Prewar Christmas Display

Brian,

   Looks interesting, especially the nice vintage looking artwork.

   Not being a Facebook joiner, not sure where this is happening. You might want to post some details as I would guess that older OGR Forumites probably don't participate in Facebook either.

Tom

Sorry about that, I'm used to people nearby knowing where Old Poway Park is. I'll fix that on the main post.

We're located in East San Diego County.

you might want to check "ASSOCIATION", too.

Like the Jazz music, at this special event. "Cool"

Gary

• Cheers from The

It'll all get fixed in the final version.

HEY HEY     I Will START THE BIDDING ,    I have a  one dollar bid RIGHT HERE for the original misspelled card , VERRRRY VERRRRY FEW EXIST!!!     EARRRRLY PRODUCTION RUNNNN !!!  OR MAYBE ITS A RARE PROTOTYPE ??? . Are there any other bidders ?  How about YOU !!!  YOUNG MAN STEP RIGHT UP !!! Take those hands out of your pockets and place a BID !!!

Brian , Thanks for posting I'm in Indiana and theirs no way I can be there  but I love the enthusiasm and time you have put into the cards . Fantastic . Wishing the very best or you and with your show. And most of all thanks for the laughs,

 Just another old guy with funny ideas, Gary

Love that floor model radio!

Great idea and nice poster, I will up the bid to $10.00 on the poster with the misspelled word!

If I knew it would be this easy to sell sketches I would have done it years ago

The radio is a 1929 Brunswick, I picked it up for $50 last year for this exact event and we restored it. It resides in my bedroom and more or less matches the décor.

Brian,

  Nice job on the restoration.

Tom 

To far away for me to attend, but I will be there in spirit!   I am imagining some of my Big Band era music coming from that old radio while I am running my Lionel prewar O gauge trains!   Mike

Gee ! I lived pre-war and WW II Xmases. They were a whole lot different then, a true holiday celebration. Anything and everything you got(not much) was greatly appreciated.  Things made out of paper and wood plus a fired clay toy tank. Of course, the huge, big old Standard gauge Lionel rattling around the track. Xmas morning, 1941, I came downstairs to find an army of 200 or so toy soldiers on the dining room table. Still have half of them.

the instance of me starting a conversation about trains with someone out of the blue being very slim, when i do find myself talking with a person who has given me some reason to bring up the topic, i can often tell immediately whether or not they will understand the terms pre- and postwar.  it is usually only a matter of a minute or two to explain metal shortages in the early 1940's to those who have no knowledge of this, but it is still something i try to avoid if i can, only referring to the years of production rather than using the more general tinplate definitions to someone not familiar.

please know that i have no problem with discussing prewar or postwar trains in forums like this and i do not bring this up for any matter of "political correctness", but if i could use the proposed poster as in example, that is, something probably meant to be displayed in public, i'm not sure if highlighting "PRE-WAR" will be understood by the majority of the public who very likely have little or no knowledge of the aging term gradually becoming even more nebulous with, unfortunately, other wars.  i could possibly even submit that if totally misunderstood some might even wonder what future war is on the horizon that this display will precede?

just a thought or two.
cheers...gary

The term "pre-war" is still in use in areas other than model railroading, I don't think anyone will take it the wrong way. But if you have a better term let me know, pre-war sounded a lot better than "A 1915-1941 Christmas".

I agree, I think most folks have seen "A Christmas Story" and understand that "pre-war" is the time prior to WWII.  Cant wait to see pics of the display.  Mike

you certainly picked an era that could best be defined by prewar, though i'd tend to go even earlier.  i got nothing right now, but i'll keep it in mind.

what i find the most remarkable about those years, however, is the growth of the electric grid throughout the country.  it's hard to believe that just 100 years ago, the chances of your having electricity on demand in your home was very slim.  by 1920 a little over a third of all households were wired and by 1930 it was only up to about 70%.

a better representation of the time might also include a loop of 2rail/ clockwork track.  if it has a mainspring, it's still called a motor.

cheers...gary

If I use the term "pre-war"  of "the war" I usually qualify with, "You know the big one" and they know which one, then to be nasty, I say "the last one we won".  Usually gets a laugh. I miss the lead tinsel, I would salvage all I could to melt it down then cast toys out of the lead. No cars so we took the trolley in to downtown Pittsburgh to look at the store windows and shop. Good times-no Wally World.

A Christmas Story supposedly took place in 1939.

did they really call prewar prewar, prewar?

I say 1915 because my earliest locomotive is from 1915.

I don't own any clockwork locos, I think it might be a pain to run them for 4-5 hours and have to wind them up every 20-30 seconds

you're right there!

windups are operationally intensive!

my earliest is from 1915 also, the first of what i hope will be many i'll be around to acknowledge their 100th year in service.  it's a clockwork, though.  with my preference for steam outline, my first electric (also Flyer) won't hit the century mark for a few years yet.

have a great run.

cheers...gary

I don't think there is any term that will not cause the younger generations to scratch their heads.

They coined the term "The Silent Generation" or "The Lucky Few" for those born during this time. The tough times of the depression and lingering effects caused fewer births.

Fads and trends yielded no clever terms. "A flapper to zoot-suit Christmas" doesn't work.

Stick with "pre-War". It offers intrigue and can be answered quickly. Before WWII.

And they thought WWI was "the big one".

Edit: I like the misspelling of the words. The younger generation seems to relate to phonetics better and will prolly understand.

I explained to my 21 year old niece's boy friend that my trains under the tree were prewar. He asked, "Pre Viet Nam?"

Beautiful job. Many people restore these cabinets incorrectly - with a dull finish and open grain. Yours looks like it should - closed grain and shiny. Very nice.

That's really neat.  Nothing like pre-war stuff.

--Greg

Thanks Roy, I try to stay as close to original as possible on most of my restorations. Occasionally I take some artistic licenses here and there, but it's usually minor things that are semi-historical.

quote:

I explained to my 21 year old niece's boy friend that my trains under the tree were prewar. He asked, "Pre Viet Nam?"

I guess I've had a couple of similar experiences myself. It is easy enough to explain that the term refers to World War II, and in the case of Lionel trains, its the years 1945 through 1969.

But the terms "Prewar" and "Postwar" are well defined in the Toy Train Collecting and "O" gauge model railroading community. Most of the folks participating on this board belong to one or both groups. If we are going to worry about what folks who are not members of either group understand, then I think we should start be eliminating the use of acronyms and abbreviations. (Let's not)