Slightly OT - 1946 Garage and useless trivia

[Dan Hiebert]

Greetings all! I was perusing some historical photos and came across this photo of a U.S. Border Patrol auto maintenance garage in Yuma, AZ, taken in 1946. Unless I am mistaken, those are 1942 Plymouths. Early models I'm assuming because they have bright trim. They'd have been patrol cars, our vehicles were black and without any markings until the 50's. They were referred to by or quarry as "Black Marias", but I haven't found anyone that can explain why - other than the obvious, they were painted black, but "Maria" - I don't know. Cars built specifically for police use didn't come out until 1957 (Chevrolet claims to be first). Until then law enforcement agencies just bought the most reliable reasonably priced cars - with what the Border Patrol put cars through - kudos to Plymouth here. (A Border Patrolman could break and anvil with a rubber mallet.) You'll probably wonder about the Jeep - USBP was considered important enough to national security during WW2 that we got new Jeeps during the war. Anyway, thought some would find the photo interesting, especially the 42 Plymouth owners out there.

[Young Ed]

The closer 42 looks like it might have aluminum painted trim rather than actual stainless and chrome. Look at how much brighter the further away car looks. Cool photo for sure.

[Plymouthy Adams]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Maria

see this wiki definition...

picture hints at three of these sedans in the garage..extra front seat and the two pictured have their's in place..

[Dan Hiebert]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Maria

see this wiki definition...

picture hints at three of these sedans in the garage..extra front seat and the two pictured have their's in place..

I didn't even think of looking it up on line, I thought it was an out dated term that hadn't made it into the computer age. Just goes to show you can find anything on the internet I like the "stylish" seat covers, too. I imagine the upholstery was getting pretty long in the tooth by the time the photo was taken.

[austinsailor]

I have a late 42. No chrome, but the grill and stainless trim was still stainless. Headlight rims, bumpers, tail light bezels and light in the middle of the trunk were all silver paint.

Edited March 14, 2012 by austinsailor

[greg g]

There is also a reference to a steady wind called Maria. There was a song in the 50's I think from a Broadway show. They call the wind Maria.

Away out here they got a name

For rain and wind and fire

The rain is Tess, the fire Joe,

And they call the wind Maria

Maria blows the stars around

And sends the clouds a’flyin’

Maria makes the mountains sound

Like folks were up there dying

Maria

Maria

They call the wind Maria

Our Sherriff's department used basically unmarked, except for bubble machine and spot lights, black cars in the 40's and 50's. Don't recall tham having a name other than Sherriff or road patrol.

[Young Ed]

Is that from South Pacific? Its been a long time since I've heard it but I think in the song they pronounced it mar I a not mar e a.

[1940plymouth]

I love this version of this song.

It is from "Paint your Wagon" with Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood

[TodFitch]

It is from "Paint your Wagon" with Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood

Movie version with Marvin and Eastwood is good but the story line changes between it and the original Broadway play are huge. Basically all they have in common is a lot of the music.

Back to the original picture:

Black cars....

Without air conditioning....

In Yuma, AZ...

All I can say is wow! I guess it could have been worse, if those cars were 10 or 15 years newer they'd have been upholstered with vinyl.

It does bring back memories of our trips from home in Tucson to visit relatives in Southern California when I was a child. In summer these trips were done by packing the car the day before, bundling us sleepy kids in the back seat in the middle of the night, driving with plenty of drinking water and salt tablets with the goal to be across the worst of "The Desert" before the heat of the day. For us, "The Desert" was roughly bounded by Gila Bend on the east and the grade out of the Imperial Valley on the west with Yuma smack dab in the middle.

When we got a car with air conditioning in the early 1960s the routine changed dramatically. Changed even more as old US80 was rebuilt into I-8.

[Young Ed]

Dang I should have known that.

[pflaming]

Interesting "I" bar / winch set up. They must have pulled a lot of engines. The Jeep is on a lift. When did the lift appear in garages? The trim on these Mopars is very artistic, very nice. Must be very hard to find.

[Dan Hiebert]

Movie version with Marvin and Eastwood is good but the story line changes between it and the original Broadway play are huge. Basically all they have in common is a lot of the music.

Back to the original picture:

Black cars....

Without air conditioning....

In Yuma, AZ...

All I can say is wow! I guess it could have been worse, if those cars were 10 or 15 years newer they'd have been upholstered with vinyl.

It does bring back memories of our trips from home in Tucson to visit relatives in Southern California when I was a child. In summer these trips were done by packing the car the day before, bundling us sleepy kids in the back seat in the middle of the night, driving with plenty of drinking water and salt tablets with the goal to be across the worst of "The Desert" before the heat of the day. For us, "The Desert" was roughly bounded by Gila Bend on the east and the grade out of the Imperial Valley on the west with Yuma smack dab in the middle.

When we got a car with air conditioning in the early 1960s the routine changed dramatically. Changed even more as old US80 was rebuilt into I-8.

Back before my days in the outfit, the Border Patrol wouldn't even order cars with air conditioning. When it started coming standard, a lot of the sector Chief's would order the mechanics to pull the A/C - and the "good time" radios if they came with them. Reasoning was supposed to be to ensure the agents were out of the cars working. "Good time" radios were no biggie, since most of the places we work didn't have good radio for the longest time anyway. A couple sectors still removed the AC into the 1980's, and we were still doing the "post delivery radio delete" into the early '90s in some places. Vinyl seats were the norm, and cool cushions were a commodity.