From The Vaults of the Museum

I love old stuff, especially things I remember from my childhood or earlier. First of all, they're historic in their own way and, most often, much better made than things are today. Many items in my Nostalgic Museum are from the house I grew up in; other things I found at garage sales, flea markets or eBay. Sometimes, I receive gifts from people who know how much I enjoy these old objects.

Let's take a look at some of the stuff in the Museum's Vaults

(click on any photo to enlarge it):

An old friend and neighbor of mine had been a postal carrier (mail man) and came home one day, telling me about this great old stand-up radio that someone on his route was throwing away and had put it by the curb for trash pick-up. I asked him where it was, because I really wanted it, but he had anticipated that.

"I asked the homeowner to move it to the side of his house, in the driveway, because I knew you'd want to go and get it."

I was at a flea market in Pennsylvania many years ago when I spotted this item on somebody's table. "It's a tail light lens from an Oldsmobile," the guy said.

I replied, "No, it's from a '55 Buick... how much do you want for it?"

Later, when I met up with my wife, she looked at the lens and asked, "What did you buy THAT for?"

I replied, "For twenty-five cents!"

This Boraxo can was a recent gift from a friend who knows how much I appreciate this kind of stuff. He found it at an antique shop where he was doing some work and bought it for me. It brought back real memories; it's just like the can we used to keep on a shelf in our kitchen when I was growing up in the '50s & '60s.

Back in the days when you'd bring your shoes to the shoe-repair man in your neighborhood, he would use Cat's Paw heels to make them like new again.

I found this not TOO old stamp machine at a flea market in Cape Cod. The guy selling it wanted sixty bucks for it; there was no way I would have paid that much for it. Besides, all I had in my pocket was a twenty. Just before leaving the market, I went back and offered him the twenty for it.

"Make it forty and it's yours," he said.

"Nope," I replied, "twenty bucks is all I've got and all I'd pay for it even if I had more."

I guess he was tired of carting it back and forth to the flea market 'cause he finally said, "Take it away."

My older brother bought this TeleTone Model TV220 portable television sometime in the early 1950s; it was manufactured in 1949. It still worked into the 1960s and I managed to salvage it from my brother's house after he died. It makes a great conversation piece!

The top machine is an original Sony Betamax that my brother owned; it worked into the 1990s but, for some reason, won't play any more.

The machine beneath it is the first VHS machine I ever bought, probably in the 1970s; made by GE, it sold for $639 when new. At the time, blank VHS tapes cost $14 a piece!

This old piano stool was in my brother's house when he died. During the clean-up before selling the house, I had to throw out a lot of stuff; we utilized four thirty-cubic-yard dumpsters! One of the items I wanted to keep was this piano stool, which I remembered from my childhood, but I tossed it anyway.

About seven years later, I was at a flea market in Wallingford, Connecticut, and spotted a piano stool just like the one I threw in the dumpster. Upon closer inspection, I found the diagonal saw cut I had made in the seat while cutting a piece of wood, as a teenager. Of course, two stools might have had the same kind of cut in them. But this one also had the "K" I had carved in the wood surface many years before.

Of course, I bought the piano stool back for five dollars.

Westhampton Drag Strip, Yesterday & Today

Billy Stein and Ed Talerine

in my '50 Merc at the entrance to

Westhampton Drag Strip, in 1961.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, anyone with a

hot rod or custom car on Long Island

headed to a drag strip at Westhampton

most Sundays.

This was a 1/4 mile track where cars raced

in classes outlined by the

type and weight of the car, size of engine,

and extent of modifications overall.
Two cars at a time started from a

standing stop and those with the

lowest elapsed time won each "run".
By a process of elimination, one car in

each class would emerge the final winner.

I shot the following photos

during the early to mid 1960s.
(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

The Dodge above ran with a

471 cubic inch engine and
turned 112 M.P.H. during its run

for "Street Eliminator" trophy.

The white '59 Chevy was a

constant winner at 'Hampton
as evidenced by the numerous

"kill" decals on the rear quarter glass.

'47 Ford convert (above)

had a late model Buick OHV 8 engine;
belonged to one of my friends

from the 116th Street garages.

1955 Ford from another of the guys

at 116th Street,
photographed on Sunrise Highway

along the way to the strip.

I recently ventured back to the site of the

Westhampton Drag Strip on a rainy weekday

and found that Timber Ridge Homes has

built a housing development on the site.


A gated community portal replaces

the old entrance to the drag strip.

The homes on the left are

about where the pit area and stands used to be;

the street in the middle is

about where the drag strip once was.

The area on the left being cleared

for more homes is about where the

spectators' parking lot and stands once stood;

the new road is about where the

drivers once returned after a race
on the "return road."

(Any comments on the old drag strip?
...Or its replacement?)

