Barry Kettering and Royal Triton Motor Oil.....

Here's Barry Kettering up against the rub rail(very large railroad ties). In the first picture, its Barry sitting on the side bar (I would never say sissy bar...as some called it) of the car and it looks to be a very young Lorne Hay and Ken Taylor on the right(correct me if I'm wrong)! The next close-up one shows the top back of Barry's '32 Ford Coupe(wish I had it now)....it says "Royal Triton Motor Oil", and Barry must have used it!!!
"Royal Triton" was called "The amazing Purple Oil". I'm pretty sure I used it in my first car because Marilyn Monroe did a commercial for it way back when, not because it was purple(for what advantage the purple colour gave to the oil, I don't think we'll ever know) but for the Marilyn factor alone.
In 1950, Marilyn Monroe appeared in a television commercial for Royal Triton, breathlessly proclaiming "This is the first car I ever owned. I call her Cynthia. She's going to have the best care a car ever had. Put Royal Triton in Cynthia's little tummy." Gas station attendant "Right, lady!" Marilyn "Cynthia will just love that Royal Triton."
Marilyn's first car "Cynthia" was a Hudson Convertible.

Click here and turn up the volume to see Marilyn's TV commercial then come back...

Another tidbit.......Barry was known to have cool sayings on the rear of his cars. This '32 Ford Coupe has "Bass Ackwards" painted below the number on the back. The big rear bumper in another photo of this car reads "In God we trust". When the famous red/white #57 emerged "Poopsie" could easily be read above the back window.
Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge!

How a Real Hot Rod Should Look....

Just had to add this one!

A ton of guys may not agree with me, however, here are some personal choices of how a hot rod should look. Personal choice of course always takes precedence, however, many guys can never get it right. They mix up too many eras in one project. You can't call your hot rod a resto-rod and shave the door handles....or you can't call your rod a rat rod and put shiny paint on it(Rat rods are another subject all together). You also hear that hot rods don't have fenders, but what about cycle fenders or bobbed fenders? The other one is that real hot rods don't have valve covers either(Flatheads only).....another misconception.....maybe!....anyway.....again, here are a few older and newer photos of how I think hot rods should look.....notice one big thing.....most have wide whitewalls.

Oh Yeah...THE LAST ONE is a real Rat Rod(my sister took this in rural Thunder Bay.....What a goodie!!...and love the artillery wheels...LOL.

Agree or disagree, it doesn't really matter....do your own thing(but get it right!)

Mixed up? So am I...LOL, thanks for looking and click on pics to enlarge. Dave

A Streetcar, A Model "A" Ford and the Pagota

These before and after pictures are for those from Port Arthur that feel a bit neglected. The Streetcar photo on the left(an incredibly clear and crisp photo for its time) was taken in July 1941 a few years before I was born and the right photo was just taken a few days ago July 2009. I never knew until I had seen the left photo that F.W. Woolworth was ever that far down Red River Rd. This is the intersection of Red River Road(formerly Arthur St) and Cumberland Street, in what was known as Port Arthur Ontario(now Thunder Bay). The Pagoda shown in the left photo was slightly higher up the street and more visible, but the new photo barely shows it behind a clump of trees down the street. The Pagoda top read "Tourist Information" in those days. Both photos vividly show the Prince Arthur Hotel which was wonderful in its day and refurbished to nearly its old standards just recently. Off in the distance and out in Lake Superior is the never changing head of the Sleeping Giant, a huge peninsula of land the juts out into Lake Superior to form what is called Thunder Bay, in the shape of a massive sleeping giant. There a many tales of lore about The Sleeping Giant which I will touch on later. Thanks for looking......Dave

Barry Kettering, Stock Car Jockey.... part 2 of 2

Part 2...

During the sixties, Barry would blossom into one of the top open wheel racers in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area winning several big events, and he would take "ownership" of the supermodifieds at Princeton ,MN. There he would win the title seven times with three others coming at North Star Speedway near Blaine. In the year 1973, Barry was again part of a racing club formation as he was one of the co-founders of the Midwest Sprint Association (MSA) just as he had been with the Lakehead Stock Car Club. Throughout the next three years, Barry served as the association's President as well as its goodwill ambassador, dominating driver and fan favorite. In the first year of the clubs existence, it was dominated on the track by Kettering as he won 14 features and took the initial title. On the way to the title, Barry won the unsanctioned Invitational Championships at Riverview Raceway in his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Barry again took the MSA title in 1974 and 1975. While Barry would rarely travel too far from home to race, when he did he was often rewarded with a win or a top finish, such as starting at the rear in a 22 car field in Minot,ND and crossing under the checkered flag first. In 1976 ,Barry co-drove with Ron Larson in the famed Little 500 in Anderson, IN running second when an oil leak close to the finish required repairs relegating them to an eighth place finish. He was on his way to the 1976 title on Friday June 11 of 1976 when he lost his life as he was thrown from his red & white #57 in a roll over on lap 13 in corner two at Fairmont, MN.

