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Many years ago, when my brother went off to college, he came home talking about cars he would see cruising around Adams Street in Peoria, IL. He went to college at Bradley University. Gary would come home and talk about wide white wall tires, fur-lined interiors and the most memorable….hood ornaments on the front of the cars. It was not until I saw these ornaments for myself that I understood what they truly brought to the personality of a car.

When my brother got his first car, thanks to our Dad, he made sure he decorated the front of it with something that said he had arrived---on the hood was a “duck decoy.” If only for the photo, and yes we still have it somewhere, it took a very bland Nova and made it into a very hip, “Maroon Nova with a duck on the front.”

You don’t see hood ornaments very often, as I believe they are some of the easiest items to remove from a car. Look at some of the cars from long ago and the hood ornament was what identified it from others in its class. It could be a Jaguar, a woman on the Pierce Arrow, or better yet, the design on a Cadillac. Today if it is on the car, it’s just a reminder of yesterday—and yesterday in today’s cost conscious world, is not part of the scene. I suspect the cost and labor to add a hood ornament is not as popular as say, “A DVD player” for the kids.

My first car, which was a really cool Camaro, didn’t have anything affixed to it. No bumper stickers, antenna toppers, or wide white walls…nope, it was just a really cool yellow Camaro with a black interior. For those of you who have had a black interior in your car, you know how cool it looks---until you sit down on it during the summer in St. Louis. Then you realize that black does not reflect heat, it absorbs it.

Cars and personalities go way back; I can still remember when a Pontiac Trans-Am (very hot car in it’s day) had a huge sticker affixed to the hood or when “muscle cars” had decals with flames, patterns or whatever they felt identified “their car” as being different. I must admit, when you have a lime green Dodge Roadrunner with wing on the back for better airflow, it has to be easier to find in a crowded parking lot.

The photo above was from this past weekend’s parade. The woman’s head on the front of the car brought back memories that only if you had lived them, would you understand the importance of having a hood ornament on the hood. Since leaving Bradley for his career, my brother no longer has his maroon Nova, he has graduated to BMW’s, Mercedes-Benz’s, and his latest, my Mom’s old Caddy. I have not checked, but I don’t think it has a hood ornament, BUT, it does have a special key because my Mom had owned several Cadillac’s over the years---she was a returning customer. Perhaps my brother will carry on the tradition but make it his car with some furry dice, wide white walls, and the ornament that best explains who he is.

Thanks for stopping by.