My Father's Favorite Car: the 1933 Chevrolet Master Eagle

This is the mostly true story of my father's favorite car. Mostly true because I just cannot remember all of the details, such as how old I was when my father first started talking about the car. Sometimes my Dad could be a very good story teller. Often his stories didn't seem to have a real beginning, or an end, they just kind of existed, there in the moment of the telling . Although once a theme or story line was established he would always tell that story the same way. Because the basic structure and most of the characters never varied I always thought the story must be, at least, mostly true.

Dad's name was Stanley. At least that was the American, or English version of his given Polish name. Stanley was the only son and the eldest child of John and his wife. There were four sisters as well but Stanley was the only son. John and his wife were Polish immigrants. I do not know the particulars of how John and his wife wound up in the textile mill town of New York Mills in central New York State where Stanley grew up. I do know that his father's given name was not actually John. John is the American or English version of John's given Polish name. I do not refer to John's wife by name because I am not sure I ever recall hearing anyone in my family say her name. The family never referred to her as John's wife either. Everybody seemed satisfied to call her by the title; Stanley's mother. That ambiguity is a major part of this story. Stanley, his family of origin, his mother and that car were always linked when Dad told "The Story".

How Stanley came to have this particular 1933 Master Eagle Town Sedan and what eventually became of the car is the real core of my story.

Most folks referred to my Dad as Stan. I always liked the sound of that version of Stanley so I will call him Stan for most of this story. Stan had already been working for almost 10 years by the time he got the '33. From what I understand it was quite common in Dad's time to get identification documents altered, especially if such alterations meant a person could work as an adult. Stan's family had his papers altered when he was fourteen years old. Two years were added to the proper documents and he went to work full time. He was always both proud and irritated that he had worked since he was fourteen.

Most of the other people in town worked in the textile mills that were the mainstay of New York Mills, N.Y. Stan worked at the Utica Cutlery factory in Utica, N.Y. I don't recall exactly why Stan ended up at Utica Cutlery. It may have been arranged by his parents and thought of as a better paying opportunity. Stan was only a boy of fourteen and I don't think anyone asked him if he wanted to take this job, it was arranged, the pay would be good so he just had little choice. Utica is a larger city a few miles from New York Mills and had a base of heavier industrial factories such as the Cutlery and Utica Drop Forge I don't suppose he always had a car to get to work in .Utica, he may well have walked at first. At some point he got his first car primarily so it would be easier for him to get to work. He had a few other cars before the '33. He would talk about them only briefly in passing to talk about the '33.

Exactly why Stan had to go to work at fourteen was never really clear to me. His father did not work as far as I know. I am however, certain that his mother and sisters did not work. That was always clear when he told "The Story". My mother's father suffered from a condition that my folks called "brown lung". This condition was described as a breathing difficulty developed as a result of inhaling the lint that was always present in the textile mills. Mom's father did work, but at jobs that didn't require the effort of mill work and at jobs that did not include breathing in lint all day. It may have been John was kept from the textile mills for the same reason. Dad bore no grudge against his father for not working. However he always resented the fact that none of his sisters or his mother worked.

Stan must have made a good wage working at the cutlery. Part of "The Story" included the fact that he paid for the family house. His wages were never stated as being only enough to make the mortgage payments, rather it was always stated that he paid for the house, I suppose that meant there was no mortgage and the family owned the deed, but I was only a boy in those times. This is significant for another even larger issue as well. During these years, the 1930's the U.S. economy was heading into "The Great Depression.". Many people did not have any work, but Stan paid off the family house and had a pretty good standard of living to boot.

As it is today the acquisition of goods and property was important. Stan's work afforded his family not only sustenance and shelter but many luxuries as well. Stan had a car, in those days, not everyone did. The family had rugs in the living room, nice furniture and a large console radio. His sister's had nice clothes and his father could have an occasional bottle of good whiskey. All of these items were a great source of pride to Stan. He worked hard, was paid well and he provided well for his family.

Stan worked overtime at the cutlery factory whenever it was available. Most factory work in the 1930's was piece work. A rate was set and you were paid for each one you could do. You only got paid for the good work you did. But Stan was good at the work and could better the established rate almost every time. The managers would sometimes use Stan as a "stalking horse". They would give him a task and his output would drive the rate. This did not make him everybody's favorite co-worker. Stan however took a great deal of pride in his natural ability to master these tasks quickly. Stan was very proud that he set the standard, just try to keep up with him; there were few that could. As a result of his effort he usually made more than the older workers on hourly wages.

