
summer.
- The enthusiasm continues to grow as does the size of the
Tuesday work force. Our list of people working regularly on the
project numbers over 27 plus 15 wives helping with food, and coffee
break substance.
- The big news in the last issue was the delivery of the new roof
designed and built by GM. It is now completely installed and is much
more rigid than the original construction. Our thanks to the GM Metal Fabrication Div for the roof
design and Paul Jankowiak and Mark Cwik in particular.
- Many of you contacted us with news that
a Futurliner was for sale on e-Bay this spring. It turns out
this is one that we are aware of and Don had talked to the owner some
time ago. This Futurliner like all the other Futurliners that have not
been restored is in terrible shape due to rust, neglect and has many
parts missing. Dave Mikol, one of our faithful supporters that
lives in eastern Michigan, not only e-mailed Don about the Futurliner
but called him several times. Dave asked if we could use the
Futurliner. Don told him that we did not need the Futurliner but we
really need some parts from it and that we could save a lot of money
by having those parts and not having to remanufacture them. Dave even
offered to he bid on it just so we could get the parts. After further
discussion Dave suggested that we see if the folks that had it on
E-Bay would donate it to the museum (NATMUS) and receive a tax
benefit.
Dave spent the next week with many phone calls and e-mail messages
talking with the folks at City Loan (Ross Tesser) about the
possibility of a donation to The National Automotive and Truck Museum
of the United States. Finally, working with John Martin Smith,
the President of NATMUS, an agreement was made for a donation. While
the above was going on, Don talked with Brad Boyajian in
California who also has two Futurliners and, like us at NATMUS, needs
parts for his restoration. Brad worked with us and agreed to move the
"e-Bay" Futurliner to his place and we would share the parts
that each of us needed so that both restoration projects would
benefit. Brad also found a friend that is willing to remove the parts
as a donation to NATMUS. Of course parts in California do not do us
any good for a restoration in Michigan. Again volunteers have come to
the rescue. Dean Tryon, our Futurliner newsletter editor,
called a Vice President of GM that he used to work with and they
agreed to help us ship the parts on one of their trucks as space was
available.
Although Don described this in a few short paragraphs, you cannot
believe the communication efforts that went on to make this happen.
Calls were made to some California Car Clubs to help in removing parts
and we were even discussing at one time to send a crew to California
to remove the parts until Brad came through.
This is truly a work of volunteers and we cannot thank enough all
the people that contributed to this effort. Hopefully we did not leave
out any names of those that deserve thanks: Dave Mikol, John Martin
Smith and his son Thomm Smith, Brad Boyajian, Dean Tryon, Ned McClurg,
Ron Bluhm, Ross Tesser, and others that we contacted and those that
actually volunteered to go to California but did not have to.
- One major effort has been to rebuild the large 16’ doors on each
side. These have been installed and are nearly completed along with
the motors (thanks to Holland Electric) and drivetrain
gearing.
- Simple parts like the steering wheel can present
significant problems. Ours was beyond repair. To make a long story
short, a steering wheel from a fire truck that one of the volunteers
is working on fits – so it was promptly appropriated for the
project. It needs considerable work yet but thanks to Ryan
DeVries, we have a good place to start. It is now in the hands
of Bruce Berghoff and he is in the process of recasting it.
- Work is also well underway on the lighting fin, cargo and doors
along the sides, completely new brake system, drivetrain, axles,
rear doors, flooring, cab, instrument panel (dash) and the grill
section polishing. Graybar Electric donated light fixtures
for the upper light fin and assembly is in process.
- The large generator in the rear is being rebuilt by River City
Electronics with many of the volunteers doing the sandblasting
and finishing of the cabinet.
- One of the highlights for the volunteer crew was the opportunity
to tour the GM-PPO site in Warren, Michigan on May 1. Jim
Ziebarth drove the bus (and donated the trip). They had the
chance to see competitive vehicle analysis, pre-production metal
forming techniques and vehicle assembly and a tour of the GM Tech
Center property. Thanks to Marv Benedetti, Chad Seigle
and Kurt Johnson of GM. For arranging the tour.
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| History |
"Parader" Victor Garske
mailed us a package of material that has allowed us to fill in a lot of
blanks of GM's shows: Century of Progress, Caravan of Progress, Parade
of Progress, Previews of Progress, Futurama, and Motorama. Following is
a summary of that information. Also to put all of this information on
our web site, we need your help in finding the original publications
that Vic sent us since they are copies that he had saved. Vic wrote:
"The successful General Motors Caravan of
Progress in the 1930s and its continuing popular post - World War II
Parade of Progress in the 1950s was an educational program conceived by
GM's inventive genuis Charles F. (Boss) Kettering. He got the activity
started by obtaining Chairman Alfred P. Sloan's support to put the
General Motors Science and Technology Exhibit from the 1933-34 Chicago
World's Fair (Century of Progress) on the road. The activity was
designed to expose a wider audience to the imagination and initiative of
scientists and engineers, as well as the industrial capabilities of the
United States, particularly GM.