Barry Kettering was always a highly respected racer both on and off the race track, popular with not only the fans but fellow competitors alike, and he was always willing to help the rookies or lend a needed part to a fellow competitor. The Sunday night race at North Star Speedway in Blaine, MN following Barry's accident was green flagged with the pole position left open in memory of the great racer. Always one to give for the betterment of the sport and being one who raced for the love of it not the glory or prize money, Barry was a great goodwill ambassador for racing! Barry would gladly hand out schedules at winter car shows, let kids sit in the sprinter, tow to Austin, MN to promote an upcoming MSA race for the small fee of gas money, and in a dispute regarding a scoring decision at an MSA race at North Star Barry offered to pay the $100 difference out of his own pocket. Always well spoken, clean cut Barry was very businesslike in his efforts to make the MSA a viable and successful club. He would meet fair board representatives in an effort to book MSA race dates. On that June evening racing lost one of its greats. Though not nationally known, Barry Kettering took on all comers in his area often sending the visitors home empty handed. Both on and off the track, Barry gave his all to make racing better. From the stock cars in Fort William to the sprint cars in Minnesota, he was a true racer and he is missed by both those he raced with and those who watched him. Having given so much to the sport, it was perhaps best said by fellow Fort William sprint racer Lyn McIntosh, when Riverview track management decided not to hold the Barry Kettering Memorial in 1981, Lyn and his partners Murray Robinson and Pat Slivinski chose to host it themselves with Lyn saying " Barry gave too much to the sport for his memory to be forgotten".

Footnote by Dave: I had the privilege of meeting Barry and Glen on a number of occasions when I was a young boy. I hung around the Kettering garages(they were always gracious and glad to see their young fans), and built push mobiles of Barry's cars. His wife Rene was a friend of my grandmother Catherine Jarvis and my aunt Lorraine Jarvis.  My uncle Bob Jarvis was also good friends with Barry.  Both Barry and his wife had visited my grandmother and my aunt and uncle on many an occasion when I was there. I would be in awe of him and all those stock jockeys that raced at the CLE. They were famous in their own right(just as much as any movie star) and we owe them all a huge vote of gratitude for keeping our young lives busy by entertaining us with their daring-do at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition race track. We will always miss you Barry. Thanks again Jeff for the great Bio, and for letting me use it.......Dave.

Barry Kettering, Stock Car Jockey.... part 1 of 2

With permission from Jeff, I am posting this bio of Barry Kettering that he wrote a few years ago. This is part 1 of 2. I will leave a footnote after part 2.

Barry Kettering by Jeff Caldwell, Thunder Bay, Ontario Part 1.....
Barry Kettering would start his racing career match racing Tom Dow at the Murillo Fairgrounds behind the wheel of the Kings Special, a 1920-30's vintage speedster in 1951-52. Barry was one of the founding members of the Lakehead Stock Car Club in the fall of 1952, and the first stock car he built was a 1934 Plymouth numbered 00. It was called "The Snitch Special" as apparently that's how some of its parts were obtained. He would then move into Bud Heidrick's #47 "Bud's Thing" '37 Ford in 1953 and later a '32 Ford until 1957 when he drove the Provincial Stock Car Club #57. In 1958, Barry and brother Glen, with whom he was partners in a local service station, built a 1934 Ford coupe powered by a 312 C.I. Ford. This car would carry Barry to his long sought after track title. Barry, always the tough but fair competitor, would again win its title in 1959 in the '34 Ford and a cut down version of the same car carried him to the title again in 1960. Though Barry was leading the points & defending his title in 1961, he sold his share in the service station and moved from Fort William to Rice Lake, Wisconsin so that he could race more often.

Barry had first ventured stateside to "see how they raced" in 1958 and left a souvenir for the meeting room of the Indianhead Stock Car Racing Association, a check in the amount of $15.00 for tow money which he refused to accept. Upon his return to Rice Lake, WI in the spring of 1959, Barry "cleaned the boards" and started to leave his mark south of the border. Barry Kettering's gesture of refusing the tow money was a precursor to several others gestures he would make through his racing career for the betterment of the sport. Barry continued racing in modifieds, and the '34 Ford was retired with a new car being built based on a '49 Ford frame with a Crosley body and a 390 C.I. Ford powering it. Upon its completion in the spring, Barry was looking to give it a test run. Finding Raceway Park in Shakopee, MN running, Barry and his crew headed for the track to discover that it was asphalt. Undaunted and though the car was built for dirt and Barry having no previous pavement experience, he threw the car sideways through the corners as if he was racing on dirt thrilling those in attendance. Barry returned to Shakopee for its opening day show, won his heat, and ran out of gas on the white flag lap of the feature while leading. Soon the calls were going out "look out, here comes the Bear Cat!!". Through the years whenever Barry towed into the pits, he would be regarded as one of the guys to beat. click on photos to enlarge. Thanks for the Crosley photos Jeff!!

Stan, Ollie and Model "T" Fords

Admiration goes far beyond the living and into the surreal when one talks about these guys. From a small child going to the Royal Theatre here in Fort William(now Thunder Bay), it is difficult to believe that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were real people. Their antics went way beyond human belief to think that maybe they were just cartoon characters. I have been a great fan for many years including having quite a collection of their films. I am posting these as a reminder not to ever forget these two comedic geniuses, and also to highlight a few jalopies they wrecked.

