6 replies to this topic

[Alchemist]

... even churches got involved!!
 
Letter: Thanks for vintage photo of slot car racing

• June 6, 2019

 
The Rev. Richard E. Northup of First Methodist Church judges a hotly contested race on the church’s new slot car racing track.
 
"Thank you for sharing the “Back in the day: 2/19/66” slot car race track at the First Methodist Church (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, June 3).
 
The slot car racing hobby was really big back then, and like all things, has slowly faded away.
 
We are trying to revive this great hobby, and hopefully, your photo will bring back some good memories to many locals who used to spend all their newspaper route, yard cutting, and allowance monies on their miniature racing cars.
 
This was a great time for the hobby, and it’s great to see that the hobby has not been forgotten.
 
Mahalo nui loa.

Gregg Hutchings
Publisher, Slot Cars Magazine"
 
From www.staradvertiser.com

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That's awesome!
 
Ernie

[don.siegel]

Actually, seems there was a lot of church-related activity, just judging from all the articles in period magazines - churches often had available premises, and it was a way of organizing youth activities. 

 

Don 

[rvec]

Churches still participate. Springwater Raceway is in a building that is owned by a church located in the Portland Oregon area. Its pastor is a slot head and set up a great track

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[Alchemist]

Very nice track!  That is one way to get people to "congregate"! LOL

 

Thanks for sharing Rich!

 

Ernie

[Jesse Gonzales]

That track is to my liking, we never had a Blue King in AZ until Hasse came out to build one with Al Boardman (AZSCR on Thomas Rd.) my formative years were on other tracks so a King was alien to me. If I was turned loose on a track other than a King it was Katie Bar the Door!

 

Thanks for showing a great racing track.

 

Jess Gonzales

[Bill from NH]

In 1967, the Catholic church in Rockland, ME had a commercial raceway in its basement with an AMR Aristocrat track. I was only there once, but the track had the twin crossovers & steering wheels at the driving stations.

[Dave Crevie]

My mother forced me to join the "Luther League" at our church. The activities we had were playing ping-pong and making out in the church choir loft. If Ma had known what went on at those meetings, she would never have sent me. Or maybe she did. She never sent my younger brother. On several occasions we got into the communion wine. One Sunday Pastor Addie made the announcement that they were taking up an extra collection to replace the missing "blood of Christ". 

 

Slot racing was at it's peak back then. Ma always sent me to Vacation Bible School in the summer. Each kid was supposed to do a "project', which we had to supply. That summer most of the boys built slot cars from kits as their projects, me included. Once finished, we walked up to the slot track three blocks to the north to test them out.