Great Old Mack Photos

Sunday, July 13, 2014
      Overcast and very humid

Great Old Mack Photos

  I'd been looking for some nice old photos to accompany my recent posts about the early Mack toys from the early years (1910-1930). I naturally sent out a request to the Mack Company  but I'm still waiting. As a blog writer, it's important to always look for alternative sources of material, so that you can be able to "go to press" on schedule. So I had written at least 3 people, with an excellent website coordinated by Mr. George Murphey (with an "e" in his family name). George wrote back to me, and sent me 20 nice photos, and said that he'd look for more. These were his photos that I'd be able to use, but the thousands of other photos belonged to people on this Flickr website, and he did not have (nor did I) permission to use the photos.

For those who don't know, Flickr is a website where people can place their photos up for people to see, and depending on their copyright levels, for people to share. I'm on Flickr, but I  dont' share, unless someone asks. Mt personal reason is that I occasionally actually sell my photos, and as such I don't want the photos to be used "freely". Also, for every photo that I use courtesy of other people, I always add their watermark or name, and a copyright notice at the bottom.

Please click here to visit George Murphey and friends most interesting truck photo site

    I like details and trivia,and usually can answer many questions on the American TV program Jeopardy. Of course, if I ever went for an audition to be on TV, I would sweat profusely, and freeze at any question - so forget my idea of making a lot of money there! BUt getting back to George Murphey's Flickr site, it's faaaaannnnntassssstic! There are, as of this printing, 5405 photos, that George starting adding since 2007.  Of course , there are other old truck photos beside the Macks, and there are pages and pages of old copies of magazine pages of truck companies that once existed a long time ago.

    I was going to combine George's photos with toys, but with the huge effort that George did to help me out, I decided that he deserved his own page. I decided to just add the earlier photos that have the large chain drives attached to the rear wheels. After 4 years of writing this blog, I learned that from George's photos - that these Mack trucks had rear chain drives to get fantastic traction and motion! Naturally, I had to ask a question about the chain drive to George, and here's what he answered:

"Early Macks such as the AC were chain driven to two hubs on both rear wheels. The rear axle was an I-beam to which the hubs /cogs and drive wheels were attached. The power was provided to the chain through a differential powered by the engine via a propeller shaft just like a modern day differential, with a drive cog on each end of the differential "axle". Chain drives were extremely strong and pretty reliable as they provide for drive/traction to both rear wheels. Early Sterling Trucks were also chain driven."*

* Description Courtesy of Mr. George Murphey

If you look carefully to the rear of these early Mack trucks, you will see chains that were attached from the driveshaft to the wheel axles. These chains were how these truck moved.

I'm not sure when the bulldog became the logo of the Mack company. The breed of dog was an excellent choice representing toughness and strength. Later on, the actual hood truck ornament of the dog would be patented and used on the Mack trucks. The design patent number is 87931. I know that because I have 2 of those hood ornaments that I purchased on ebay!

What's amazing to see on these  early Mack trucks are solids rubber tires. There is no windshield, and as for the back of the truck, a canvas was used to cover the load when it rained or snowed.

Here's a great photo to show you that rear axle chain drive. There was a drive on both sides of the rear, and later on, there would be a metal cover to protect people from  accidents, as well as protecting the chain from dust and rocks.

Even today, modern toymakers produce old reproductions of Mack trucks.

There is a certain quality and nostalgia that I admire in old advertisements from the early  20th century, especially the hand-drawn ones. 

Please view the images in Blogger slide mode and enlarge this particular ad. 

The fine print below "Working day and night" will both make you laugh,and realize just how "primitive" roads were in these days - even in 1929, and how slow things moved!

I did some photo-editing to remove people and background distractions. When people are in a photo, you may need their  written permission to use their photo. I left the grass in, since out gave the image a more natural view that my "all whitened" effect.

You got to admire people who have interesting hobbies, with this being the restoration of this fine old Mack truck. Solid rubber tires, wood rear truck bed, and this one even had a windshield, made of wood! Of course, you have 2 nice views of that rear-chain rear wheel drive to the truck. In this case, the truck must be a later model as it has a red protective cover over the chain drive.

The truck above is just exceptional, and you have to really admire anyone who can dedicate so much time and effort to keep such fine trucks around for us to appreciate!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you kmay be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com