Pickles by Brian Crane for May 21, 2012

or the infamous Nintendo Power Glove (though I’ve only seen YouTubes of it with negative reviews)

Earl’s still got the old Studebaker I see.

Could we say the same thing about muzzles…?

Very nice, extremely useful and under used…

not 47…1950. probably a champion. my mom had one back when i was 4 years old. made me extremely interested in folks like virgil exner, brooks stevens and raymond loewy ever since.

btw…as it is frm 1950, it’s missing the one thing most cars had until the 1953 models…a split front windshield.

1950 Bulletnose Commander…and I called dibs on it long ago…but only when Earl is finished with it, of course.

No, Earl, it’s EVERYONE’S business! (Sorry, one of my pet peeves.)

Earl must be from Rhode Island. I lived there for 10 years I think there may have been 3 times when I saw someone use a turn signal.

Drivers too stupidly busy on their stupid cells or pads. This is more than a pet peeve with me. I’m not a mind reader. Shut up and drive!

Unfortunately, once on they tend not to go off, especially with lane changes. It’s a standard joke in the land of the newly wed and nearly dead, Fla.

Bet the young Cops are really going to feel stupid when they stop him for violating the seat belt laws. Even slightly newer cars than the Sutdie only had lap belts.

It is my business if you cause me to have an accident, Earl.

Anyone notice they’re not wearing another good invention: seat belts? I know the Studebakers didn’t come with them, but they could have been installed. I saw one pass me last week, and it had them. Opal, let’s give out more good advice.

My dad’s first car was a 1951 Commander…

Thanks for the trip down memory lane in the old Studebaker Commander. Thanks also for the tip of the hat to Raymond Lowey. Go Earl, keep her running!Cadfael IV

I’m surprised my youngest son has not alerted me to today’s comic as it bothers he and my brother in law that I don’t use my signal all the time.

Note I said all the time. I quit signaling when getting on major freeways years ago. I told my brother in law that if drivers that are currently on the freeway cannot figure out that cars coming down the entrance are going to merge somewhere, then they should not be driving.

If the car is traveling faster than your car, then they’re going to get in front of you.

If the car is traveling slower than your car, then they’re going to get in back of you.

If both of you are driving the same speed, then ONE of you better speed the heck up.

I told my sons that I’ll drive until my feet no longer reach the pedals; my arms can not longer control the steering wheel; or merging is no longer fun.

One freeway entrance has a short ramp and that was a challenge. I always had to zone in on which bumper I was going to kiss and get in back of it as soon as I could. There was no space in between vehicles in the right lane as most commuters were taking the next entrance that was just a stone’s throw from where you entered onto this freeway.

Down here in Florida we get the snowbirds who drive down the road with their turn signals constantly on. There must be something about that left turn signal that they really like.Also, does Earl realize how much that old Studdie is worth today? I’d love to have one.

I have three older cars with lapbelts. I have signs in the rear windows: “Lap Belts Only”.

Well, Studebakers didn’t have turn signals on that model.

But..Earl still has a left arm.

LOL LOL. Good one, Earl.

xxx

It is a ’53. The trikephaloid models before had a horizontal opening above the grillwork part. In ’53, they enlarged the grill and deleted the 3"+ wide horizontal part.

Indiana was a “right to work without help from fellow workers” state. Studebaker president Paul Hoffman would send a letter to every new employee advising them of the law, but strongly encouraging them to join the UAW – he said he had rather negotiate with representatives of the workers than with thousands of disorganized employees. He left Studebaker for a “dollar a year” job administering the Marshall Plan, and the company went downhill from there.

From my experience, this conversation could have been the other way around.

“and when I turn, I can go anyway I want on a one-way street”…right Earl?

Does that old Stude even have turn signals?

My husband, when young, insisted it was nobody’s business where he planned to go next. It took a few years for him to realize that it might be to his advantage (and health) for other drivers to know this information, ie: see turn indicators. Lordy, some people are stub-born!

in my state, the drivers ed teachers teach you that a blink isn’t asking permission its stating a fact. Its to help those behind know what’s about to happen. Although there is some dispute on that, I suspect its because years ago it used to be to ask permission but so many these days refuse to let someone over that it has turned into stating a fact.

I recently saw a few minutes of one of those History Channel shows where people search the countryside for collectible junk. Someone had a 1950 Studebacker in a garage that hadn’t been driven in 50 years. It was BYOOOTIFUL!

I think most “drivers” in my area “think” this way.

My peeve is the opposite. Following someone 40 miles down a two lane road with his left hand blinker flashing all the way.

Not on all cars, and it doesn’t seem to be related to when they were made, but on some you can engage the blinker without clicking the signal, so when the lane change is complete you let go and it’s off.

I am generally so in the habit I have been known to signal for a bend in the road – but even I occasionally forget to signal. Nobody’s perfect.

I didn’t learn to drive till quite late in life (at least for an American, it seems.)After years of a phobia about it, I paid a lot for driving instruction. When I grumbled about extra lessons, my instructor said 3 rules she’d teach me would each eventually either save me money or save my life, and it would all be worth it.

Rule 1: Signal EVERY turn, every lane change, EVERY TIME.What does it cost?Who does it hurt?In a parking lot, a field, at night when “nobody” is on the road, or at times when “everybody” knows what you’re doing, or “ought to know,” which is even MORE dangerous, it takes ONE SECOND to let them know for sure.You may not know they’re there; they may be zooming up, about to change lanes,messing around with their lights off….Make yourself known!

alittlebirdie, you are playing a very dangerous game.Nightgaunt is right…PLEASE remember not everyone is familiar with every stretch of road.A tourist may not know an on-ramp is coming up, someone may be driving near you impaired by dementia, alcohol or drugs.A student driver may not be as alert as you require.In bright daylight, at dusk, or at night, especially, it’s even more important…it’s a LOT easier to notice blinking lights on your right than a car.Yes, you may be right; they may not meet your standards for drivers…but I’d rather be alive than right.

Years ago Hallmark (or some card company) made a card that told the recipient they had reached the age in which they could now turn left while having their right turn signal on.

Given Earl’s age, I’d think he’d use hand signals.

I just don’t understand how ignoring something that is such a no-brainer can become a badge of honor among some folks. Seriously people, is it THAT much trouble to indicate where you are going so you don’t get hit?

several: I don’t recall turn signals on our ‘50 Studebaker, nor seat belts. My ’57 VW Käfer was the first I had with both – and I installed the belts myself, they weren’t even a dealer option.

Night-Gaunt: I remember the Dimaxion. It was designed by Buckminster Fuller. The Studebaker in question was a Raymond Lowey design. The golden age of design by engineers and industrial designers rather than focus groups that were focusing on something else by the time the car was on the market (like the Edsel).

My Studebaker definitely had turn signals!