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Show nc COMPLETE WITH GADGETS CORNER By Richard H. Wilkinson DANA BRIDGES is a printer by trade, but every one says he should be a salesman. He has a very competent and confident manner. man-ner. His choice of words is vivid, his gestures im- I pressive, his de- 37 Minute livery powerful. Ci . Back in 1934 I Flctl0" Dana bought a Northland Special Spe-cial Six. As every one knows the Northland is one of the most expensive ex-pensive cars on the market. Dana's income is not large, but he is the type of man who likes the best or nothing. "In the long run a Northland is the best buy," he told his wife. "It will outlive three smaller and cheaper cars." Rachael, Dana's wife, knew by ex-periece ex-periece that Dana usually knew what he was talking about. So when Dana stated they ought to own a Northland she nodded and smiled and felt confident that everything every-thing would be all right. She didn't, however, anticipate owning and driving the same car for 16 years. Not that she minded too much. The Northland, as the world knows, is expensive enough so that the manufacturers manu-facturers don't have to change the design too radically each year. Fundamentally Fun-damentally the 1934 Northland had the same lines that the new 1950 Super Special possessed. Moreover, Dana being a painstaking pains-taking type of person, kept the machine ma-chine in perfect order. Nevertheless, it was an ancient hack and the neighbors used to grin when the Bridges' drove by, and Rachael felt embarrassed and wished that they could have a new car. I ' - ' , ' - U Dana was a painstaking type of - person and kept the machine in perfect order. The paint looked like new. "Why," Dana demanded when she hinted at such an idea. "The old hack's doing all right. No engine trouble. Looks good. Why swap her In?" After the Bridges' had owned their Northland seven years a salesman tried hard to sell Dana a new car. Dana listened to his talk and then asked what he'd offer for the 1934 model. The salesman named a figure fig-ure so low that Dana got mad and kicked him off the place. And Rachael decided, with a sigh, that now their chance of buying a new automobile was remote indeed. She was right. For 16 years the Bridges' kept their Northland Special Spe-cial Six, and after awhile the neighbors neigh-bors stopped laughing and some of them began to think that maybe Dana was pretty smart. TN THE SPRING of 1950 Dana drove his Northland Special down to the Northland salesroom and told the floorman he wanted to buy a new Super Special Eight, complete with radio, heater, clock and any other gadgets they had. "Have you a car to trade in?" the salesman asked. "Sure," said Dana. "It's a pip, too. A 1934 model." "You mean, of course, a 1944 model," the salesman said politely. "No," said Dana, "I mean 1934." The salesman coughed. "I'm afraid we can't allow you very much on a car as old as that." Dana waved an airy hand. "Take me to the president of this outfit. I can't be bothered with underlings." He glared at the salesman. So a few minutes later Dana was ushered into the president's office. "Commere." he said to the president, presi-dent, beckoning him to a window "See that shiny, good looking car out there? It's a Northland 1934 model. It's been driven over 200 -000 miles. It runs as good as new. Looks as good as new, doesn't it' Now. look, Mr. President, would it or would it not be a good advertisement advertise-ment for you if you stuck that car in your show window and put a sign on it, saying it was 16 years old and has gone 200,000 miles and doesn't that prove that a Northland can take the gaff?" The president got his hat and went out and looked at Dana's car He drove it around the block. "What kind of a trade do you want?" he asked Dana. ' "I'll swap you even," said Dana, "for a 1950 Super Special complete with gadgets." The president smiled, then sobered, sob-ered, then figured on the back of an envelope, then looked at Dana's car again, then nodded. "It's a deal," he said. And now poor Rachael Is wonder- 16 years befre he gets a new car. |