MTFCA Forum

As always, great pics Tom!
!st. pic is interesting in that like often, not a bit of trees, shrubs, nada anywhere. I do like the looks of "supper on the hoof" in the far right corner!! The house really looks more of "today's style" than we usually see in these old pics. And I noticed the total lack of any kind of utility connection, be it electric of telephone. Maybe they haven't been there long enough yet?

Pic #9 shows what seems like a pretty spunky gal there!!

I really like the guy washing his Centerdoor - check out his handcrank holder !

Look at the pinstriping on this car. Must be a brand new car that they are standing proudly next to.

#3 Teach your dog to drive day. Isn't it interesting how many people put a dog or a baby behind the wheel when they take a picture?
Norm

Distagon2 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 16, 2024 4:46 pm

Look at the pinstriping on this car. Must be a brand new car that they are standing proudly next to.

Yeh and I just noticed...the left rear fender..."Look ma, I shrunk the kid!"

Perspective! The kids are quite a distance from the car. I can look out the window and see trees which look taller than the mountains in the background. The trees are less than 100' tall but the mountains are at least 1,000' Things closer always look bigger.
Norm

It is just so interesting how they got the fellow way back lined up perfectly to appear standing on the rear fender. The infinite range lensing of the relatively cheap camera (no distance focusing!) helped.
One of the more famous of the great silent classic movies was "Ben Hur" (1925 if I recall correctly?). About thirty years ago, there was a PBS series on the making of the great classic silent films. In it, they showed how a small grandstand a way back with a nearby model of spectators above and much closer to the camera created the illusion of a huge grandstand full of people! The real people in the small real stands moved around and interacted in a lively manner, while the stick figures in the model were moved around on control rods by workers standing outside the camera's view.
It was very interesting.

And speaking of interesting? Picture number three is an interesting mix of years, updates and "down" dates?
The car is very apparently a 1915 or 1916, with the brass radiator covered by an after-market updated shell and tapered hood. Often, but not always, that update would keep the 1915 style flat front fenders. But not this car. Whether those are after-market curved front fenders, or later 1917ish front fenders? I cannot tell for certain. The definition in that area is not great, but they appear to me to likely be 1917ish front fenders (some of the more common after-market curved front fenders had a slightly different curve to them).
Notice that the top's rear curtain does have the brass era to mid 1917 "tombstone" style window/light.
And then there it is, that 1915 or later body model T with acetylene gas headlamps and Prestolite tank. Which were last offered officially by Ford on the 1914 style cars.

I have said it before. There were people at that time that were not yet ready to accept those new-fangled electric headlamps.

The car has gotta look up-to-date? But give me those gas lamps that I can depend on!

Speaking of perspective the snow girl in pic #9 looks like she is resting her arm on a drum style head lamp. Jim

Just curious; in a number of the pics there's a stainless canister on the running board. Some vertical, some horizontal. What are they ?

The vertical ones are likely polished brass, and are acetylene generators. Although 1913 and 1914 generators were steel, painted black. Different chambers inside hold carbide, water, and waste. Water drips onto the carbide, which then turns into acetylene gas at low pressure, which then goes through tubing to feed the acetylene gas headlamps. The waste sludge drops to the bottom chamber to be cleaned out later (important to do as the sludge is corrosive!).
The horizontal ones are "Prestolite" tanks which hold acetylene gas ready to go into the headlamps! They are likely nickel plated as most were originally. When the acetylene pressure in the tank got low, one would go into the local dealer and exchange the empty tank for a full one ready to deliver many hours of well lit night driving. They were convenient for many reasons. Including not having to keep the generator cleaned and ready to go with fresh water and carbide.
The "Prestolite" tanks were designed to lay flat because the method to compress the gas safely requires a standardized orientation to function properly. The era headlamp gas tanks were designed to lay flat simply because it made mounting the brackets simpler on an automobile running board. Welding tanks were designed to stand upright because they are usually carried on wheeled carts or held upright against a wall in shops.

The more I look at that third photo? (The one of the 1915/'16 with gas headlamps?) The more I think the fenders may be after-market ones. Peerless Metal Products and Ames both made something similar to that to update the old flat fender Ford!

Another bunch of wonderful Ford photos! Thank you Tom R!

I also like that wire wheeled center-door sedan!

Norman Kling wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 16, 2024 8:13 pm

Perspective! The kids are quite a distance from the car. I can look out the window and see trees which look taller than the mountains in the background. The trees are less than 100' tall but the mountains are at least 1,000' Things closer always look bigger.
Norm

Oh I knew that of course. But it sure looks neat!

Wayne, thanks for the detailed tank explanation! I wonder if they ever blew up!

Many of those faces are strictly from the early days. We don't see ones like them today.
Is it because they are black & white, the exposure or?
Thanks as always for them.
Rich

Steven,

The valves on the Prestolite tanks are offset near the edge of the tank
so they can be laid on the running board and not have the acetone come out
with the acetylene gas. The "B" tank on the dock below was for my 1914 Touring
and will run the headlamps for about 24 hours. That is a lot of driving time.

If you look at the photo #3 and #6, you will see they have the tank valve in the
"12 o'clock" position, more or less up as mounted, to keep the acetone out of your headlamps.
The gauge in the bottom is tank pressure. One or two pounds tank pressure will run the
headlamps a couple of hours and lets you know it is time to change the tank.
The Prest-O-Lite tank is much more convenient to use with gas headlamps.

Ken

If you want to see how many hours of illumination a fully charged Prestolite tank can provide, refer to the ads I posted in the thread below:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/33 ... 1376844508

Very impressive how long they could supply the lights. Not sure why but I always assumed early lights were fueled by kerosene.
Acetylene would definitely burn brighter! Learn something every day

Steven,
The 1913 in photo #6 with the POL "E" tank appears to have jeweled John Brown-110 side lamps.
Those and the tail lamp are kerosene. With the wicks trimmed and set, they also will illuminate
for about 24 hours.
Ford didn't use acetylene tail lights but I tried a Victor-461 since I use a POL for the headlamps.
I think the John Brown-115 kerosene tail lamp shows up better (w/3 lens), so went back to that.
Ken