Pennsylvania pickings: spares galore at Spitz's yard

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We know this picture was taken in Irwin, Pennsylvania, because the source tells us so. It was, in fact, shot at Spitz Auto Parts salvage yard there ‘circa 1941’. Remarkably, the company is still in business after 85 years. So, yes, that means Spitz opened its doors in 1939, telling us it had only been in business for two years when the photograph was taken. Business must have been thriving!

Had we not known all this, we would happily have started sleuthing, and with a picture of such good quality as this one, answers are often not too far away. See, there’s a company car near the camera on the right, which gives a clue. A delivery van of ‘Heckman’s Market - Fresh Meats’. A simple search soon comes up with a 1940 news clipping, telling us that there was a butcher with that very name in Dayton, Ohio. It had opened a new shop that year and renamed itself The Country Butcher Shop. The article explains: “Folks from all sections of Dayton come to this shop for special cuts of meats, having learned that only the choicest products are offered at money saving prices.”

Now, the panel van looks like a 1936 or 1937 Ford to us, so it was five years old at the most. Surely Heckman’s wouldn’t have got rid of it because of its new name?! And how about it ending up at Spitz’s yard, all the way in the next state? That’s almost 300 miles to the east of the butcher shop. Maybe it suffered a breakdown on an interstate delivery?

Well, every car has its own story to tell, and there’s quite a few of them here. We’ve made a few close-ups, which ought to keep you guessing...

Words: Jeroen Booij; picture: Farm Security Administration
 

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