My thanks as well for the Paulin Motors photos. My grandfather was an Oldsmobile man in the 50's and 60's and he'd buy a new one every 3 or 4 years. I remember that iconic stonework in the showroom vividly.
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--- In vanishingtucson@..., "MisterCopacetic" <mistercopacetic@...> wrote:
Hello All,
Thanks to Alex for the vivid memories of Paulin Motors and their Caddies, and even some Old Time Radio! I haven't found the article you mentioned, but I'm still looking. Wilma just posted a link to view the Citizen archive, but I use my Ancestry subscription. Meanwhile, I found the interior showroom shot that clearly shows the "Gina Lollobrigida" bullets. Hahaha. You can view the other images like a slide show by clicking "next". There are exterior views of 2121 E. Broadway, and a Citizen article (not the one you mentioned). The sign is not visible in the images. Maybe added later? Start here¡
Also huge thanks to "jlwcr11" for the photo of the sign! We need to give full credit to the source, and I'd like to authenticate it, since we can't see the building in the background. I'm also wondering if the sign was saved by a private collector, because it was missing long before the building was demolished. With the new Historic Landmark Sign ordinance, it could be re-installed elsewhere and rotate proudly once again.
Thanks,
Carlos
--- In vanishingtucson@..., "Cook, Alexander G - (agcook)" <agcook@> wrote:
Carlos,
I remember a column in the Citizen, many moons ago - perhaps by Don Schellie, that discussed the Paulin Motors sign. I think it was a flat kind of amoeba/pond shape containing the Paulin name but it had a vertical extension with a Sputnik/satellite shaped object on the tippy-top. The satellite was all outlined in neon and was animated. Imagine the sphere of the satellite, bristling with neon outlined spikes (3-d, not flat). Slice the sphere in half vertically. Now (here is where my memory is a bit hazy), have one half rotate in one direction and the other half rotate in the opposite direction and then have the whole kit and caboodle rotate on the sphere's vertical axis. The animation aspect was what the column was about. Apparently the satellite portion of the sign was created locally from a WWII vintage Jeep trans-axle that somebody scrounged from a garage down in Nogales, and the writer was speculating how many miles that axle had been rotating, night and day, day-in, day-out, for lo those many years it was perched atop the Paulin sign. It was a sign my family saw many times.
When my Dad retired from the Army at Ft. Huachuca in 1957, his "graduation" gift to himself was a brand, new 1957 4-door sedan (a Fleetwood?). It had a white roof and a creme-yellow body. It had those rubber tipped Gina Lollabrigitta bullets extending from the front bumper and the gas cap was hidden underneath one of the rear tail light assemblies. You had to depress the red reflector disk in the rear lamp to unlatch it and allow the whole tail light (it had to have weighed several pounds as it was solid chrome) to swing up and out of the way. The car had air conditioning WITHOUT those plastic tubes that used to be placed in the back deck of the back window. The doors weighed half a ton, easily. I still bear the scar on my index finger from when my younger brother slammed the rear door while I was still getting out. All the dash fittings were metal, even the vents for the a/c. Very little plastic at all. I also remember the BIG discussion my Mom had with my Dad when he announced he was getting a Cadillac because it cost around $5,200 which was a full year's salary for him when he retired as a Lt. Col. I guess after WWII and Korea, he was ready to partake of a little of the American Dream. He bought it from Paulin's and religiously took it there to be serviced.
It had twin fins on the front hood that projected up about 6 inches and mayber 4 inches apart. These instantly turned the Caddy into an F-100 Super Sabre jet. While driving home to Sierra Vista after an all day shopping trip to Tucson, I would claim the middle of the huge front bench seat, between my Dad and my Mom. As cars passed us or we passed them, I would line them up in my "sights" and give them a burst of 20mm cannon fire and send those "MiGs" into a flaming death spiral.
On those night drives home my Dad would tune in the same strong signal every time. It was an NBC station from somewhere out in the ether and I think the show was "Monitor". Gene Rayburn was one of the regular hosts but I remember segments with the acerbic, but very funny, Henry Morgan. It also played old radio programs like "Duffy's Tavern", "Fibber McGee & Molly", and maybe "Amos & Andy". I can still remember sitting in the dark in the back seat, smelling the grocery bag of bollilos we got in Nogales and hearing "Hello. Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie the manager speakin'. Duffy's not here...Oh, Hello Duffy." I love radio.
I hope you are able to score a photo of the sign. If I knew how to search the Citizen articles (if they are available to the public), I'd try to find that article for you. Surely some old ads in the papers had to have at least a drawing of the sign.
Alex Cook
Southern Arizona since 1954