The '33 was blue. Dark metallic blue. He was 23 years old in 1938 and the car was already five years old. It was the biggest Chevy you could buy. The old man who had first owned it was very frugal and only drove it occasionally. The '33 was not his first car. He had had owned a couple of other Chevies before this one but this one was the best model available. It was a Master Eagle Sedan. I don't think he started with a Chevrolet for the same kind of reasons we make those decisions today. I think the first car he bought was a Chevrolet , it was a pretty good car so from then on Stan was a Chevy man. The '33 had many options including the dual sidemounts, chrome front bumper overriders, wire wheels, white wall tires, a radio and a heater.

Many people during those days had Ford cars. Ford was one of the most popular brands and many models had a V-8 engine. Chevrolet had an inline 6 cylinder of 206 cu. ins. And 65 hp., just 10 less than Ford's V-8. The Chevrolet however had overhead valves while the Ford was an older less sophisticated flathead design. Stan liked that edge of sophistication. He had started with a Chevrolet, he felt it was more elegant than the Ford and it was technically more sophisticated, he was sure he had made the better choice.

At some time during the period when Stan had the '33 he became aware of and acquainted with Frances, the girl that would become his wife and my mother. They lived in the same neighborhood sort of as they say, "cross- lots" from each other. Stan was quite the man about town in those days. He had that '33, that big shiny blue CAR. The family had a radio too. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that as well. Stan used to play his big console radio just a little too loudly not to be noticed by anyone who cared to listen. Stan always dressed well when he was not working, and he did work. He worked almost all the time. But he made some time for other pursuits too.

Things get a little complicated here. Walter, who is Frances's father and my future grandfather was a neighbor, sometime fishing and hunting buddy of John, Stan's father. It was common for them all to go off "sporting" when Stan wasn't working. He had that big shiny '33 after all and they could all chip in for gas and who could ask for more? Stanley, John and Walter all seemed to get along quite well.

Frances and her sister became very curious of this neighbor boy with the big shiny car and his ever present wide brimmed fedora. They knew who he was, he seemed like a pretty good guy, their father seemed to like him and there was that hat. He always wore a hat. Not always the same hat but always a wide brimmed felt fedora and always at the same jaunty angle. One of these girls, neither would ever admit which was the first, decided that he must be bald and that was why he always wore a hat. They hatched a plan to knock Stan's hat off somehow and make it look like an accident. Then they would know once and for all what was under that hat. They have both told me the story, neither would ever say if they carried out the plan and both sisters would only giggle like they must have when they first had the idea.

Stanley and Frances most certainly did become better acquainted, in fact they got married. That's where the story takes a rather sad turn I'm afraid. Almost everybody was pleased and happy when Stan and Fran got married. Stan's mother, however, was not happy with this turn of events. He was the bread-winner and sole support of his mother's family. If he got married and went off with this neighbor girl who was going to support them, she wanted to know. When telling his version of "The Story", Stan never me told whether or not he had even considered how his father, mother and sister's would support themselves. I have some recollection of one or two of his sister's working someplace, but those facts have been lost to time. The house, all the furniture, the radio and the '33 were all paid for before he married Frances. Stan saw to that.

Stan's description of how his mother handled this matter was quite abrupt. His only description was always; "I married your mother ( Frances) and she (his mother) disowned me! I left that house and everything in it, left her that car (the"33) too, I only took the clothes on my back, and I swear I'll never speak to her (his mother) again as long as I live"! As far as I know he never did speak to her again. I never met her; I never knew her name and would not have recognized her even if she stood face to face with me. For her part, his mother never spoke to him either.

He maintained a good relationship with his father and two of his sisters. When his father, John, died someone pointed out his mother while the family and friends were at the funeral home but I could not tell what the woman looked like and had no desire to even acknowledge her.

That car, the big blue 1933 Chevrolet Master Eagle Sedan, got moved around to the back of the house where it sat uncovered and untouched for many, many years. Someone eventually pulled the '33 out of the yard and took it away. The final fate of the '33 is unknown to me. I truly hope someone brought it back to life and it survives but I don't really think I'll ever know for sure.