Last night I attended a Super Bowl party with some friends I've know for around 35 years as we at one time all belonged to the same street rod club back in the mid-'70's. Some of us still belong. After the big game one of my friends gave me a DVD he had made from his Super 8mm sound movies from several events in 1976-78. These events included rod runs Wisconsin Dells in '76, Peoria in '77 and '78, the '77 NSRA Nat's in St. Paul and the '78 NSRA Nat's in Columbus. Man there were a lot of resto-rods running around back then and the bigger the gap between the top of the rear tire and fender the better.
Aside from the difference in cars the difference in the people was even more shocking. I don't know if it was the beverages I was consuming or the fact that I'm a ham when a microphone is placed in my hand (probably both) but in most of the movies I was the MC, asking questions and making comments that were funny at the time but hold little relevance today. When the first movie started I heard a familiar voice and the person talking looked vaguely familiar. Who was the tall, young mustachioed man speaking to me? Then I realized that hell, it was me! Oh heck, I knew it was me all along but something inside of me refused to admit that that was what I once looked like. I still have all the hair but it's much lighter today. Hey, gray is lighter than brown. The eyes are still blue but have a few crows feet, I'm still tall but I hear I should begin shrinking in a few years, but damn, was I skinny! Everyone else in the movies that have been lucky enough to make it this long and that I still see all suffered the same issues. Then there are the friends of old that I have lost track of wondering what they might look like today. I heard voices and saw people that had come in and out of my life in the blink of an eye but in the movies they were still there and still fun.
These movies consisted of endless processions of street rods coming and going to the events that were covered in the films, but luckily a lot of the hotel partying and antics were preserved, times only those present can truly relate to and appreciate. There were the poolside interviews of obviously sobriety challenged individuals, people doing belly flops just cuz and how great our girlfriends/wives looked in two piece bathing suits back then. Of course even back then in our mid to late 20's us men thought we looked good in a Speedo but really, we didn't. I couldn't get that damn thing around one leg today let alone my waist.
What really shocked me watching my friends and I from a generation ago was how hard we partied, night after night until 1, 2 or 3 in the morning, opening another "Old Style" while sucking the previous one dry and still getting up at 5 or 6 in the morning to get to the show the next day. And what a blast we had, always laughing, always having a great time. Today, we sit in the parking lot after dinner, have a couple drinks and by 9:30 everyone is turning in. Don't get me wrong, we still have a great time and laugh and I wouldn't change my life today for anything but sometimes I miss those days so long ago.
Where'd they go? Where'd I go? Many of the friends in those movies have moved away, changed hobbies, disappeared and sadly passed away. I am fortunate that I still have contact with some of them. But where are those young pranksters that were drinking, carrying on, laughing and playing practical jokes on each other, so vividly coming to life in those ancient flickering movies? Well, mostly we're still here, just a lot older, a little quieter, but still up for a great fun filled hot rod weekend. OK, so maybe we can't or common sense tells us it's not wise to stay up until 2 or 3 AM but we still have a blast, making new memories and reliving old times with friends passed.
I plan on showing this DVD to our members at our next meeting to show some of the new/younger guys how it was back in the old days and how we had fun. I urge everyone to dig out the old slides, movies and photo's and show them to the younger rodders. Tell our story so that it will be perputuated for future generations.
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