Friday, June 8, 2012

Bible School Parade and Some Photographic Sleuthing After the Break

I took a second look at the photo below after Susan Ahl suggested it might have been taken on Spruce instead of Park. I now see it couldn't possibly be Park because the lake is much closer to the road. I now think the photo was taken on Lakeshore, with the parade heading west.

Thanks to an anonymous commenter, who pointed out the truck leading the parade isn't just any truck, but the Pine Lake Fire Truck.


Here's a photo of a parade by the Bible School (no doubt at Pine Lake Baptist Church). The location is Park Drive on the western (downstream) side of the lake.

From the cars and the truck, I at first thought the photo was from the late 1940s. I based this on my first impression of the General Motors automobile directly behind the truck. It's a Chevy, for sure.

But in just what year was that Chevy made?

Warning: Investigative Internet Sleuthing After the break!


My first thought was to compare the front end to representative Chevrolets..

Here's a 1954 Chevy Bel-Air I once owned.


Compare the 1954 to the Chevy in the old photo. Here's a crop of the old photo:


The similarity is apparent--- but notice the differences in the grille (five vertical bars vs. three), and in the Chevrolet emblem. Note also the shape and position of the parking lights.

We know (or should know) that 1954 is the latest possible model, since in 1955 Chevrolets were radically redesigned:


Okay, so we know the photo was taken before mid-1954, when the 1955 models were released. But how much earlier?

Here's a '48 Chevy Fleet master:


The emblem looks close to a match, but the grille and parking lights are completely different.

But wait! Why are we wasting time on front ends? That thing has a split windshield!!! The 1954 doesn't!

Okay, so when did Detroit start using curved glass to make single-piece windshields?

1950?

Nope, that 1950 StyleLiner convertible has split glass.

How about 1952?


The front end of that Bel-Air looks a lot like my '54-- in fact, the entire car does-- but look at that windshield! No cigar.

1953?


Yes! That '53 Bel-Air is almost identical to my '54! Check out the parking lights and the teeth on that grille!

That means the Chevy in the old photo is either a 1953 or 1954 model.

But what's with the emblem? The car in the old photo has a wider emblem than the '53 above. Did different Chevy models have different badges in 1953? Happily, I found this website, with ads for all the Chevy models from 1953. All the models with the emblem visible show the wide style. Here's an ad for the '53 Bel-Air:


Notice the wide emblem.

I didn't find any '54 Chevys with the wide emblem on the website, so I'm pretty sure that purported '53 Bel-Air pictured above is actually a '54 model! But wait, here's the coupe de grace! There are five vertical teeth in the grill. The '53 models had only three. So yes, it's a 1954 in 1953 drag.

Dag, it's tricky being an internet sleuth!

Since the 1954 Chevys have the same emblem seen on my car...


.. I deduce the car in the old Pine Lake photo is a 1953 Chevrolet.

With additional investigation I could probably determine the model (probably, from the trim, a Bel-Air), but since no one is paying me for my amazing detective abilities, and since the relevant question here is the date of the photo, we can safely say this photo was taken some time after mid-1952, when the '53 models were released. The sedan in question (we know it's a sedan because of the vertical post between the side windows) looks new, so most most likely the photo was taken in 1953 or 1954.

A corroborating clue is the date of the scrapbook itself. A typed page pasted at the front suggests it was put together in 1953.

Here's a second picture of the parade:


And here's the Bible class itself:

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great sleuthing Dallas! Paul on Dahlia

Anonymous said...

Dallas, sometimes you just have to come to the old horse for answers. I am second row, 5th from the right. I was born in 44, so 53 seems about right. I am trying to locate my copy of this photo and it has the dates and names on the back. These must be from Claude Suttles' pictures. I have many old ones that I have posted on FB. The fire engine led the Bible School parade every year.

Dallas Denny said...

Thanks, Paul! And thanks to Susan Ahl, who thought the photo must have been taken on Spruce, with the parade heading South. When I looked at the photo again I saw it couldn't have been taken on Park because the lake is much closer to the road. I now think it was taken on Lakeside, with the parade heading west.

Anonymous, it's difficult to go to an old horse when the old horse doesn't leave his or her name!

Oh, so that's the fire truck! I indeed see it is!

I have a folder of scans of Mr. Suttle's photos. The photo in question here came from a scrapbook put together in 1953. The photos aren't 35mm, the format Mr. Suttle used. They may be by him, but perhaps not.

I would love to see the photos on your Facebook page, but I don't know where to look!

Dionna Melton Benson said...

Dallas, I am sorry. I posted with my name, Donna Melton Benson. I don't know why it didn't show up online, except that I can't always make out the code to enter to show I am not a robot. Old Eyes!

Dallas Denny said...

Oh, thanks! Now we know who the old dog is!

Anonymous said...

i found a 1954 blue and white bel air with a c 210 for parts its a two door can you tell me what it will cost for the back windsheild for the bel air and is two thousand for both too much as both need some work to make the bel air roll