Model “A” & Model “T” Fords

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You start with a Model “T” …

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Strip it down and have some fun with it…

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However, you’re getting older, and it’s time for a change.  Your Model “T” has barely 20 horsepower, a top speed of 45 mph, but it cost only $260.  You want a car with 40 horsepower, a top speed of 65 mph, and so what if it costs $385 this is 1928 and the economy is booming.  

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The Model “A” Ford is right for you.

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Here’s the chassis coming down the line…

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Then they put in the engine…

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Add a steering wheel and instruments …

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Almost done…

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And there you (and two million other people) have it.  A new 1928 Model “A” Ford automobile.   (And you don’t have to crank it.)

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John Dillinger also had a Model “A” Ford

In 2010, Dillinger’s 1930 Model “A” sold for $165,000

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John Dillinger never really owned the Model “A” pictured above.  It was stolen (borrowed, he asked if he could use it) to make his escape from the Little Bohemia shootout on April 23, 1934.  

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Earl Butler and Baby Face Nelson were also at Little Bohemia, but made other travel arrangements.

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During the Brainerd Bank robbery Oct. 23, 1933, described in the novel Midnight Run 1932, Earl Butler, Baby Face Nelson and others (Dillinger not present) used a 1933 Buick 8 cylinder 7-passenger sedan (like the one above) to make their escape. 

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Radio in the Roaring 1920′s

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Silent Movies didn’t start talking until 1927 when Warner Bros. released “The Jazz Singer.”  The film ran 89 minutes and grossed almost four million in the U.S. and another three million worldwide.

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Radio, on the other hand, had been going strong for years.  By 1923, some three million Americans owned radios, although most of them were crystal sets with earphones.  Programming was mostly: baseball, news, music, and advertising.

Crystal Sets

Music

Pretty Girl

Sugar Foot

Five Foot Two

Henpecked Blues

[If you don’t have time to listen now, Bookmark this page on your Browser, and revisit sometime when you have fifteen minutes and a cup of coffee.]

 

Tube Radio 

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In 1922, President Harding became the first President to be heard on radio.  It was not a political message but a dedication to the composer of the “Star Spangled Banner” Francis Scot Key.  The first political message came three years later from President Coolidge.

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In 1927 radios started appearing in cars

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The Marconi Transmitting Station, Marin County California

In 1914, the stations in Bolinas (transmitting) and Marshall (receiving) could receive messages from New Jersey and retransmit them to Hawaii.

The novel Midnight Run 1932 fictitiously uses this facility in its bootlegging activities.

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And last but not least, 

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Al Capone’s 1928 Cadillac was equipped with a police band receiver.

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The Silent Movie Era

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The Silent Movie Era: 1895 to 1929. 

It was widely believed that this form of entertainment appealed mostly to the illiterate because stories were told without words.  Music played a major role in creating the story’s atmosphere and giving the audience emotional clues.

You have to think those “illiterate” moviegoers knew something.  Here’s one of the era’s most popular stars.  Louise Brooks.

more 20′s & 30′s links:

Quotes from the 20′s & 30′s

Midnight Run 1932

More on Louise Brooks

THE DILLINGER MURDER and FBI COVER-UP

THE DILLINGER MURDER and FBI COVER-UP

(part one: The Murder)

 While doing some background research for a historical novel, I discovered something I wish I hadn’t. Here it is:

You can prove John Dillinger was shot in the back four times on July 22, 1934, and the Department of Investigation (renamed F.B.I on July 1, 1935) covered it up. http://jon-wilson.com/dillinger-part-one

The First National Bank – Brainerd, Minn.

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This is a short PowerPoint Presentation that I use as a storyboard.

It takes a couple of clicks.

 

The Brainerd Bank Robbery WEB.

 

Josephine Baker « We Heart Vintage

Josephine Baker « We Heart Vintage.

Midnight Run 1932

Vintage Cars

Transportation Hollywood chic …

 The 1930 Cord L-29 was the first American production front-wheel drive car.  The cost was $3,000 but the stock market had just crashed and only 4,400 of these beauties were sold.  The car weighted 4,700 pounds, had 125 horsepower, and a top speed of 80 mph.  Compare this to the 1957 Corvette: 2,985 lbs, 283 hp, 0-60 in 6 seconds, and a top speed of 132 mph.  Production of the Cord L-29 ended in 1932. 

1930 Cord L-29

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Five years later, Dust Bowl transportation …

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Dust Bowl Car

and there were children …

Dust Bowl 1934 – 1936

Midnight Run 1932

Clara Bow

Clara Bow

“We had individuality. We did as we pleased. We stayed up late. We dressed the way we wanted. I used to whiz down Sunset Boulevard in my open Kissel, with several red Chow dogs to match my hair. Today, they’re sensible and end up with better health. But we had more fun.”  Clara Bow 1905-1965

1920 Kissel

 

Midnight Run 1932

Frank Nitti

Frank Nitti (1886 to 1943) 

Frank Nitti

Getting Started: Frank Nitti was Al Capone’s first cousin and later became a good friend.  He was thirteen years older than Al and a member of the “Navy Street Gang” with Al Capone’s older brothers.

Frank quit school at age twelve (Al was kicked out of school at age fourteen).  For several years, Nitti worked as a pinsetter and a barber.

Nitti’s natural father had died when Frank was two, and the relationship with his stepfather deteriorated until he left home at age fourteen.  At age twenty-four, Frank moved to Texas, joined the Galveston Crime syndicate, and stole a large amount of money from them. He then fled back to Chicago where he renewed contact with the O’Banion gang and became an accomplished jewel thief, smuggler, and fence.

Frank Nitti

Nitti’s accomplishments (early 1920’s) as a liquor smuggler caught the attention of “Papa Johnny” Torrio who had just hired a new soldier named Al Capone.

The End:  The demise of Frank Nitti is remarkable, almost unbelievable.  Suicide by three shots to the head (you’ve got to be kidding me).  The official report was that only one of the three shots was fatal, what gave it away?

There is no question that he ended up dead, but it sounds a little like the guy who was cleaning his rifle and accidentally shot himself eight times in the back.

Frank Nitti – 3 shots

OK, I guess it could have happened, but you have to admit that it took stones to shoot himself three times in the head.

Josephine Baker in the Famous Banana Skirt 1927

Josephine Baker 1927

-this had to be a bootlegger’s dream-