16 - Southpoint Sun
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
This week’s feature car: 1940 Oldsmobile on V-E Day
“We’re nobody special, we’re just everybody,” exclaimed the happy group on this convertible making its way down York Street in Toronto. It was V-E Day, May 8, 1945. The war in Europe was over. This year we celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of V-E Day on Friday, May 8, 2020. Note the absence of a front license plate on the Bill Sherk car in the photo. No front plates were issued to Ontario motorists from 1943 to 1947 because of wartime metal shortage. The 1944 “plate” was a sticker on the windshield. The car is a 1940 Oldsmobile convertible coupe in the 60 Series. The more
expensive 90 Series had no running boards because it had a wider body. The engine carrying these people along was a flathead six with 230 cubic inches and 95 horsepower. The convertible top was power-operated for the first time in Oldsmobile history. It was vacuum-powered, which meant the engine had to be running to put the top up or down. The car carries the name of Ransom Eli Olds, an inventor from Lansing, Michigan, who began experimenting with automobiles in the late 1890s. His Olds Motor Works produced the Curved-
THE OLD CAR DETECTIVE
Dash Olds of 1901, the first car to sell in volume. It was steered with a tiller and the engine was under the floor. In 1904, following a disagreement with the other directors of the company, Mr. Olds left and began building other cars in competition with the company he had started. But he couldn’t call them Oldsmobiles because that name no longer belonged to him. He named his new cars REO after his initials and these cars sold well right into the 1930s. REO trucks were also popular back then. The last Oldsmobile was built April 29, 2004 when GM decided it was more profitable to trim back to just three makes: Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac.
The only Oldsmobiles you can buy now are old Oldsmobiles, and some of them look brand new because they have been restored to showroom condition. Maybe our feature car is still around!
1940 Oldsmobile on V-E Day in Toronto York University/ Toronto Telegram Photo Collection.
Dennis Jackson was one of the world’s top collectors By C. Scott Holland From the day Dennis Jackson started work at the former H. J. Heinz Co. in December 1964 until the day of his death on April 8, 2018, Heinz was his passion. He started working at the factory with his friend Bob Shaw and they retired on the same day in 2001. But for Dennis, 35 years of work at the factory only led to his postretirement life which was as active as any can be. His initial love of the job led him to start collecting Heinz items and various associated pieces of related memorabilia. His passion for the company and its iconic ketchup was
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shown every morning as he smothered toast with the Heinz ketchup. For many years, he ran the Keystone Korner Gift Shoppe at the factory and was an ambassador for Heinz. His collection was immense and he was listed at one point in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest collection. Among the artifacts, was over 10,000 labels from products and the Canadian company’s original time book. The number 57 certainly was prevalent in Dennis’ life. His employee clock number was 7755 and his home phone number started with a 5 and ended with a 7. “I even have my hockey sweater with 57 on it!” he once proclaimed. For about 15 years, a small portion of his vast collection was featured at the Leamington Arts Centre and his collection was often featured in various newspaper and magazine articles as well as TV shows like Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!.
For area residents it is strange not seeing the familiar white and black restored 1949 International pickup with its license plate ‘Heinz 57’ cruise around town. The truck was acquired by Dennis with help from local car buffs Kurt Gossen and Bill Sherk.
Certainly without Dennis, Heinz Canada’s 100th anniversary in 2009 would not have been such a success and its history book “A Century In The Making…” (2009; out of print) would not have been done if not for him and his collection.
Dennis Jackson and his best friend Robert Shaw on their last day in April of 2001. Scott Holland archive photo
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