The Choke Rod preserving and restoring the Model A Ford since 1956

Volume 55, Issue 4 MAFCA Certifi cate of Merit 2005 through 2010 April 2011 San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Model A Ford Club of America

Photo by Greg Halstead Best Crab Feed Ever if we do say so ourselves see pages 6, 7, & 9

Upcoming Tours Friday April 29 - Sunday May 1 - Spring Speed Weekend - Auburn, CA Sunday May 1 - Dream Machines - Half Moon Bay, CA Sunday May 15 - Friendship Day - Redwood City, CA The Choke Rod page 2 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011 Offi cial Publication of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter President’s Message MAFCA There was no meeting in March. We called and emailed OFFICERS everyone regarding the cancellation. I hope you all received the notice. If not, please accept our apologies. I have a PRESIDENT hunch that those of us who worked the Crab Feed were not Barry Kinney disappointed. There will be a meeting in April at the same time and place. VICE PRESIDENTS I hope everyone had a good time at the Crab Feed. I t Tom Escher was certainly well attended. We had to add seven tables upstairs to handle the overfl ow. All of our volunteers worked very hard to make this Gunard Mahl event a success. If, however, anyone deserves “the Most Valuable Player Award” it is Greg Martinez John Zuffi . John prepared all the anti pasta trays, salads, pasta plates, and marinated the crab. John worked all day on Friday and again on Saturday until 1 am. The SECRETARY Barrango family worked hand in glove with John; Gary directing the set-up, clean-up and all other ancillary activities. Joan Peterson Kathy and Steve Pedone did an exceptional job with the raffl e. The prizes were TREASURER wonderful and ticket sales were good. Christine Zaback managed ticket sales upstairs and we all celebrated as the winners were announced. Steve Owsley Other Club members who did an outstanding job were Joan Peterson and Nell Richmond with registration and seating. Walter Caplan with registration and table PAST PRESIDENT assignments. Steve Owsley managed the treasury and Casey Martinez supervised Gary Barrango our servers from St. Anne’s School. Lastly, John Bettencourt served as general duties offi cer. Thanks to all of you for your help and dedication. The Choke Rod is published once each month by the San Francisco We have a bunch of upcoming events. Friendship Day and Dream Machines are Bay Area Chapter of the Model next on the horizon. We are planning a San Francisco tour in May and a second Fire A Ford Club of America. It is House tour later in the year. Details for each of these events will be posted in the mailed free to each member in Choke Rod. good standing and mailed to other I will miss the April meeting but I will see you all in May. antique car clubs in exchange for their publications. The Choke Rod takes no responsibility for Barry Kinney the accuracy of materials, dates, places, prices, etc of its contents. Permission to reproduce is hereby granted provided credit is given to The San Francisco Model “A” Ford Club encourages membership in MAFCA, The Choke Rod. The Choke Rod the National Model “A” Ford Club. Benefi ts include an excellent bi-monthly welcomes articles, art work, ideas, publication, The Restorer, providing technical information and free liability suggestions, etc. insurance when participating in Club Events. Please submit any and all MAFCA material to the editor by the last Model A Ford Club of America, Inc. Monday of each month. Articles 250 South Cypress Street and photos may be submitted La Habra CA 90631 to: [email protected] or mailed www.mafca.com to Walter Caplan at 157 Warren 562-697-2712 Drive, San Francisco, CA 94131. MAFCA dues are $40 per year. Dues for new members may be paid at any time. TOUR CHAIR: Steve Pedone Dues paid between November 1 and December 31 are valid for the remainder of EDITORS: Walter Caplan the year paid plus the following year. Along with your check send in your name, Scott Williams spouse’s name and complete address. An optional $10 initiation fee includes FASHION EDITOR: Rachelle Marquez a club pin, decal, badge, windshield card and a back issue of “The Restorer” TECH EDITOR: Steve Owsley magazine. If you use Mastercard or Visa, include the expiration date and your MEMBERSHIP: Walter Caplan signature. Membership includes a subscription to The Restorer. The Choke Rod page 3 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011 Pacifi c Coast Dream Machines Friendship Day 2011 - Sunday May 15 Half Moon Bay at 1400 Seaport Blvd. Redwood City Sunday May 1 - 10 am - 4 pm Mid Peninsula Old Time Auto Club Always a popular event, “Friendship Day” is sponsored by It’s the world’s largest and most whimsical Mid-Peninsula Old Time Auto Club. This collector car show gathering of motorized marvels from throughout the has been held for 37 years and is one of Northern California’s twentieth century....a remarkable exhibit of 2000 biggest and friendliest events. It is mainly aimed at hobbyists who bring their collector vehicles to show and includes all driving, fl ying, and working machines, running the kinds of collectible cars and trucks. No judging, no awards, gamut of exotic automobiles, US Army tanks, and no vendors, no pre-registration! Just pay at the gate, park antique motorcycles to restored military aircraft, your car, and walk and talk. Great BBQ lunch is available. Model T fi re engines, massive steam tractors, Bob Craig, Sr. is volunteering at this event collecting gate and tons more. Live music, kids amusements and fees, so be sure to say hello to him. food booths run by local non-profi ts round out the Tour Leader: Barry Kinney, RSVP 415-282-2789 festivities. The event is being held at a new location this year: 1400 Seaport Blvd, Redwood City from 8 am - 2 pm. Entry/registration fee: $15/car (unlimited people) Seaport Blvd. is the eastern extension of Woodside Road Spring Speed Weekend at highway 101. Feel free to bring a picnic lunch as well as lawn chairs. Auburn CA Don’t forget to RSVP Barry Kinney at 415-282-2789. Friday - Sunday April 29 - May 1 Tour Leader: Barry Kinney, RSVP 415-282-2789 The Linden A’s (Tom and Terry Machado) are again planning to go to the Spring Speed Weekend and may host a lunch on Sunday May 1 for Bay Area Chapter Support our own members who are attending. Details to follow by club e-mail. For more information call Barry Kinney at Rachelle Marquez 415-282-2789. Our fashion editor Rachelle Marquez has her own business specializing in natural raw food nutrition. Visit her web site and check out the recipes, events, There was no workshops, and more. March meeting.

