Hello friends,
I've always liked billboards and have enjoyed this topic very much. The recent posts by WBG Pete and Adriatic combined to strike a particularly nostalgic chord with me. I have had the "Wow! Ford V-8" billboard among my toy train accessories since I was a kid, and the old billboard Adriatic found in Grandpa's jewelry box brought memories of my father.
My Dad also served in WWII, which makes my writing this on Veterans Day particularly appropriate. He returned from the war, married his sweetheart, my Mom, in 1946, and I was born 9 months and 2 days later. About that time Dad went to work for the Seattle District Office of Ford Motor Company. His name being Harry Bennett raised more than a few eyebrows at the time, but that is another story, as is the fact that "I" also got "my" first American Flyer train set for Christmas of 1947.
Dad rose to District Auto Sales Manager before he left the Company to become a partner in a Ford dealership in 1960. In 1963, he sold his interest to his partner, and purchased the sole interest in another Ford dealership which he ran until his retirement in 1984.
Somewhere along the way, someone gave him the display card out of toy train billboard advertising the 1947 Ford. Fast forward to 1997, the year of my 50th birthday, and he gave me the Christmas gift shown below after having it framed and engraved along with the note now attached to the back.
Thanks again, Dad, for your service and for igniting a lifetime of enjoyment of trains, both real and toy, as well as cool cars!
And thanks, friends, for the memories.
Cheers!
Alan
