Show Day....

When I was a kid, there were about five days a year I couldn't wait for.  One, of course, was Christmas.  Another was my birthday (you can delete that one now).  The third was Easter (I always got new Converse tennis shoes), the fourth was the day school let out and the fifth was the day (or sometimes days) when the new model cars were introduced.  The dealers liked to call them "Show Day."

"Show Day" was a magical time in those years.  Today there's not much to it.  Manufacturers introduce different models of the same brand throughout the year without much fanfare.  There's really no such thing as "Show Day."

Back in the fifties, my mom would pick us up after school, usually with another of her friends and their kids and we'd go from showroom to showroom to view the new cars and get lots of neat merchandise for free. It was always crowded and most everyone got to view the new models for the first time.  I got to experience this from the "other side of the fence" when I began selling cars in 1973. 

Show day worked pretty much like this.  It was a collaboration between the manufacturer and dealer that each would swear the other to secrecy.  The manufacturer would begin about a month before Show Day with enticing advertising showing only "bits and snipits" of some of the new models.  The dealers agreed to hide these models in a warehouse or somewhere and not show them until Show Day.  Show Day was usually celebrated by all manufacturers on the same day or at least within a day or two of the other manufacturer's Show Days.

There are two things that were very different from today that made Show Day work back then.  One, there were only American manufacturers , namely Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, General Motors including Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac and Oldsmobile, Chrysler, including  DeSoto, Chrysler, Imperial, Dodge and Plymouth and finally, American Motors who manufactured mostly under the Nash banner.  There were others but they just weren't around here.  The second thing that was different was that the models changed pretty much every year.  In other words a "55 Chevy differed from a '54, and a '56 differed from a '55 and so on.  It was really unusual for a manufactuer to produce an exact vehicle two years in a row, even if it was a hit.  They just changed them.  Today's cars look the same (i.e. a Honda looks like a Hyundai) and they are constantly introducing new models (some are being built today as 2010 models). 

It was common practice for dealers to work throughout the night on Show Day, sneaking their cars to the lot and showroom.  Most dealers would even completely cover their showroom windows with newspaper about three or four days before Show Day.  I remember Henry-Cisney Chevrolet (when they were on Center Street) even taking a step ladder and making a 1" peep hole in the newspaper and making sure it was about 7' high where no one could actually reach it and see through it.  Of course it wouldn't have mattered because nothing would be in the showroom until the morning of Show Day.  Dealers actually hid the new vehicles from each other and from most of their employees.  Then, like a magical fairy, the new models would appear on the lots on the morning of Show Day and the newspaper would come down.  The showrooms would be decorated with balloons and festive paper, lots of advertising posters and the such.  They would place tables around the edges with all kinds of free promotional merchandise such as yardsticks, potholders, tee-shirts, balloons and lots of other neat stuff.

Most manufacturers sponsored a television show from week to week. Dodge sponsored Lawrence Welk for many years. Chevrolet sponsored both Dinah Shore and Pat Boone.  In 1959, I remember Pat Boone drawing a series of curves on a clear pain of glass to describe the all new 1959 Chevy.  I didn't realize it at the time but it was a great depiction of the rear "wings" and opaque tail lights that was dominant on the car.

The '59 was a total and radical change from the '58.  The funny thing was that the '58 was totally unlike the '57.  Imagine how much it cost to re-tool for that one model year (1958).  Of course, we all know today that the '57 Chevy was probably the most popular one produced but believe it or not, the '57 Ford actually outsold it in 1957.

I remember the introduction of the Chevrolet Corvair.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen.  Engine in the rear, automatic transmission with the shift lever extending from the dash instead of on the steering column...It was a beautiful compact car.  Of course, gas was only about thirty-five cents a gallon then so economy wasn't really a strong selling point.   I'll always hold it against Ralph Nader for "killing" that car.

