Notes From The Hood (ornament)

 

Buick hood ornament

It has been another week of cold, crappy weather here in So Cal. The stone is  not far from completion.  It's a simple form. I need to do some more shaping on the inside of the cone, but for the most part, this is shape of the finished product. Here's where we left off some days ago. 

 

I have to wait until Spring gets here before I can get back to work. That should happen later this week. More rain is forecast for the next few days.

 

But, I found out some other interesting stuff, this week. 

Check this out:

I know. We've already seen this. I finished it back in November. But I learned some new stuff this last weekend, that I did not know before. If you'll recall, I based the carving on this photo that I  got from a bicycle forum:

The picture originally came from an ebay auction. The piece was identified as a "Schwinn Whizzer Fender Bomb."

 

Schwinn Whizzer

 Cushman Motor Scooter

(Couldn't find Whizzer, or Cushman pictures with a fender bomb)

Now, some of these pieces certainly found their way onto the front fenders of  Schwinn Whizzers, or Cushmans. But, it turns out that the Dart Torpedo Ornament was a popular after-market automotive accessory.

 

 

 (From the ebay auction)
NOS 1946 1947 Ford Torpedo Hood Ornament Acc, Cushman Fender Torpedo Rat Rod  Made in the 1950's in Jacksonville, Fl. by the Dart Engineering Company. 

 

1946 Ford Tudor Banner

 

 

 

Buick used this design on their late 1940's Roadmasters.

1949 Buick Roadmaster conv.

 

1949 Buick. Roadmaster

 So it turns out that I was missing some relevant information on the origins of this piece. I always figured that it was a Jet-Age symbol. The torpedo passing through the ring looks very much like this:

 

Jet plane breaking the sound barrier.

 

 But the sound barrier was broken in 1947 when Chuck Yeager flew the XS-1 over 700 miles per hour over Edwards Air Force Base in California. The torpedo was flying on Buicks like this one in 1946. So I was wrong about that as well.

1946 Buick Roadmaster

 

Ya' learn sumthin' new ev'ry day!