From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

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The Frog Follies was in town...
with over 4,000 street rod cars in and about everywhere this past weekend. Linda Young-Niemeier took photos of these cool vehicles while the members of the Scott Township Fire Department collected for the MDA!
Jeff Niemeier is collecting a donation from the driver of this great car! Below is a poster to identify the workers for MDA along that intersection. (Click on photos to get a larger, clearer image.)

Love this yellow fender/hood view showing the open louvres! Below is a Scott Township Fire Department member waiting on cars to stop and make a donation to MDA. Henry Ford once remarked that consumers could buy any color car they wanted as long as it was black! ;)

Below Jenny Griesmer is getting donations from this bright yellow street rod.

The following colorful modified pre-1949 street rods were photographed by JGWest.

I believe that the above was the greenest of all of the cars I saw at the 4-H Center. The beautiful car below has a unique water wave with its patriotic stars & stripes!

There were many orange colored cars, but this was one of my favorites.

This one had a very nice mini-rod duplicate... only the engine on the mini-car was more "souped-up" than the original.

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

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Since 1975, the Eville Iron Street Rod Club
has put on one of the largest street rod events in America!

It is called The Frog Follies Street Rod Show and begins today thru Sunday at 2PM. Everywhere you go in the Evansville area, you will see these classic vehicles in parking lots everywhere like the photo below (click on photos to enlarge the images).
As I was driving my son to work this morning we saw several Model T's and I mentioned that they used to call these older vehicles "horseless buggies"... Phillip said, you mean "horseless carriage" and I said that was right and that I think that the term "car" came from "carriage" and that "automobile" meant self-moving. Then, as Phillip will do, he asked how did they come up with the term "truck?" Of course I did not know and was not sure if I was correct about the origins of "car" & "automobile"... so, to the Internet & I Googled my way around to learning a few things! I found a nice article "The History of the Automobile" that gave me a lot of info! I was exactly right about the origins of "automobile" but was off a little on the term "car" (from the site): "The other popular name for an automobile is the car. The word car is derived from Celtic word 'carrus' - meaning cart or wagon." And for the Phillip's of the world here is two more word origins I found ~ "Vehicle" Origin: Latin vehiculum, from vehere, to carry. "Truck" Origin: < ? L trochus, a hoop < Gr trochos, a wheel, disk:

Above is a 1937 Packard from Benton, Kentucky and below is a pretty little car from 1936 from Illinois.

If you would like to go to the Vanderburgh County (Indiana) 4-H Center to see the bulk of these some 3,000 to 5,000 cars on display, it is only $5 to get in. Not only is the fee affordable, this money plus money from concession stands go to a lot of charitable causes with a large amount going to Easter Seals to help Evansville's Rehabilation Center. Go to the Frog Follies website: http://frogfollies.org/ The 2010 Frog Follies will be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday at the 4-H Center, just west of U.S. 41 North on Boonville-New Harmony Road. Admission is $5, free for those age 12 and younger.

If you would like to send me some photos from this year's Frog Follies, I will select some to be posted next Wed.

My email addy is: jgw.mylines@gmail.com

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

"Last of 2009 Frog Follies Pics"

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Last of 2009 Frog Follies TSGS Cruiser Blog Photo Contest Winners...

I can not seem to get away from pics of these cool cars, you might surmise that I am a fan. But, I can not help it, I like old things... that is why I am a genealogist. I love antiques, old buildings, old cars, "Oldies, but Goodies" music. Worse, yet, I collect rocks & fossils. So, please forgive me for selecting a few more neat street rod photos from Eric Cake. I met Eric at an Ohio Valley SAR Chapter last year when he was running for a political office. He is interested in community service, politics, government & history... oh, and the Frog Follies and his son, Chance! - JGWest

Best Infant Driving a Street Rod: goes to Eric Cake.

Here is a view of the car... nice flames, too!

Best Pose by a Father & Son! goes to Eric Cake

Best Commercial Truck: goes to Eric Cake.

Just realized that Eric did not take these photos... Eric let us know who to give photo credits for these great pictures.

More Photo Contest Winners - Just For Fun!

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More Photo Contest Winners...
From the Frog Follies last weekend. I had nothing for today's blog; so, just for fun, I decided to show more winners for the TSGS Photo Contest. Click on each photo for larger, clearer image.


Best Photo of a Car in Motion: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier



Runner-Up ~ Best Hood Ornament: goes to John G. West (This is the same car as the one above!)

Best Blue: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier

Below is a close-up of the car above - photo by Linda L. Young-Niemeier

Runner-Ups ~ Best Blue: goes to John G. West (Darker & lighter blues)

Best Night Cruiser: goes to John G. West (Note rear wheel covers & lite up "Mercury" on front bumper - it is also on rear bumper.)

Another view of car above.

Best Truck with Best Color(s): goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier

Best Engine/Best Orange: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier

Same car as above with photo taken at night by John G. West.

Best Illusion: goes to John G. West Looks like no front wheels... this is same car as above!

Best Pick-up Truck: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier

Best Photo of an Un-Finished Car: goes to John G. West

Graphic on rear trunk of the car above - photo by John G. West

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

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Frog Follies Photos...
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Here they are - the winners in the first-ever TSGS Cruiser Blog Photo Contest! Ended up with seven categories (could have had as many as 10 more!). These are the best for each category in my humble opinion. It was very hard to pick the best of some really great photos of some super antique vehicles. Be sure to click on the photos to get a larger image.

