Garage Art

Those are really nice displays guys. My dad had a cool shadow box, you know he served in the Philippines in WW2 and when he came home, he never had half of the ribbons and medals he was supposed to have.
Fast forward to about 20 years ago, my dad was in his 70’s and right near him was this military store, that sold all sorts of stuff for shadow boxes like yours. He stopped in there one day and talked to the guy, and my dad started telling him all the different campaigns he was in and the man was able to supply my dad with all of his missing ribbons. So my dad had this really nice shadow box made and he had this old black and white photo of him standing at attention in this muddy field in the Philippines getting a field promotion.
He was just a kid when he left for war and through a number of field promotions he returned a Seargent.
He was a great guy, my dad.
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Yeah, my dad was really humble and always downplayed it. All he would say was it was for something he did when he was with some guys who were pinned down in a foxhole and a sniper was shooting at them and killed one of the guys in the foxhole. He was in some pretty hairy fights. He also came home with Malaria and permanent hearing loss from artillery. He wouldn’t apply for any disability though.
 
He also came home with Malaria a

Malaria - not a fun one (I’ve got it too). Your Dad was a special guy Bob - and yet he looks just any other nice young 20-something chap from an average town. They really were the greatest generation.

Thanks for sharing.

Pete
 
Bob, folks like your Dad and his whole generation are the reason I shy away from the current (and very welcome) admiration for military service.

For me, it was mostly just a job. I was never within a thousand miles of harm's way and the greatest risk I faced was walking across the parking lot on my way into the building. Guys like your Dad and combat veterans of all conflicts before and since put their very lives on the line. THEY, in my opinion, are the ones Veteran's Day was created for.

I salute your Father and all like him.
 
After my dad passed away my brother found something saying he had been awarded a Bronze Star in WWII, never could find out for what. He like many of his age talked very little about his time overseas.

Now for a little On Topic some pictures of some of my garage art as it may be:

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Just a collection of old tools I scrounged up over the years and decided to get them out of the way in many places around the garage and house!
 
Now for a little On Topic some pictures of some of my garage art as it may be:

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Just a collection of old tools I scrounged up over the years and decided to get them out of the way in many places around the garage and house!

Oooh....now you’re giving me ideas! I love the way you’ve got those tools displayed. What a nice collection of old adjustable wrenches and just why did they make those old double end wrenches “ S “ shaped?
Very nice!
 
Well decided to post a few more pictures, some are not real sharp and clear.

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Assortment of old oil cans and an old funnel

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Old Gasoline torch

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Remember the old fuel oil filled road flares, recall riding with dad one time he had a job filling and lighting them on some road project,

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Some old hub caps Top row is a 1951 Buick special, next are two off a 1948 Pontiac, next a 1864 Rambler American, then two Corvair probably a 1965.
Not sure about the lone one in second row, need to get better look but it is a bit wrinkled!


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This shot has a little of everything. Two large two barrel carbs off some old engines, three old magnetos, an unknown New Britain tool, another old road flare some old insulators, a pair of rods out of my 1992 Sportster, a 1988 Vintage can of Harley Beer(unopened) and a can of Steer oil treatment!
 
Great stuff Ken. I used to have the best time walking around this annual antique engine and tractor show here.
My dad was an old depression era farmer and he knew what everything was, and would usually have a story about its application and uses.
I just love that stuff.
 
I have the toolbox that Dad used as an airline engine mechanic. That toolbox kept a roof over and fed the 7 of us and the dogs and cats for over 30+ years. It spanned the transition from the big reciprocating engines to jet engine airliners of the 60's and 70's. I wish he was still around to explain some of his custom tools. I know some are used to spin some splined shafts but, what engine or shaft it was, I have no idea.
 
Mailman, I think if you contact your father's branch of service, they'll mail you your dad's metals and his service records. My brother did that with my dad who was a Marine in the S. Pacific. He just had the basic campaign metals though. He told me he turned down a field promotion to Sergeant. I asked why and he looked at me incredulously and said "Because I didn't want to get killed!"
 
I just ran across a YouTube channel called my mechanics and it is incredibly absorbing. The guy restores old tools!

Here are a couple - grab a BEvERage and enjoy!



Ha! Pete, I just had the time to watch that video. Watching him restore that old vise was mesmerizing! That guy does incredible work and his camera work is top notch. I have subscribed to his YouTube channel, thanks!
 
Mailman, I think if you contact your father's branch of service, they'll mail you your dad's metals and his service records. My brother did that with my dad who was a Marine in the S. Pacific. He just had the basic campaign metals though. He told me he turned down a field promotion to Sergeant. I asked why and he looked at me incredulously and said "Because I didn't want to get killed!"

That’s an interesting idea. I might just look into that, thanks!
 
Not sure what my brother did, but I ask about it with a recruiter or the V.A. maybe. Seem to be interfaces with the public. Or you could google up how to do it. I know anybody can. From the service records, we discovered he didn't qualify with a pistol. That hung up my little brother, an Army colonel. I said, listen I'm sure he had never touched a pistol before, and I'm sure the instruction and probably the pistol itself were terrible... In fact, they might have never even had them try to qualify with pistol.
 
So back to garage art!
I’ll bet a lot of you are like me. I love to listen to music when I’m working out in my shop. When I made the move to my new house ( nearly 9 months ago! ) I had packed this big home stereo unit that I had intended to put up in my new garage. It was an Aiwa stereo with a CD changer and it was rather large. But you know something? It never made it out of the box it was packed in. I came to the realization that my listening habits had changed. I was now streaming music either through YouTube or Pandora. I hadn’t even played a CD in years.
So last week I took the whole stereo and every CD I owned and took them to Goodwill.

Which brings me to my point. I wanted basically just a powered speaker I could hook my cell phone up to. I was looking at these little tiny rechargeable Bluetooth speakers that were $50 to $100. But I really don’t need or want a rechargeable stereo. Today I saw this at Walmart, for $35, three speakers, 16” long, low profile, 25 watts.
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It’s a small TV sound bar. But it also has Bluetooth ability ( which I’m not even using ) it also can simply plug into your phones headphone jack, which is how I’m using it.
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It doesn’t take up much room on my workbench but it could even be hung on the wall. It sounds much bigger than its size would suggest. Winner winner chicken dinner!

I’d buy that all day long.
Bob :thumbsup:
 
Hahahahaha! I've got the "old Aiwa" 'compact' CD stereo in my garage. I built a shelf for it to sit on, long before the garage got packed to the gills with everybody else's stuff. Now, I'm an aspiring empty-nester (one down, one to go), and little by little, turning it back into a garage, instead of the family landfill it was... :wtf:
 
I was poking around at the local Home Despot ( ;) ) and found THE COOLEST piece of garage equipment: it is a 40" long LED light unit with a built-in Bluetooth enabled speaker.

When I enter the Disaster Central Workshop (i.e. my garage), all I do it select "settings" and "Bluetooth" on my phone and then select the "40" light" option - and WAH-LAH.

It was a wee-bit pricey at $89 CDN (that is around $6.42 USD at the present rate of exchange I think) - but well worth it. The sound is good and any garage can always use a little more light plus I don't have much wall or bench-top space, because I am not nearly as tidy and organized as Mailman.

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One more suggestion: if you like listening to podcast radio programs while you are driving or working, check out the CBC Radio program "Under the Influence" with Terry O'Reilly. He has had a 40+ year career in marketing and making TV, print and radio commercials and his 28 minute podcasts are incredibly interesting and absorbing. You can download the entire podcast library of his programs over the past 4-5 years and it provides many hours of interesting and informative learning about how the business world gets into our wallets.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/under-the-influence/
 
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