11687 S. E. 33rd Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 97222
In the early ‘thirties’ I, too, had a Shaw car. My car
was very badly used. The clutch was gone. A local garage man welded
me a direct drive unit and I never did get the motor to run very
well. The front grill was the shell from a Ford T. The rear brace
was a frame to support the steering shaft. The tires were taped and
wrapped and patched. Money was scarce. The first person to own my
car won it at a movie house drawing but that was long before I got
it.
I lived at the bottom of a hill, so we would push the car up
three or four blocks to the top and coast down. To stop, we would
drag a foot. One time the rear wheel ran over my leg and I still
have a scar on my knee.
I lived near the Columbia River where auto wreckers would put
old car bodies over the dike to help hold the sand in place. My
friends and I would strip any copper or brass to sell for a little
cash. Times were hard. I guess this Shaw car got me started in my
life’s work. I received my 52-year award from the auto
mechanics branch of the Machinists Union last year.