Gary Barrango will provide refreshments at the April meeting.

Birthdays & SoulfullySoulfully Natural SpecializingSpecializing in Raw Food Nutrition Anniversaries RACHELLERACHELLE MARQUEZMARQUEZ Steve Owsley April 11 Jeanine Mahl April 13
Kevin Enderby April 15 

  
 
Gene Herson April 27  
  

 


Paul Storz April 30 www.soulfullynatural.com Steve & Kathy Pedone April 10 Email: [email protected]

The Choke Rod page 4 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011 1955 By the 1950’s bras were not just uplifting and separating they were Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen prefer Blondes (1953). The two stars unnaturally shaped. Fashion had decreed the sexiest shape for a were famously photographed making hand and breast impressions woman’s breasts was to be pointy. The new breed of sweater girls, in concrete slabs for Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Brigitte Bardot, Diana Dors, Jayne Mansfi eld and Marilyn Monroe By the mid-1950’s Monroe and Russell had their heyday and a wore bras and dresses that forced their breasts into a cone shape. host of new stars appeared in Hollywood. Natalie Wood was a The cup shape was achieved by circular stitching that went all slender 32B, but was one of Hollywood’s hottest properties and around the cups, from top to bottom (an idea Madonna revised in paved the way for less curvaceous teen idols. She was a child star later years). This particular type of bra was created in 1939, but its who found fame in the 1940’s at the development was postponed by the outbreak of World War II. At age of nine in the fi lm A Miracle on 34th the start of the 1950’s the bra was mildly conical, but as time went Street. She also appeared with James on the fashion world decided the pointier the better, and bras with Dean in the 1955 blockbuster Rebel specially stiffened points were invented. As the 1950’s progressed Without a Cause. Her girl-next-door bras were being massed produced and women could purchase the looks afforded her the kind of innocent same bust shapes as those in Hollywood. Increased use of nylon star quality Doris Day enjoyed. Wood and elastics ensured unprecedented comfort. To acquire the 1950’s was a precursor to the super-elegant hourglass look women gave up making their own underwear and Audrey Hepburn, whose trim fi gure (a started buying the mass produced ‘bullet’ bras. In order to reduce waif-like 34A) was a world away from costs, manufacturers outsourced part of the production process the pumped-up Mansfi eld, Monroe, to foreign facilities with cheaper labor. Bra makers in the U.S. Dors, and Russell fi gures. 1958 outsourced labor to countries such as Mexico and the Philippines. While some women resorted to breast Diana Dors was a sexy British blonde know for her billing as the enhancement surgery most were English Marilyn Monroe. Her career started before Monroe and she content with stuffi ng handkerchiefs into proved to be a fi ne actress, though often typecast as a ‘gold-digging an oversized bra. Bra manufacturers blond’. Her fi lm acting career started in the 1940’s and lasted into pick up on this offering padded bras the 1980’s. Sophia Loren began her career based mostly on her with names such as Secret Charm and Curves 2-U. Madienform 38C measurements, but achieved an award-winning career, wrote offered bras with removable pads that were inserted into specially books, launched a line of perfume and eyewear, and became an designed pockets, but most booster bras had foam-rubber padding icon of the cinema who is adored by millions of fans. Like Mae West stitched permanently into cups. The Tres Secrete bra included an before her, Marilyn Monroe famously infl atable insert that could be blown up with a discreet plastic straw. wore specially created corsets that pushed her breasts up and out. It wasn’t Daytime fashion of the 1950’s was dominated by the snug-fi tting the fact that she deliberately wore one sweater sets and increasingly pointy bullet bras, but eveningwear heel slightly shorter than the other one exposed more fl esh. The bow-necked, often shoudlerless or off- that gave her that much imitated bum- the-shoulder fashions made popular by Hollywood required a wiggle, it was also that her underwear demi-cup or strapless bra underneath. The strapless bra patents was slightly restrictive in order to keep outnumbered all other styles during the 1950’s. The wire designs her shoulders back and her breasts well were originally created to increase support for large-breasted forward, and to make her work just that women, but customers and manufacturers quickly found the little bit harder when she walked. French underwire to enhance the assets of small-breasted women by born Brigitte Bardot (35B) scandalized thrusting them up to new