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What was that thing on the squad car's hood ?

posted 14 years ago by ayf_1983
3 replies | jump to latest

I was puzzled at the start of the film about this. The squad car of James Whitmore and his partner had some sort of large tea bag looking thing on the hood of the car.

[–] sjpagliuca 14 years ago

I'd guess a "water bag". They're porous, and the water evaporating off of its' surface cools the contents. They work great in desert climes.

[–] Eric-1226 14 years ago

Yep, radiator water bag. A relic of a bygone era! You see them in various forms from time to time in old movies, where the cars are in a hot, dry desert setting. I just saw a movie today, "Split Second," in which a guy filled one of those water bags and attached it to the front bumper of his car.

http://10engines.blogspot.com/2009/05/radiator-water-bag.html

[–] liscarkat (18985) 10 months ago

In the summer of 1963 my dad and I drove from southern California to the Gulf coast of Texas to visit relatives, crossing the deserts of eastern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. A lot of cars had those canvas desert water bags hanginig on the front. Another thing that was common back then, but never seen anymore, was a flat strip of woven steel wire, attached to the frame, and dragging on the road to ground the car and dissipate static electricity.

Other forgotten relics of that time: wing windows, manual chokes, brodie knobs on steering wheels, three-on-the-tree manual gear shifts, and curb feelers.