Tires Piled Up 150 Feet High Sell Them Quickly (Apr, 1933)
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1933
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Tires Piled Up 150 Feet High Sell Them Quickly
TO ATTRACT attention, a Hollywood garage owner who had a large stock of used tires he wanted to dispose of stacked up a couple of hundred of them and put a life-like dummy on the top.
The stunt got results. While waiting to see if the stack would fall, an astonishingly large number of people bought tires, bringing the depression to an end as far as the tire dealer was concerned.
The secret of the stacking lies in the telegraph pole running up through the center, thus holding the column vertical. In the accompanying photograph the dummy is seen atop the tires which were piled over 150 feet in height. Most spectators actually believed the dummy was real; and wondered how he got there. There’s a hint in this spectacle for other tire dealers in like predicament.
A spectacle is great for selling religions. Why not car tires?
Comment by rick — March 14, 2008 @ 9:15 am
Works for politics too, or is that religion also?
Comment by Bob — March 14, 2008 @ 10:29 am
There’s only 139 tires there. That’s no 150 feet unless they’re drag racing slicks.
The tires of a 1933 Mack truck are about 6.5 inches wide, a 1933 Ford about 5 inches.
Allowing for about a 50/50 split that’s 54 feet which, judging by the size of the tow truck on the right, is about right.
Comment by Stannous — March 14, 2008 @ 12:26 pm
Stannous » I definitely think a letter to the editor is in order!
Comment by Charlie — March 14, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
Dear Editor:
I am writing to you from the year 2008 and I wish to comment on the photo of stacked tires…….
Comment by jayessell — March 14, 2008 @ 4:14 pm
Damn liberal media bias!
Comment by Charlie — March 14, 2008 @ 4:19 pm
“The secret of the stacking lies in the telegraph pole running up through the center, thus holding the column vertical.”
At 150 feet, that would be some telephone pole!
Comment by Mike Brisendine — March 14, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Hmm, they must have meant One fifty feet. As in one set of fifty feet. lol
Comment by Justin — March 15, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Some call it art!
http://www.salvador-dali.org/m.....ual_1.html
Comment by Kent — March 15, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
In highschool a graduating senior class stacked 80 tires (class of 1980) over the school flagpole one night. The method was the fun part - they used the flagpole’s ropes for the flag to pull a skinny guy to the top. He clipped on to the top of the pole, and then they used the same rope to hoist the tires to him one by one. As they got to the top, he slid them over the pole and his body so he wouldn’t need to unclip. He even sat at the top alone & silent as everyone else hid during the security guard’s rounds.
Our class (1981) did better - we attached 81 donated bras (great donation party!!!) to the flagpole rope, and put up a giant banner proclaiming “The Class of ‘81 Leaves Its Support!”
Comment by Jim — September 11, 2008 @ 6:33 am