heights. and thrilled American audiences in the Despite having only one successful fi lm, Mansfi eld remains one mid-1950’s after going several steps of the most recognizable Sweater Girls. Her assets and publicity further than Jane Russell had done and stunts kept her in the lime light. These stunts included ‘stranding’ appearing naked on the screen. Her silhouette became famous in herself on a desert island ‘accidentally’ losing her bikini top in America and native France and her name remains synonymous front of the paparazzi and posing naked for Playboy in 1957. The with the hourglass fi gure and the bikini. Gina Lollobrigida was hungry starlet knew she achieved her desire to become the new tagged ‘The Most Beautiful Woman in the World’ after her signature Jane Russell after being photographed in a red bikini alongside the movie in 1955; ‘La Lollo’ was the archetypal Italian beauty. Her headline “Jayne outpoints Jane”. short ‘tossed salad’ hair was especially infl uential and inspired a type of curly lettuce to be named ‘Lollo’ in honor of her cute hairdo. Ex-GI Fredrick Mellinger moved west from Manhatten, after years in the army discussing preferential lingerie among his buddies, to As the corset came back in fashion for the “New Look” in the mid- set up a lingerie store in Hollywood. He catered to Hollywood stars 1950’s women were wearing them more for evening attire under who requested great quality, fantastic fi t and a sexy look. By the a curvaceous dress instead of all day. Corsets also became an end of the 1950’s women were going to Fredrick’s for a make-over accepted male fantasy, regularly worn by titillating models in that included high heels, wigs, pads, and minimizers. Fredrick’s of magazines such as Playboy. The corset was no longer a symbol of Hollywood created the fi rst realistic silicone-fi lled breasts, which female oppression; it now evolved into a symbol of feminine power slot into a specifi cally designed bra and looked, felt and moved just and domination. like the real thing, even warming to body temperature. In the 1950’s leading ladies of Hollywood enjoyed unprecedented fame and had a huge infl uence on fashion. After The Outlaw, Jane Russell proved herself as an actress and appeared alongside Rachelle Marquez The Choke Rod page 5 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011 Extraordinary Opportunities for Women The U.S. government and industry wooed American women to The miracle would not have happened without Rosie the Riveter, work in the war effort on the home front. The title of a song, “Rosie who in real life was a woman like JoAnn Hudlicky, who recalled the Riveter,” quickly became the catch-phrase that represented all how she became a crane operator. “I saw the cranes, and so I women war workers. Written by Redd Evans grabbed my boss one day, and I said, “How and John Jacob Loeb in 1942, “Rosie the do you get a job running a crane?” He said, Riveter” was fi rst released in February 1943. “Do you think you can do that?” She replied, The upbeat song was heard on the radio, on “Well, I don’t know why I can’t, other people records, and in coin-operated machines located are doing it.” Another woman recalled when in restaurants and bus and train stations that she was eighteen she had her fi rst day on the played three-minute versions of songs called job as a welder in a shipyard. “Well, I got in “soundies.” During the war the song was featured the little compartment, see, it was either the in two movies: Follow the Band in 1943 and offi cers’ head or the shower, I forget which, Rosie the Riveter in 1944. Originally sung by and I got in there and so I got my (protective) the Four Vagabonds, a group of male singers, hood down. I got the stinger out and I started the song began with these lyrics: While other to run a weld up this bulkhead. SO I took the girls attend a favorite cocktail bar, Sipping dry martinis, munching (hood) off and (the weld) has all run down and it looked terrible. I caviar; There’s a girl who’s really putting them to shame- Rosie didn’t know what to do. I just put my hood down and sat there and is her name. All the day long, whether rain or shine, She’s part of cried. I said, ‘I’m too young. I’m too little to do this job.’ And so I sat the assembly line, She’s making history working for victory, Rosie, there about fi fteen or twenty minutes and said, ‘Well, I’m going to Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, Rosie the Riveter. try it anyway.’ So I worked my way up, and lo and behold, I worked my way up to the top and it got better and better all along.” During World War II, more than six million women joined the workforce. In August 1943, Newsweek magazine reported: “They Or like Rose Bonavita and Jennie Fiorito, who drove a record 3,345 (women) are in the shipyards, lumbar mills, steel mills, foundries. rivets into the wing of a Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber on They are welders, electricians, mechanics, and even boilermakers. June 8, 1943, while working the midnight to 6:00am shift. Bonavita They operate streetcars, buses, cranes, and tractors. Women and Fiorito worked for Eastern aircraft in Tarrytown, New York. The engineers are working in the drafting rooms and newspaper in Bonavita’s home town, Peekskill, New women physicians and chemists in the great York, dubbed her “Peekskill’s Rosie.” Although the industrial laboratories.” More than two million song “Rosie the Riveter” was released fi ve months women joined the war effort as clerical workers, before Bonavita set the record, some writers have nearly one million of whom were hired by the since claimed that Rosie the Riveter was based federal government. Women also became police on Rose Bonavita. Years after the war, Bonavita offi cers, taxicab drivers, lawyers, statisticians, herself was quoted as saying, “I wasn’t the ‘Rosie journalists, and members of symphony orchestras the Riveter’ and I never claimed to be.” as men left for the armed forces. Women ran farms, When the war ended in 1945, so did the extraordinary planted crops, tended animals, and harvested tons job opportunities for women. Rosie the Riveter of vegetables, fruits, and grains. disappeared as quickly as she had been created. In addition, three million women served as Red According to William Mulcahy, who supervised Cross volunteers. Millions of women worked for the women war workers who assembled sensitive Civilian Defense as air-raid wardens, fi re watchers, messengers, electronic parts, “Unfortunately, when the war ended, despite the drivers, and auxiliary police. They also devoted hours to scanning skill and patriotism the women had displayed, we were forced to the sky with binoculars, looking out for enemy planes. Thousands lay them off. I will never forget the day after the war ended. We of women joined the military, including Teresa D. James, a pilot met the girls at the door, and they were lined up all the way down for the Women’s’ Air Force Service Pilots (WASP). On September Market Street (in Camden, New Jersey) to the old movie theater 22, 1944, Teresa fl ew the ten-thousandth P-47 Thunderbolt about eight blocks away, and we handed them a slip to go over fi ghter plane that was produced at the Republic Aviation factory in to personnel and get their severance pay. We didn’t even allow Farmingdale, New York, to the Newark Army Base in Newark, New them in the building, all these women with whom I had become so Jersey. close, who had worked seven days a week for years and had been commended so many times by the navy for the work they were Named Ten Grand, the ten-thousandth plane has been made by doing.” the Racers, as the workers at Republic were called. Half of the Racers were women. The year before she fl ew Ten Grand, James Although America no longer needed women workers, the story of had written a poem that included these lines: We knew from the their wartime achievements and contributions is found in the words fi rst that we were resented, By the continued aloofness which the and writings of women and men who lived during World War II; men presented... It’s tough, we know, but we are game, We’ll fi ght in employment records and statistics; magazine and newspaper no end to make a name. Remarks and opinions just egg us on To articles; radio programs; and thousands of posters, pamphlets, win a place where we rightfully belong. and photographs. This is an amazing story about a time when stereotypes about men’s work and women’s work were suspended; By the time World War II ended, America’s wartime production when traditional barriers that had blocked women workers were record included 296,429 airplanes; 102,351 tanks and self- lowered; when women had a chance to prove what they could do. propelled guns; 372,431 artillery pieces; 47 million tons of artillery ammunition; 87,620 warships; and 44 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition. Time magazine called America’s wartime production a miracle. Rachelle Marquez The Choke Rod page 6 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011 2011 Crab Feed We are getting better and better and no one could have done it better than John Zuffi and a dedicated crew of club members and friends. To handle the overfl ow we added seven tables upstairs and hired two professional servers to manage the tables. Most of those who came for the crab were repeat attendees which made the whole event seem like a family reunion. Our servers, seventh graders from St Anne’s of the Sunset School, got cheers, high fi ves, and a little tip money from the crowd.

