A chance to win a new Oldsmobile in Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1952


Time-travel with me, and let's see if we can win a brand new Oldsmobile. We're going to Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1952. We will need a dime!

This adventure is inspired by an image that I found on the Duke University website ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions). Their interest is in the billboards, but I'm interested in everything else, including that '52 Olds. Let's take a closer look.


I wish that I could see more of it, but of course that's not the reason that this photo originally was taken. It was taken just to record that the billboards were up and visible, so we're just trying to look at stuff in the background. I'll tell you what I see. The sign there on the awning over the car says, "Catholic War Veterans Mt. Carmel Post 714, and Benefit Building Funds. Looks like they were raising money to build a building for the vets. It costs ten cents a share, or you can get three for a quarter. I wonder how much that car sold for in 1952? Hang on, I'll go Google it and find out.

Looks like the Olds sold for about three thousand bucks brand new, depending of course on the model and whether it had a heater, a radio, or other options. There were a lot of people going by on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, so they must have taken in a lot of dimes, and quarters!

Since we're time-travelers from the 21st Century, I have a whole pocket of dimes and quarters. Let's buy a lot, it's for a good cause, anyway! The drawing will be on October 5th, 1952, so we'll have to come back!

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