Vagabond travel rig

Image: from https://www.autoevolution.com/news/the-1938-vagabond-a-custom-reo-and-curtiss-aerocar-is-the-ultimate-luxury-motorhome-175807.html

Yes, it’s from 1938 but we can presume that it was used in southern California in 1939. Be sure to click on the image link for full details.

“Dr. Hubert Eaton was a very savvy businessman, whose name is forever linked to the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemeteries in California, where many celebrities and public figures have found their final resting place. Eaton was also probably painfully aware that, in order to have success, one must project a successful image, much like today’s real estate agents will do when they make sure they buy (or rent) an expensive supercar.

“This belief and the desire to experience the best in terms of road travel led to the creation of what is today an iconic motorhome, the 1938 Vagabond. The Vagabond is a very unique rig, made of a custom REO bus and an equally custom Curtiss Aerocar trailer, one of the first luxury fifth-wheelers in history.”

“…The towing vehicle was a ‘38 REO cab-forward hauler, custom-built by Standard Carriage Works of Los Angeles.”

Excerpts from the image link above.

Wynn’s Friction Proofing

Yet another SoCal entrepeneur starting in his garage. Image and text from https://wynnsusa.com/history/ .

This is a heckuva story although most of it occurs after 1939. Click on the link to learn more.

“Chestien Wynn, a 70 year old retired attorney with an interest in lubrication chemistry, discovered a formula he named ‘Wynn’s Friction Proofing’ Oil. This surface treatment for metal actually changed the chemistry of the metal, making it softer and better able to withstand friction and wear.

“Chestien Wynn would mix a batch of his product in his one car garage workshop, fill and label glass bottles with it and sell them to the local service stations and garages. Motorists, who used the products once, wanted another bottle of it.”

Abie’s 1939 Mercury

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  Image: scrapbook page from an online auction site

Your blogger will go out on a limb and presume that these photos were taken in southern California in 1939. The car has a license plate and aftermarket “flipper” hubcaps so it isn’t brand new from the dealer in these shots but I’d like to believe that the photos were taken within a few weeks of taking delivery. Owning a convertible Mercury was a pretty spiffy way for a young man to show the world that he was doing well. Did he also own the boarding house or was he renting a room there so he could afford the car? We’ll probably never know.

’39 De Soto at Carthay Circle movie premiere…maybe…um, no

“I don’t think they actually shot this at Carthay Circle – that tented walkway was much longer and I doubt that neon sign was green and pink, but for the uninitiated, it certainly looks like the real thing.”

Martin Turnbull, expert on the golden age of Hollywood, posted this on his facebook page (link is below). He has written some excellent historical fiction novels about this time and has a lot of interesting posts on his page.

Image and excerpt from https://www.facebook.com/gardenofallahnovels/photos/a.219221078144642/3469588083107909/?type=3&theater .

Learn more about the Carthay Circle movie theater here: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1158 .