After dinner the raffl e winners were announced. The crowd celebrated each win with hoops and hollers. Another highlight of the evening was the presentation of a check to the Model A Club from the Columbus Day Parade Committee. This contribution, along with the income from this event, will be used to support club activities. More importantly, the Crab Feed allows us the opportunity to enjoy time with Club members, friends, and relatives. In addition, it makes possible our contribution to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We had a lot of fun, worked like stevedores for two days, but this was a unique event one that we will not soon forget. Barry Kinney

Photos by Greg Halstead The Choke Rod page 7 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011

Photos by Greg Halstead The Choke Rod page 8 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011 2011 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA MAFCA TOURS IT’S THE JOURNEY! NOT THE DESTINATION!

MONTH DAY TOUR LEADER TOUR

JAN 30 BARRY KINNEY PRESIDENT’S BRUNCH MARCH 5 SATURDAY SF MODEL A FORD CLUB CRAB FEED - MONTE CRISTO CLUB APRIL TBA KINNEY GREEK CULTURAL PARADE & CELEBRATION APRIL-MAY 29-1 KINNEY SPRING SPEED WEEKEND - AUBURN, CA MAY 1 SF MODEL A FORD CLUB DREAM MACHINES - HALF MOON BAY MAY 15 KINNEY FRIENDSHIP DAY - CAÑADA COLLEGE MAY 30 MONDAY CAPLAN MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE - PRESIDIO JUNE 18 SATURDAY CAPLAN / OWSLEY ST. ANNE’S HOME - FATHER’S DAY WEEKEND JUNE 26 CAPLAN / OWSLEY PRIDE PARADE & PICNIC LUNCH JUNE 26 PETERSON / JUMP / THOMAS PALO ALTO CONCOURS AT STANFORD JULY TBA BETTENCOURT FIREHOUSE TOUR - SAN FRANCISCO SEPT 10 SATURDAY MARIN A’S ANNUAL “OCTOBERFEST” CELEBRATION SEPT 11 KINNEY ANTIQUE AUTOS HISTORY PARK - SAN JOSE SEPT 22-25 CAPLAN / OWSLEY / MACHADO OVERNIGHTER-MURPHYS-IRONSTONE CONCOURS OCT TBA CAPLAN / OWSLEY JIMMY’S OLD CAR PICNIC IN GOLDEN GATE PARK NOV 13 GREG MARTINEZ VETERAN’S DAY PARADE ON MARKET STREET DEC 10 SATURDAY SF MODEL A CLUB CHRISTMAS BANQUET - BASQUE CULTURAL CTR.

If you would like to lead a tour, please call Steve Pedone at 408-749-0469 We encourage Club Members to plan additional driving tours throughout the year. There is room for more than one activity or tour per month.

2011 Schedule of Events

Jan 29-30 Turlock Swap Meet May 27-29 NCRG Round-Up in Dan Foley Pary, Vallejo, CA www.ncrgmafca.com Aug 1-6 Northwest Regional Group Meet. Dec 1-4 MAFCA Annual Membership Meeting & Awards Banquet Santa Rosa, CA - Host Sonoma A’s The Choke Rod page 9 Volume 55, Issue 4 www.sfmodelaclub.org April 2011 San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Model A Ford Club of America There was no meeting in March.

Enjoy these additional pictures from our annual Crab Feed.

Photos by Greg Halstead

SF Model A Club Monthly Meetings: The meetings continue to be held monthly, the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm. The location is the Monte Cristo Club at 136 Missouri Street in San Francisco. The meeting place is located in a safe neighborhood and parking is convenient. If you have questions or need directions, call Gary at (415) 821-2628 (daytime)

The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, April 14, 2011

A number of club members gather together for dinner before the monthly meeting at 6 pm. Please feel free to join us -- March dinner location will be at Goat Hill Pizza at 18th & Connecticut. The Choke Rod in this is available online in color www.sfmodelaclub.org Choke Rod President’s Message (page 2) Club News (page 3) Fashion (page 4) History (page 5) Crab Feed (pages 6, 7, & 9) Tours & Schedule of Events (page 8) Inserts: • F.A.S.T. Spring Speed Weekend • Marin A’s Octoberfest celebrating International Model A Day • Tech Tip: Model A Engine Tolerances

San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Model A Ford Club of America PO Box 31387 San Francisco, CA 94131-0387 415-621-0500

APRIL MEETING Thursday April 14, 2011 7:30 pm - Monte Cristo Club 136 Missouri Street (Potrero Hill) San Francisco