********************************
********************************
************************************************************************
CLANGING TOOLS ON THE SIDEWALK...WERE "JAKE'S SYMPHONY!"
************************************************************************
O.K. Rubber Welders, at 301 West Grand,
It was almost like Jake Snipes and his crew were selling friendliness and good will and just throwing in the tires as a bonus. Store employees of today could certainly learn public relations from them! And they were workers. No grass grew under their feet. It'd tire you out just to watch them work. (No pun intended.)
A very visible shop, in the front of Empy's Welding Company's building, it almost "stuck out" there on the corner---one of the first things that you noticed was all the GLASS---windows all the way across. There was a lot of sidewalk and space around the corner on the drive-up Connelly side.
In fact, weather permitting, it seemed like half the employees were out there, fixing flats, un-mounting tires, and doing all the stuff that tire guys do, all while dropping tires, rims, tire irons, and all their tools as they worked---clanking , clanging, banging on the sidewalk--- all day long! This was the music of Jake's Place...it was "JAKE'S SYMPHONY!"
You talk to old timers from the 40's, and they are quick to remind you that "nobody carelessly threw away a tire in those days." They got them recapped at OKRW. In discussing this recently with a CHS classmate, Robert Stebbins, he said: "I don't remember much about OK, except every time I needed my tires on my 1939 Ford Coupe recapped, I did business there. We never bought new tires in those days. I remember that Art spent a lot of time working at OKRW."
Some younger readers might say: "Well, what is this so-called 'recapping' thing anyway?" I may not be the best qualified to explain this, but I'll give it a try. You see, every Saturday, after working a half day at my dad's Magic Steam Laundry, a block and a half west of OKRW, I headed out for the Lyceum Theater. My path took me right by Jake's place. I would always peek in the window and see what was going on!
Roughly it was this. They would take an old tire and grind off the remainder of the old tread. Then on this clean raw area they would apply some kind of liquid glue. They'd then wrap a smooth thick slab of rubber all around the tire. They had these big round mold-like machines with steel treads on the inside. They put this semi-finished tire in the mold, closed it, and baked it for X time. When the machine cooled and you opened it, voila! Out would come your brand new retread! That's where the "Welders" term comes in.
The years passed and I graduated from (I still like the "from") CHS in 1951, went off to college, and the next year bought my first car! It was a 1948, four door Chevrolet Sedan. Over the years, Jake and his crew kept me in recaps; I'm pretty sure the price was $5.95 plus tax. I made it through school on recaps. New 616's might have cost me $100 a set!
There were many good stores in
Jake, you guys did good! You were a credit to old
(In later years OKRW expanded and moved to bigger digs. The last time I was by the old O.K. Rubber Welder location at 301 West Grand, it hit me in the gut. All things must pass, I guess. There were no guys out there on the sidewalk, or drive-up, changing flats, working, dropping tire tools---clanking and clanging...Jake's Symphony was silent....and almost worse that that---someone had bricked all the windows. For me, that was the last straw.)
Bob and Art Snipes
********30********
BY MIL
11-03-12
No comments:
Post a Comment