Not like the fruitloops of today.
Searches for old Johnson Seahorse Outboards I found this image of a AT-10 Early 1940's?
Estimating the young man's age he was probably born in the early 30's.
My dad was born in 1933 he will be 89 in July. God willing he makes it.
I wonder what kind of life the boy in the boat had?
H/t to A for the pictures of the young skipper.
I applaud the young man for putting on his life jacket before picking up the beer.
ReplyDeleteI bet that boy turned out just fine
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of life? Oh man I know.
ReplyDeleteWhen a young man gets to captain the ship the joy on his face is a treasured memory and you see it here. I got to do it and payed it forward with my kids. Freedom comes in many ways and is a joy. First time riding a bike. First kiss. First time driving a car. Buying your first beer.
Now ya gotta have a damn license just to run an outboard! But ya gotta take an 8 hour course first.
ReplyDeleteThe Nanny State has run amok.
Plus it's just another way to claw money out of your ass pocket.
Woe to ya if ya get caught drinking in your "Pleasure Boat" too. It's worse than drunk driving.
This is of course, after, you pay out the ass to license the boat, the trailer and the vehicle used to tow the boat and trailer.
Oh. you wanted to go fishing?
That's another license PLUS, you gotta pay thirty bucks for some stupid fucking "Pass" so you can park your truck and boat trailer on PUBLIC LANDS!!
I used to say we needed to start by killing all the lawyers.
I was seriously mistaken.
The license is why the manufactures started building 9.9hp motors. 10hp and up requires athe boating course.
DeleteMy first mechanics job was as marina mechanic back in the late 70's when all the outboards were experimenting with the solid state ignitions . When one of those old Johnsons or Evinrudes rolled in the shop it made my day . Pure simplicity with that quality craftsmanship that built America . You couldn't kill those motors !
ReplyDeleteEstimating the date of a photo based upon some product in it can rule out dates prior to the product only, especially if it's something that lasts for years or in this case even decades. By your logic if I sent you a picture of me driving my 1970 truck, you'd estimate that I was 116 years old. Damn sure getting nit-picky in my old age.
ReplyDeleteMen were men (the boys too) and gas cans hadn't been FUBAR'd by the dot gov.
ReplyDeleteI got to grow up like that. We had a lake about a mile from our house. We'd ride our bikes there and fish. Later, when I was old enough to rent a boat I'd take my old man's outboard motor. When we were that kid's age, we were allowed to ride our bikes to the shopping center. I tried to give as much of that to my kids, but it's a different world. I asked my son one day why he didn't ride his bike anywhere. Told him I'd know every street and alley for a mile around by his age. Different age I guess.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't start branching out until they got keys for the car. I've heard stories. So I know they have it in them.
Far as the nanny state, I guess it depends on the state. As I've gotten older, I realize that retards doing retarded shit is what enabled the nanny state. I used to rail at traffic circles and speed bumps in neighborhoods. But they got there because the retarded can't drive normally in residential areas.
Back when I lived in the DC area, there was a free boat launch ramp in a park at the end of the main runway to Reagan National Airport. You could sit, drink beer, and watch the spectacle. "amateur hour" wouldn't begin to describe it. Some of these fools shouldn't be driving cars let alone boats. Some areas on the river, and the Chesapeake are treacherous as hell due to the nitwits not knowing how to act around others on the river.
That's how you get the classes and the rules.
back in the late 50's pappy turned me loose with a 7.5 hp. Scott-Atwater. as a 6 year old kid, "Top of the world Ma !"
ReplyDeleteStill going on today for a few lucky kids. Recent blog on Bumfuzzle's site.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bumfuzzle.com/normal-life/
They let their kids be kids. Raising them right. I think the boy driving the boat is about 9 or 10.
He had lots of fun and learned his limits. A great way to grow up.
ReplyDeleteThe Johnsons had a problem with a shear pin in the gear cluster before the output shaft The 19 hp Mercury Hurricane was a better engine in my humble opinion. But they would both scream.
ReplyDeleteWould give a hundred dollars for a gas can like that. Makes me ill to remember how many reliable, simple, common-sense items we used to make in this country before some alphabet agency totally fucked it up by mandating useless regulations.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, in 1962 I bought a 11 ft. boat with a 25 horse Evinrude for $300. No trailer. put it in the back of my dad's F-600 stake body and took it to the lake for the summer. I was 15. Saved my lawn mowing and farm work money for the purchase. Did a lot of water skiing, exploring, and partying with that set up for two years. Yes, independence was the key ingredient.
Dude, you don't need to spend $100 on a can like that. Search Justright. I spent maybe 50 on a 2/5 gal can, and $70 I think on a 5 gallon. Got tired of screwing with plastic cans and their sissyfied spouts.
DeleteThis is from a blog called You, Me and the After.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youmeandtheafter.com/search?updated-max=2019-12-29T13:29:00-08:00&max-results=7&start=131&by-date=false
scroll down to post - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019
"Maybe 5 years old when these two photos were taken.
We often took off on the weekends to be near the water and when we could afford it, dad would rent a boat. These moments on the water were a real treat.
A cold beer for my parents on a warm day and a packed picnic lunch always on a blanket near a beach.
My father always had a sly grin on his face. Always.
I think he was always looking for ways to play and on this day his son got to drive the boat and be a real man with a beer in hand. (The bottle had been half filled with water)
Can you imagine these photos taken and shared today? A father letting his young son steer a boat w/o a life jacket and then let his son drive the boat with "a beer" in hand - AND and with a can of gasoline near by?
We laughed then and I am still laughing today. How did so many of us ever survive such an upbringing? "