Great reminiscing there, Verl. It always brings a smile to me to think of the things we did back in our youth. I had a '51 Ford 2 door, got it in '58 when we lived in Twentynine Palms, and ran around the whole SoCal area - lived in Azusa from '55' to '58, and then became a Desert Rat. I don't know why I can't find any pictures of any of my cars; I know some were made, but they don't seem to have been as important as kids and people, and are sadly among the missing.

When you mentioned the plexi knobs, that, too, gave me a twinge. I loved shop classes - all of them, and filled as much of my time with them as I could. Like Bob says, those things we learned in those classes set the basis for much of what we can do today. I have been inactive in the hobby, except for hanging around some forums like this one, for a few years, now - sold my '59 Chevy when we moved a few years ago. But of late, I have had a "jones" for another car to play with, and have been seeking the right early fifties item, actually thinking on another '51. Perhaps not a practical idea, as I am so banged up I can hardly ambulate, but the desire is still there, founded in the shop classes of Citrus, Azusa, and Twentynine Palms High Schools in the mid/late fifties.