Through An 'Old Timer's' Eyes
By Howard 'Mac' McDonald

It's all about the money.

No matter what subject arises, it seems to always come down to the bottom line.

Take the Pa. Game Commission. If you read any of their releases, every other word is "revenue." They have a heavy payroll, so I guess it is only natural that they would try about anything to raise funds.

DCNR is another state organization managing a moneymaking machine and another large payroll. Their dereliction to their duties to the citizens who are not in the logging business is outrageous. They completely destroyed one of our pristine snowmobile trails, Ridge Road, by allowing it to be bulldozed down to the bare ground.

Snowmobiling season is a short one and the logging in the area could have been put off for a few weeks. The fees that the snowmobilers pay for their licenses are supposed to pay for the grooming of the trails, but the trails in Cameron County didn't see much grooming.

Speaking of money, why is gasoline 15 cents cheaper in St. Marys? Their altitude is a couple hundred feet higher than Emporium's and maybe being closer to heaven has something to do with it.

The state sales tax may soon be taking a hike and there could be a rise in gasoline taxes. I thought gambling revenue was supposed to help us with taxes.

The other day I was remembering this old tune that went like this, "Oh come with me Lucille in my merry Oldsmobile."

A couple of years ago, General Motors stopped production of this car. I remember when it was the hottest thing on the road. The Olds 88 was known as the "Rocket."

The 20th century spawned a lot of different makes and models of automobiles. Now they are gone.

Kaiser/Frasier built Liberty Ships and after the war they produced cars. Their last model was the "Henry J," one of the first compacts. You could order one out of the Sears catalog.

Bernie Erskine was the envy of all the car buffs as he drove around town in his mother's black LaSalle coupe.

The Tucker was so far ahead of the major automakers that they banded together, ruined this man's reputation and forced him out of business.

A long list of autos that are not here any more is headed up by one of America's finest luxury cars, the Packard. Before the Packard was the Ghram, Durant, Starr, Hupmobile and several others. Later the Willys, the Nash, American Motors and the DeSoto all went by the wayside.

The Hudson Terplane was a speedster that could out-run most of the

police cars of the day.

I am sure all the oldtimers can come up with many others.

To dress up some of the old cars, someone invented "fender skirts." They were cool, but they were a pain in the neck if you had a flat tire.

There was another gadget called the "steering knob." We called it the lover's knob, because it freed up your right arm so you could pull your honey up closer to you. Another name was the suicide knob, as it caused a lot of accidents.

In 1940, when Ford brought out the new Lincoln Continental, the spare tire was mounted on an extension of the rear bumper. Later on you could buy this kit and dress up your old car. These kits are now a thing of the past.

You can special order a running board for your pickup or your SUV, but earlier this item used to be standard equipment.

Sometimes my dad would let me ride up the driveway standing on the running board. Today, he would be arrested for this bold move. Our freedom of choice is melting away like the snows of March.