A Martinsburg Boy's Memories and Stories from the 1950s

John Bush was raised in Martinsburg and graduated from Central High in 1961. He spent most of his adult life in the Pacific Northwest. He has many memories as a boy in the 1950s that give some insight to the people and culture of Martinsburg in the 1950s. John likes to tell stories and over the years he has repeated the stories of his youth many times. His belief is that those years in Martinsburg influenced him all of his life. Some of the stories are historical in nature, some are colorful, and some are personal. He wishes that you enjoy them.

THE CARS OF THE

FIFTIES

The 1950s was the golden age of the American automobile. Most models changed styling every year or every two years. For example, Ford Motors changed external appearances every year between 1956 and 1960. Bright colors, two-tone models, and extra chrome replaced the more drab cars of the past. Style changes were important for automakers and they would try to keep styles a secret so that new models could be displayed on the same day across the country. A Stuckey Automotive employee told me that my Uncle Floyd and my dad tried one year to wrangle permission to see the new cars that were stored in a barn before the announced day. Every fall, as a family, Dad would take us to Bedford and Altoona to look at new Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln models.

There were three places in Martinsburg you could look at new cars. Querry Motors sold Chrysler products on West Allegheny Street, but their showroom was small. Fords from Stuckey Ford in Hollidaysburg were sold at the present-day Metzler Auto parts and repair garage on South Market Street. Hershberger’s had the largest dealership and they sold Chevrolets and Oldsmobiles. Their original garage was on South Market, but they had built a new display area and repair shop on West Penn that has since been razed. When any of these dealerships received a new car, I would go, along with others, to look at it.

The “big three” (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) cars were the most common in town but American Motors, Kaisers, and Studebakers were also present. Each car was so distinctive that one could identify the drivers by the make of the car. The town was small enough that you knew who was visiting who or what church they went to by the presence of their car. My parents would sometimes comment on who was at church after noting their car in the parking lot. I can still remember some of the families’ cars in the area. Gerald Turner and Herbert Lehman drove Nashs and Ramblers. For a while Mr. Turner had an early 50s Nash Ambassador which we often commented on because it looked like an upside down bathtub. Mrs. Manifold drove a two-tone Packard. Floyd Bush had a green 1957 Ford Thunderbird and his wife Dorothy generally drove a Cadillac. The Reese, Blattenberger, and Moose families drove Oldsmobiles. In the early fifties, the Baker and Burket families drove in from Piney Creek to go to the Memorial Church of the Brethren in Fords while the Davis family came to town to attend the Methodist Church in their 1949 slant back Chevrolet. Later, the Davis family had a 1955 red and white Pontiac. Mr. Gerhart had a unique late fifties Desoto. Individual pickups were rare although several of the farmers had plain, half-ton trucks. Four-wheel drive vehicles were not common.

I had many relatives on both sides of the family, and cars were often the topic of discussion at family gatherings. If anyone got a new car, everyone wanted to go for a ride and the men would gather around it and talk about the details. It seemed like it was important to brag about how you got a good deal as relatives fished for how much you paid for your new car. My Uncle Robert Claycomb worked on car production lines in Detroit, and his brother Gene drove semi trucks to deliver cars all over the East Coast and the Midwest. Uncle Gene had a Henry J made by Kaiser and it was possible to purchase them from Sears and Roebuck. I remember the car very well because after it was not useable it was parked in my grandparents’ woods. I would sometimes sit in it, shift gears, and pretend I was driving it in a drag race. At Bush family reunions that were held in the country near Henrietta in the summer you could see the cars arriving a mile away and someone always would announce who was arriving by the car’s year and make.

Teenage boys, in general, seemed to be interested in cars for different reasons. Many of the boys two to four years older than me were interested in building hot rods. Joe Bush and Alfred Cunningham, along with others, spent a lot of time under the hood working on rebuilds and updates. Joe modified the engine in a 1956 Ford that looked like a family car. The rumor was that he liked to con out-of-town guys into a drag race and laugh as he left them in the dust. My group of friends seemed more interested in getting access to a car for dating or to go to the movies, Lakemont, Meadows, and other places out of town with our friends. The one common thread between all groups was that the increase in access to cars with large, comfortable seats made dating adventurous. Access to a car was the first step in being able for a boy to get a date.

As seniors in 1960, only a few students drove to school on a regular basis. Two cars that were easily recognized were Wilbur Rhode’s Nash Metropolitan and Jasper Robinson’s black and white 1957 Ford. In my group, Glen Drake would drive his parents’ 1959 white Plymouth Fury with a push button drive and large tail fins on weekends. And Steve Dilling drove his mother’s 1958 two-tone blue Chevrolet. Jim Moose, Harry Brubaker, Monty Gerhart and Bob Turner sometimes had access to their family’s second car.

There was one event in the spring of 1959 which illustrates the focus on cars by teenagers of that era. The word went out that Hershberger’s garage had purchased at auction a 1959 red two-door, sporty Chevrolet with the largest engine made by GM at that time. I headed on down to the garage on my bicycle to see more than fifteen boys and young men looking over the new arrival with the hood and trunk up. The car was loaded with every option and was quite a sight with its bright color contrasting with chrome bumpers and trim. The younger boys had to stand back but could hear the older teenagers talk as they went over every inch of the car as if its presence was the most important happening in a long time. The primary question was why was this car sold at auction and had it been in a wreck and repainted?

Many parents grew up in the Depression when cars were scarce, long trips were rare, and many women did not drive. Gas was in short supply during World War II and at times was rationed by the government. In post-war times the number of drivers and the distances traveled greatly expanded. My family traveled on long weekends to visit relatives in Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey. In most cases, we took along my Grandmom Claycomb and her sister Ida Shubert. On most trips they would comment that when they grew up relatives more than 100 miles away were only visited every two or three years. On a couple Sundays a year we would take Grandmother Bush to visit her daughter Ruth and family in Carlisle. On most trips I would make a chart and attempt to record the model of each car in the other lane.

Trips to Altoona for shopping became increasingly more common. These extra miles created a need for more tune-ups, tire replacements and major repairs which occurred at very short intervals in comparison to today’s cars. My dad like many others had.