They destroyed many cars in their movies, specifically model "T" Fords. A few were even modified to accommodate their craziness. Their motto was "two minds without a single thought", and after seeing any of their movies you would definitely believe this. Here are some jalopies that they destroyed...the first one at the top right is from their short film "County Hospital", and the other two are from another film called "Two Tars" of course meaning two tires.

There is also a world wide fan base to this day and growing, named after one of their hilarious films called "Sons of the Desert". My wife and I had the privilege a number of years back to attend a portion of one of the fan club conventions with our friends Fran and Jon in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and to go to one of their club dinner functions. Both were unforgettable.

Click on pics to enlarge.

"Pappy" Fowler and the daredevil!!!

They were all daredevils, but this guy, the one in the white helmet(unknown person) is about to sit on the big front bumper of Pappy Fowler's #10 and be driven at speed through a large ring of fire. Also, this photo shows just how many people came to see the weekly races at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition race track. There was always some type of theatrics to entertain the fans during the intermission. In a lot of cases there would be staged fist fights between some of the drivers which would take place on the dusty track right in front for all the fans to see.

Stunts like this rarely take place today due to the incredible insurance costs, and this was one of the reasons why many tracks just like the ones we had here had to close.
Ross "Pappy" Fowler as mentioned before was a favorite among many fans and usually was in the top 10. This little '32 Ford 3-window coupe is an incredibly rare item in the hot rod world today. A steel body(they make fiberglass ones now) today would fetch an incredible amount of cash. Do you have one in your garage....please email me to let me know, I'll give you a few hundred for it.....LOL. Click on photos.

"SLOW"

Another favorite photo from our family collection showing my Dad John on the left, and Albert Bahlieda(his future best man) taken at Chippewa Park near Fort William(now Thunder Bay) Ontario. Taken in 1939, they were just goofing around and had seen this "Slow" sign to pose with. Note the cool little '30 Model "A" Ford pickup in the background(wish I had it now). They both entered the services together, and also spent some time in England in the mid 1940's, after my Dad was married, and I was born. Later on Albert ran a service station on the corner or May and Cummings for many years, across from the present day Superior Bowling alley. There are no buildings at the service station site at the present time. Click on pic to enlarge.

The Canadian Lakehead Exhibition

Here's another aerial view of the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition track taken in 1958 during the fair. The fair when I was a kid was incredibly large for two small cities like Fort William and Port Arthur(Thunder Bay now). They had a ton of thrill rides and the typical side shows. Top name entertainment was brought in including daredevil drivers, and they gave a brand new car away every single day, but the highlight of our fair was the stock car races.
This picture shows part of the midway and the bridge across the river going to more and more rides and side shows. You can make out the streets surrounding the fairgrounds, the one across the bottom being May street. As mentioned in the other photo(scroll way down) is that the right half of the grandstand would be right in the middle of the Silver City Movie Theater today, and the center of the track oval is now the enclosed golf dome. The far left of the photo would be the present day Intercity Mall. Click picture to enlarge.

Hold'er Clyde she's headin' for the Rhubarb....

Another of the stock car jockeys doing wondrous things with a '33 or '34 Ford Coupe. Clyde Ditmars drove at the CLE track for many years and later became a Texaco service station owner in Kakabeka Falls near Fort William(now Thunder Bay) Ontario. The first photo shows him right up on 2 wheels and apparently didn't go over. The second photo looks like it was taken a second or two before the first, and the last photo shows Clyde mixing it up with #60 Don Marsh, and #47 Barry Kettering in the #4 turn. Sorry, these are a bit fuzzy. Click on to enlarge

1939 ...Erskine to Duluth

Here's a wonderful photo of my Dad and his buds on a trip to Duluth, Minnesota in 1939, just before he entered the Canadian Army, and only 2 years before he was married. I don't know everyone but will do my best with the spelling of the guys I do know. My dad John is top left. Top right is Orsie Bodnarchuk, and bottom center is Albert Bahlieda, who ended up being my Dad's best man. They were proudly displaying The "Fort William, Canada" bumper sticker on his Erskine(yes...that is a car manufacturer's name). You can also plainly see the 1939 license plate from Ontario. Fort William, as stated before is now called Thunder Bay, after the amalgamation of the two cities of Port Arthur and Fort William.

1955 - Time for another Jalopy!

Here's a wild photo of #98
Jim Walker, brother of
friend Bob Walker. The
car says it is owned by the
Marsonet Brothers on
Victoria Avenue here in
Fort William(now Thunder Bay),
Ontario. That rub rail is about 16"
high and if you hit this at speed,
you are bound to rip something
off your car. The building on the
right is the present day Exhibition Coliseum, and where Jim is trying to rip up the
rub rail and about a hundred feet of fence is now a paved parking lot. This is a little
tribute to Jim. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot!"....thank you Joanie Mitchell