Old Tech: The J. C. Whitney Catalog
Old Tech The J. C. Whitney Catalog J. C. Whitney was a mail order supplier of automobile parts and supplies. Their catalogs were full of functional parts, but more, trendy accessories. They had Packard-style swan hood ornaments, Cadillac-style "V" chrome car emblems, curb scrapers, flip day/night mirrors, "cowboy" steering knobs and such. Here is a page with blue dot tail lights and driver side spotlights. There was a "competitive" catalog from another Chicago supplier, Warshawsky & Co. There were emotional partisans of Whitney vs Warshawsky, but they were the same business. The business was on a wedge-shaped intersection in Chicago, and the two names used mail addresses on opposite sides of the intersection. I bought a Bermuda bell ("Ding-dong!) from Whitney for the Sunbeam Alpine I restored to alert and impress my grandkids and friends when I picked them up at St Ann's school. I sold the car, but kept the bell.