The central or
featured live 45-minute stage show, inspired by "Boss" Kett,
in the Parade of Progress spectacular original pole-less tent was called
Previews of Progress and was designed to create public interest in
technology. The Science and engineering demonstrations (sequences) were
selected and engineered by E. Barton Blett (who worked on the Century of
Progress show of GM, Caravan, Parade, and Previews). The script for the
Previews show of the Parade was written by John W. Reedy (who worked on
the Caravan and was the director of GM's Previews of Progress). Buying
of available scientific equipment for the Parade's stage show was
coordinated and assembled by William A. Cobb and myself. Unique
equipment, for demonstrating the scientific principles involved, which
was not available for purchase, was fabricated by Bill and me.
Later I built,
scripted, and trained lecturers for the educational Previews of Progress
science shows operated by GM subsidiaries in Sweden, Denmark, the
Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Syria,
Turkey, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela, El Salvador,
Brazil, and Argentina."
After obtaining
this material Don called Vic. He spent considerable time working GM's
Previews of Progress traveling to 38 different countries. In addition to
Vic's memory, Vic sent along copies of some of the pages of the "GM
WORLD" publications. This was the publication of the GM Overseas
Operations Division which was responsible for all of GM business outside
of the US and Canada. The information that Vic sent only pertained to
the above GM shows. Following are the outline of these shows and how
they all fit together. Up until Vic's letter and this information we
were confused about the different GM shows."
- CENTURY of PROGRESS -- This was the 1933-34 Worlds Fair
held in Chicago. Industrial firms like GM showcased progress in
science, industry and products in the present as well as the future.
- CARAVAN of PROGRESS -- This refers to the first Parade of
Progress (1936 - 1940) in much of the literature. The people that
worked this first POP were referred to as "Caravaners".
- PARADE of PROGRESS -- Wonders of science show-casing how
industrial research discovers new processes that later provide
products within the reach of countless people. The displays were the
last word in scientific showmanship, combining the best features of
the General Motors exhibits at the Chicago Century of Progress and a
number of displays never shown before. There were three series of
POP's, 1936-40, 1941, and 1953-56.
- PREVIEWS of PROGRESS -- This was the stage show of the
Parade of Progress inside the Aero-Dome tent. It was designed to
last 45 minutes with two "Paraders" making the
presentation. It was also a stand alone show taken to schools,
colleges, auditoriums, as well as to foreign countries as outlined
above. When this was a stand alone show it was referred to as the
"little caravan" consisting of various devices for the
demonstration of scientific phenomena, developed by the General
Motors Research Laboratories. At one point an
"Ultra-Streamlined" truck was created to transport the
displays. This truck was built on a GMC chassis, with a Buick
engine. The only photo of this truck that I have ever seen is on
page 170 of the book "GMC - THE FIRST 100 YEARS".
- FUTURAMA -- In 1939 at the New York Worlds Fair in the
General Motors Building had the largest scale model panorama ever
constructed called the Futurama. Guests would view the panorama,
illustrating the highway systems of 1939 and of 1960, from luxurious
twin arm-chairs, fitted to a smooth-running serpentine
track of escalator type, while the 20-ton "polyrhetor"
(sound mechanism) provides the commentator's running description of
the scene to each chair at exactly the right moment.
- MOTORAMA -- The speculator shows that GM put on introducing
their new products (automobiles primarily) during the 1950s. (See
the book "The GM MOTORAMA - Dream Cars of the Fifties" by
author Bruce Berghoff.
Vic sent copies of the many pages from the GENERAL MOTORS WORLD
publications that pertained to the above GM shows ranging from 1936 thru
1954.
Here is where we need your help. All of the above material
from "GENERAL MOTORS WORLD" should be added to our web pages.
However the copies that Vic sent us were from old copies. We need
everyone to look for the above originals so we can get them to the web
pages for everyone to enjoy. Thanking you in advance.
PHOTOS
We have also
received a new batch of high quality photos of the first series POP
(1936 - 1941) showing the Streamliners and the set up at the Parade of
Progress shows. Also included were new photos of the 1941 POP with the
Futurliners and the Aero-Dome tent being erected. These are of high
quality that we can add to the web pages.
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Other
Volunteers |
Quality Air Heating and Cooling of
Grand Rapids was contacted in March by Bud Juneau to see about the
possibility of their help in restoring the air conditioning for the cab. Harry
Vredevoogd and Joe Beyer are considering this although it is a
bit out of their normal area of expertise. This includes the compressor,
two condensers and air handling units but we are missing the evaporator.
|
Project
Needs |
Truck tire mold in the size of 10x20 to
allow us (GM) to machine in the special lettering used.
|
| Paraders |
PARADERS REUNION -- The plans are in
place for a Sept. 4 reunion led by Jim Morris. As of May, there were 42
former Paraders signed up plus many other participants (like your
newsletter editor and wife) and most of the work crew. The Paraders will
meet at the host hotel in Saugatack along Lake Michigan on 9/3, drive to
Don’s place on Wed 9/4 for the day and then spend more time together
back in Saugatuck. If anyone has not contacted Jim that plans to attend,
call him at 519-786-5593 (Ontario, Canada) or send him an e-mail at
"jmm31411@aol.com".
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Financial
Status |
We want to thank the Western Michigan Region
of the AACA for a donation of $6000 to the project. Issue.
|
Misc.
Notes |
Krause Publications has just put out a book
" GMC – The First 100 Years" with a large section about
the Parade of progress on pages 170-173. The author John Gunnell
pulled much of the info from our web site.
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Status
of
Other
Futurliners |
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