Best Past Frog Follies Photo: goes to Don Counts. This was my favorite! See it in yesterday's TSGS Cruiser Blog

Best Color: goes to Christopher Myers. As Chris stated, the camera did not give the color justice!

Best Touring Car: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier

Best Interaction of Car & Admirer: goes to Tom Goodman. Tom's Grandson Camron "is was all smiles sitting in the car!"

Here is a full view of Camron's car. The full view is also a winner!

Best Engine: goes to John G. West. "I really liked this "true hot rod!"

Most Unusual Vehicle: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier. This is a neat mini-bus!

Front view of the above mini-bus taken at night by John G. West.

Best Flames: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier. Flames cut-out of the metal hood cover... very hot!

Best Hood Ornament: goes to Linda L. Young-Niemeier. There were many cool hood ornaments submitted... this was the best photo.

Thanks to everyone that participated in this photo contest!

John G. West, TSGS President

TSGS Cruiser Blog Master

TSGS Web Site Web Master

"Nikki Ervin Featured in National Magazine - 1994"

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Frog Follies 1993... first TSGS Cruiser Blog Photo Contest Winner - 2009

Little 5-year-old Nikki Ervin, as the 1993 Easter Seals Representative, was featured in a story in the January 1994 edition of Street Rodder magazine, page 41. Nikki is shown in the top two photos on the page in the magazine (second picture below). As always, click on photos to get a larger image. This photo of the page inside Street Rodder is my favorite for the TSGS Cruiser Frog Follies Photo Contest! This one plus some others will be the blog for tomorrow for the photo contest. It is going to be a hard task selecting about 6 more photos from the great ones submitted so far... and more will be coming in!


The Eville Iron & Street Rod Club sponsors the annual Frog Follies Antique Car Show at the Vanderburgh 4-H Center. And 2009 is its 35th. Anniversary! As in this photo story back in 1993, the proceeds go to several local charities of which Easter Seals is the largest. Nikki is seen in her wheel chair with a group from the street rod club in the very top picture. in the second picture, Nikki is in the driver seat of a hot rod that is her size - a minature of the full-sized one just behind it.

Nikki is the adopted daughter of Don & Betty Counts.

- Magazine pictures submitted by Don Counts.

"A Day to Reflect"

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Very Bad news was announced yesterday... after 53 years in Evansville, the Whirlpool Plant is shipping their refrigerator production to Mexico by June 2010 affecting 1,100 to 1,400 employees.

I have nothing else for today's blog, so I thought I would just share some photos from the Frog Follies to let us reflect on a lighter side of life. The event features over 5,000 street rods from everywhere. It is sponsored by the Eville Iron & Street Rod Club and this is the 35th. Annual event. Evansville hosts one of the largest of these shows! It becomes a giant invasion of the city's motels, restuarants & streets. It is difficult to go far without seeing one cruising along or parked somewhere. The first photo was taken at Willard Library (we stopped in to return some books on our way to see the street rods at the 4-H Center). Note the car parked next to my 2007 Pontiac Vibe. The license plate reads "N2 RODDN." Click on the images to get a larger image.



There are lots of stuffed frogs, signs & other items in the shape or form of frogs at the Frog Follies! Check out the sign in front.

This is one of hundreds of cool hood ornaments.

All of the rest of the photos emphasize the huge array of colors!

This last one is a very bright pink for the Cure of Breast Cancer. It is a Studebaker Champion. Evansville once had a Studebaker production line.

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

Photo Contest - Frog Follies 2009

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2009 Frog Follies Photo Contest
Vanderburgh County 4-H Center
Evansville, Indiana

Click on samples below to see the full size image. The contest is just for fun and to preserve one of the Evansville area's largest events... some 5,000 vehicles will be on display this weekend - all must be 1949 or older. The cars have come to Evansville over the last 35 years and is like an invasion... they are everywhere! You can go to the 4-H Center or just roam a little around town or out in the rural areas, too. At least two were at The Hornet's Nest in Earle, IN.

RULES for contest: First, there is no monetary award, just the honor of having your photo and name on this blog and preserving a little history. I will select at least six photos to display on "The First Mate's Photo Album" feature on Wed. 02 Sep 2009 of the TSGS Cruiser Blog. Other photos may be displayed between then & now, but may or may not be the final "winners." The photos may come from previous years, but must be from the Frog Follies (please include year). The photos may be of anything connected with the Frog Follies: cars, people, signs, etc. All of the vehicles are winners, so you need to find a neat way to present one or more of them or catch something that makes your photo stand out a little more than the other great photos. Send as many entries as you wish, but only 3 at a time, to John G. West jgw.mylines@gmail.com You can send me an url to where you may have a photo album that I can pick from and save. Before I will post any photos, I must have the permission of the photographer to post them on the TSGS Cruiser Blog. If you want to have a copyright for the photo, please state that and it will be included. Include any comment or explanation if desired, your name, where from, if you know the year and make of vehicle, what year photo was taken if other than 2009. Thanks for helping us have some fun and preserve a little history... Good Luck to all!

The following are photos taken by Linda L. Young-Niemeier of Evansville. Click on the photos to enlarge!

- All photos taken by Linda L. Young-Niemeier