Dispatch from the Road: Hershey Autopalooza!
If you're an old car lover and haven't been to the Antique Automobil
e Club of America's annual fall event at Hershey, PA, you have been missing out on the mother of all swap meets. I don't know how many acres the flea market covers (one person said 10 football fields long by ten fields wide), but apparently one would have to cover approximately 26 miles to visit every booth and the car corral.
clothing for staff and docents to wear, and literature for our cars. Willy and I got to meet a lot of great folks and see old friends. We also visited the booths staffed by the various clubs we belong to (e.g., Pierce-Arrow, Wills Ste. Claire, Model T Snowmobile, Early Ford and Society of Automotive Historians). Willy attended the annual Stutz Club meeting Thursday night while I snuck off to the AACA Library to get some articles on the Compound automobile.
e Club of America's annual fall event at Hershey, PA, you have been missing out on the mother of all swap meets. I don't know how many acres the flea market covers (one person said 10 football fields long by ten fields wide), but apparently one would have to cover approximately 26 miles to visit every booth and the car corral. There is a little bit of EVERYTHING here: complete cars, fenders, hubcaps, door handles, brass (Willy's best find was two headlights for our '06 Cadillac), bicycles, motorcycles, pedal cars, car models, gas pumps and all sorts of big and little parts. Most people are pulling little red wagons or wire carts to haul their treasures in, and guys looking for specific parts wear signs like sandwich boards draped around their shoulders. It's a hoot to see!
I was focused on finding vintage clothing, reproduction
clothing for staff and docents to wear, and literature for our cars. Willy and I got to meet a lot of great folks and see old friends. We also visited the booths staffed by the various clubs we belong to (e.g., Pierce-Arrow, Wills Ste. Claire, Model T Snowmobile, Early Ford and Society of Automotive Historians). Willy attended the annual Stutz Club meeting Thursday night while I snuck off to the AACA Library to get some articles on the Compound automobile. Although tiring, the trip here has been worth the tired legs and sore feet. We got to tell a lot of folks about the Fountainhead Museum, and hopefully we'll see some of them visit Fairbanks in the near future.
From Hershey we're off to visit museums and check out some cars in PA, NY and CT. I'm especially excited to see our White Steamer!
Nancy