Posted 2 years ago
officialfuel
(672 items)
1930’s Bakelite steering wheel knobs were found yesterday out in my travels. There are three of them and they’re all complete. They would go on the inside of the steering wheel to help you turn the wheel because back in the day you didn’t have power steering.
Michael
25 cents is a steal :)
Trey I didn’t get them for that price on them. Lol They have been in that building over 50 years. I still got a good deal. Thank you for the love and the compliment! Always appreciated!!
Michael
Thank you for the love everyone!! Always appreciated!! :-)
Michael
officialfuel, Cool. :-)
The patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2187764A/en
This person did a deep dive on the device:
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2019/02/22/armstrong-steering-assist
The folks at this forum offer various theories as to why they're called suicide knobs (I think the person who offered an anedote about their own father made a pretty persuasive case):
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/why-are-suicide-knobs-called-so.321496/
Thank you keramikos for the information. Enjoy your day! :-)
Michael