Duryea Day 2005 —
The Story in Pictures
Part 2 of 2 —
© Tue Sep 6 2005
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In the past four decades, the Duryea
Day show has grown quite a bit.
The First Annual Duryea Day had 191 antique and classic cars on
display.
This year, the number was 517 —
and included not only cars, but trucks, motorcycles, hot rods
— and two new categories this year:
pedal cars (left), and tractors (right).
The number of spectators in recent years has generally been well
over 3000.
If you happen to be walking around Duryea
Day,
and you hear some curious popping and banging —
it's probably the collection of hit-and-miss engines
that have been a part of the show for a number of years.
Most were made somewhere between 1910 and 1920, and
are designed to perform various jobs around house and farm —
such as running cement mixers, buck saws, and washing machines.
Though they are generally rated at ½ to 3 horsepower,
this one (shown at left) is a
mammoth
5 horsepower hit-and-miss engine from 1913, brought for display
at the 40th Annual Duryea
Day by John Cleaver of
New Berlinville.
In 1966, there were 6 flea market stands. Lately, that
enumeration
has been about
10-fold.
Here we show you just a small portion of the marketplace
— but if
you've looked over the whole field, you know that it is always
chock-full of,
especially, auto related parts, pictures, models, and memorabilia,
as well as an ample assortment of general merchandise and crafts.
Besides the main event of the classic cars, and the zillions of
things in the flea market, there is lots more to do and see at
Duryea Day.
At the Car Corral you can buy or sell a car.
The kiddies enjoy the trackless train ride, and receiving
a toy surprise from Twinkle the Clown — this
year, sponsored by
Bause's Super Drug Store.
If you have brought a show vehicle, you can try to balance it on
the giant teeterboard. •••
If you like music, this year we had Ken Meyle's Special
Delivery, with contemporary and blue grass music; and
the Joe Soltysik Combo, doing '40's to '90's, including big
band and swing, through the whole gamut of rock and roll.
•••
Food ?
You bet.
Hot & cold.
Breakfast & lunch.
Traditional and novelty.
Even a few items you might
nary
find elsewhere —
like fresh-cut fried potato ribbons.
In 1966, the First Annual Duryea
Day was honored by the presence of
Mrs. Rhea Duryea Johnson
and Grace Duryea, daughters of the turn-of-the-century inventor for
whom the Boyertown Museum's Duryea Day is named —
Charles Duryea.
Rhea,
who was born in 1885, while only in her mid teens, began testing
her father's cars on the 1½ mile switchback road in east
Reading,
which runs from
Penn's Common
up Mt. Penn to the
Pagoda.
On Saturday, May 23rd, 1942, that road — formerly
known as Mount Penn Boulevard — was renamed
Duryea Drive,
in recognition of the automotive achievements of
Charles Edgar Duryea.
And this year — at the 40th Annual Duryea Day Antique & Classic Car &
Truck Show and Flea Market — we were
visited again by a Duryea family from
Spokane,
Washington. Mitch Duryea, a
land surveyor,
civil engineer, and adjunct professor at
Gonzaga University, who lives just
74 miles
east-southeast of the
Grand Coulee Dam, is a descendent of the
brother of the father of Frank and
Charles Duryea.
In the photo (above right),
Ken Wells
welcomes Mitch, his wife, son, and two daughters to the 2005
edition of the annual
Boyertown
car show that honors their cousin —
Charles Duryea.
Award - Best Antique Car
(at left) Winner: Mark and Tammy Serfass, of
Earlville,
Pennsylvania,
with a 1909 Kelsey Motorette.
On this three-wheeled vehicle, the two front wheels steer
— while the single rear wheel
drives. Left to right:
Robert Dare,
President of the
Pottstown Region,
AACA, and
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the
Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles;
Mark Serfass;
Mark's son; and
Ken Wells, Executive Director of the
Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, which has sponsored and
produced Duryea Day every year, starting in 1966.
Award - Best Antique Truck
(at right) Winner: John B. Haines IV, of
Pennsburg,
Pennsylvania,
with a 1925 Mack AB truck.
According to the marking on this truck, this item is Number 25 in
at least that many vehicles in the Haines and Kibblehouse
Group. Left to right:
John Haines,
Robert Dare, and
Ken Wells.
Award - Best Modified
(at left) Winner: John and Joyce Stine, of
Chester Springs ,
Pennsylvania,
with a 1934 Hot Rod Ford truck.
John was but a lad of 16 when he purchased this beauty 48 years
ago — in 1957.
If you'd like to see it at Duryea Day 2004, you may
click here.
Left to right:
John Stine,
Ken Wells, and
Robert Dare.
Award - Best Motorcycle
(at right) Winner: Bill Walker, of
Schwenksville,
Pennsylvania,
with a 1962 Harley Davidson FL.
Bill has quite a stable of neat antique motorcycles.
He brought a '67 Harley and a '37 Indian to
Duryea Day 2004, and a 1940 Harley to
Duryea Day 2003 —
both of which you may see (with your mouse trigger).
Left to right:
Ken Wells,
Bill Walker, and
Robert Dare.
This year's Awards sponsor was
Williams Pontiac •
Nissan • GMC Trucks.
Thank you to all who attended, presented, supplied, or helped in
any way to make Duryea Day
2005 a great success. It
would be impossible to name all the Museum volunteers who
assisted in a zillion ways — we are
grateful for your time & your toil.
We especially acknowledge our partner of many years,
the
Pottstown Region
AACA.
It is their members
whose experience, and energy, and smiling faces make the car show,
the flea market, the car corral, and many other aspects of Duryea
Day, a memorable event. So thanks,
Pottstown
Region, for a great job again in 2005.
We would also like to thank our prime sponsor for this 40th Annual
Duryea Day, National Penn Bank
— along with our other sponsor
— WBYN, 107.5 Alive.
And I would especially like to thank Ken Wells of
Douglassville, and
Stuart Wells of
Birdsboro,
for snapping all these great pictures of
Duryea Day 2005.
Thanks to all — See ya next year.
— Museum Webster
This Duryea Day 2005
Story in Pictures (Part 2 of 2)
was last updated and verified as being
accurate information as of
Wednesday, May 24, 2006.
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