The Chrysler line was sold in two locations in Muhlenberg County, both smaller dealerships.  One was Wolfe Motor Company, also on Center Street in Central City and the other was Strong Motors in Greenville.  Chrylser led us into the "fins" revolution.  All of their models had amplified tail fins and used such model names as "Sweptline" or "Fury" to describe their models.  The Desoto had multiple tail lights in it's two-foot high tailfins.  They were the first to introduce "pushbutton" drive, in which you actually pushed a "D" in a pad on the dashboard to go forward or a "R" to go backward.  There was no shift lever.  Edsel later used this on their models with the buttons being in the center of the steering wheel where the horn usually was.

Darrell Browning always purchased the first new Chevrolet every year.  It would sit on the showroom floor that day and he'd drive it home that night.  He would proudly have it downtown most Saturdays so everyone could see it.  I'm sure they ordered the car custom built for him as they were always loaded (by those day's standards) and had two-tone paint jobs.

Bill Lester used to hide the new models (which would begin arriving in August for a September Show Day) in his yard behind his house until it was safe to take them to the dealership.  Ed Henry had room behind his body shop to do the same.  Tony Wolfe had a fenced area beside his showroom and he'd hide them back there.  Ashley Parham hid them in his detail shop.  It was very difficult to see any of them until actual Show Day.  The transport drivers that delivered them even made some "after dark" deliveries to keep the public from seeing them.

A few years ago, I was rummaging around some stuff my mother had stored in an old cedar chest in her home.  In the bottom was a child's tee-shirt that proclaimed "My Daddy Drives  a Thunderbird," printed on it.  We had gotten it on Show Day in 1957 at Lester Motors.  Man, nothing could have been further from the truth (he actually drove a Studebaker) but I wore it proudly.  Somehow, I've misplaced that shirt but hopefully it'll show up again someday.  Mom had yardsticks and potholders from both Lester Motors and Henry-Cisney dating back to the fifties.  We had calendars showing a different model for each month.  She had a set of metal trays showcasing '57 Fords and Thunderbirds.  This sort of behavior went on until about 1964 when Ford introduced the Mustang as a 64-1/2 model in early summer.  That sort of broke the standard tradition of a single show date.  The Mustang was an exciting car and I remember it having a huge introduction.  That was about the last Show Date we attended.  I don't remember if we just grew up or if Show Day simply drifted away but I suspect the latter.  There were Show Days after that but they just weren't the same.  When Ford introduced a model such as an LTD, it pretty much used the same design for three or four years or more.  Same with Chevy's Impala.

Just like corner drug stores with fountains, "Five and Dimes" and river ferries,  Show Day has "drifted" into just a memory.  Another thing our kids and grand kids will never know.  A bygone era replaced with "employee pricing," rebates, 0% financing and the like.  The new models are so bland and dull that nobody'll buy them.  Most of them look alike.  I nearly laugh out loud when I'm on an interstate and get passed by a Honda Civic or Dodge Omni with a rear spoiler, custom wheels and an exhaust pipe that looks and sounds like a trumphet.  They're a long shot from the '57 Corvettes and T-birds or Chevy Bel Aires,  Oldsmobile Rocket 88's and cars like that.  Thank God for you guys that rebuild these cars and preserve their memories.

For those of you who haven't been to Muhlenberg for awhile, we have a "cruise-in" and car show on each Labor Day weekend in downtown Central City.  Many of the vehicles I've talked about here will be there.  Activities begin Wednesday night, August 26 with a Gospelfest, featuring the Crabb Family & friends, a "Showcase of Talent" on Thursday night, the actual Cruise in on Friday Night (come downtown and view the cars and then cruise the strip with us beginning around 9 p.m.).  Saturday features a car-show all day (downtown) and Saturday night a Rock n' Roll concert with Kavaan (a dead ringer for Elvis) and Terry Lee and his Rockaboogie Band (a dead ringer for Jerry Lee Lewis).   If you'd like more information, you can contact Shelia (Lacefield) Bivins at the Tourism Office at (270) 754-9603.  I'll be there every night so if you come, please look me up.  It's not "Show Day," but it's still a lot of fun and memories.