Hot Rods & Custom Cars from the 1960's

The Mint Julep I - Owner: Ken Bausert

Location: Richmond Hill, New York

(One "new" photo added to this section Dec. 2, 2010. -Ken)

My first car was a 1950 Mercury convertible,
bought on May 11, 1959 at a cost of $125.
I was fifteen years-old and worked on it

after school and on weekends.

The earliest modifications included

shaving the hood & deck,
shortening the side trim,

making up a custom grille using pieces
of discarded side trim,

and lowering the tail lights two inches.

(Above, "new" b&w photo added.)

By the time I graduated high school,
the first incarnation of Mint Julep was complete.
The car was lowered two-inches in the rear,
custom accessory tail lights had been added,
'57 Merc Cruiser Skirts were installed with
'54 Merc chrome teeth and lowered side trim to match.
The car was painted mint green and I added
black scallops. The cat on the

deck lid was courtesy of the film, 101 Dalmatians.

The headlights were tunneled by molding in

'54 Merc rims and chrome bullets

replaced the original parking lights
which were relocated behind the grille.

1954 Buick portholes were set into the hood
and helped to cool the engine compartment.

The engine was a '51 Merc with Fenton finned aluminum
high-compression heads, a four barrel carb

on an Edelbrock manifold
and the intake & exhaust ports were enlarged.
An electric fuel pump and

duel-point ignition were also added.

The dashboard was covered with

padded rolled & pleated vinyl
and new upholstery was added.

The floor shift came from a '57 T-Bird.

The outside door handles were removed and

operated by hidden push buttons

and a keyed electric cut off switch.
This shot was taken on 69th Place,

in Glendale, near Ken Szekretar's house.

The full-length chrome Lakes pipes were
spliced into the exhaust system
and functional when the end caps were removed.
Note the old general store (Hattie & Nettie's)

on 95th Avenue,
between 127th & 129th Streets,

in Richmond Hill, in the left background.

Me (at 17 years of age) and the Mint Julep;
all modifications were performed by myself
with the exception of the mint green paint job,
the upholstery and new convertible top.
Plaque hanging under the rear

is from the 1320 Crusaders
(a car club I formed with some friends).
1,320 feet is the length of a

1/4 mile regulation drag strip.

Billy Stein (in the driver's seat)

and Eddie Talerine,
two friends from the neighborhood,
pose with my Merc outside the entrance to
Westhampton Drag Strip on Long Island

(circa 1961).
All photos are from my personal collection

and © by Ken Bausert.

The Mint Julep II - Owner: Ken Bausert

After an accident involving some damage

to the front end, I began remodeling the car again.
Twin radio antenni were mounted in a two-inch deep
recessed oval on the right door.
The '57 Merc Cruiser skirts were

welded to the body & molded in; a radiused opening

to match the front wheel opening
was cut into the skirts to access the rear wheels.
A scoop was cut in the front edge of the skirts

and a slim piece of chrome moulding

extended into the opening of the scoop.

The rear of the Cruiser skirt was extended

and wrapped around into a rear grille cavity

on each side of the license plate.
1962 Pontiac Bonneville tail light assemblies
were installed in each rear cavity.
The gas filler cap was welded closed and

molded into the left rear quarter panel
(the new gas filler was installed in the trunk).

Me and the second incarnation of the Mint Julep,
photo taken on the north side of 95th Avenue,
between 127th & 129th Streets,
(there is no 128th Street at this location,
in case you're wondering).

Ah! I was finally able to afford color film.
The paint was hand-rubbed
metallic Neptune Green lacquer,

a GM color, I remember.
I think Sal Consiglio and I painted it in his garage.

(Two "new" color negatives were discovered

in an envelope in a cigar box

and added to this section Dec. 2, 2010. -Ken)

The car sat on a slight rake

(lower in the front/higher in the rear)
and two long chrome scavenger pipes
brought the exhaust out the rear.

(Above, one of the "new" pix;
sorry this one doesn't enlarge.)

The hood corners were rounded,

and 1954 Buick headlight rims were
frenched into the front fenders in a canted fashion;
slim chrome bullets replaced

the original Buick parking lights.
A 1954 Oldsmobile grille was shortened

and installed with hand-cut frosted plexiglass lenses
to create the new parking/directional lights.

(Above, one of the "new"pix added.)

The front bumper was removed and the pan rolled

with a license plate housing created in the center.

Most creative welding and metal work

on this renovation project was performed

by my friend, Paul Wood (Woody).
All finish work was done by myself.
(Wow! I just realized how little tread

was on that right front tire!)

The Merc engine was replaced by a '54 Oldsmobile
(324 cu. in.) "Rocket" V8,
running nearly stock with

just an electric fuel pump added.
The car was completely rewired

and ran on 12 volts.
Transmission was standard '50 Merc for a while,
then the Merc trans with '39 Ford gears
(better low-end acceleration), then a

Cadillac LaSalle transmission for a short time
before switching back to a Merc.
All modifications, unless otherwise noted,

were done by myself.
All photos from

my personal collection and © by Ken Bausert.

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