1942 MB goes back to school

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
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42swing
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1942 MB goes back to school

Post by 42swing » Wed May 16, 2018 6:51 am

Spent a delightful afternoon yesterday at the local elementary school. The 5th graders are studying WWII at this time of year and the school asked a couple of us who do WWII living history if we could bring our displays and talk to the class. I brought our '42 Jeep and pigeon displays and my friend his collection of infantry equipment and uniforms. He wore his wools (and was inside in the AC), a wore my HBTs but was down to my teeshirt (it was close to 90 outside). The class was broken into two groups of about 50 students each who rotated through the two stations. I started with about 25min. of talking to them, then invited them to come up and have a look and I would answer questions.

I talked about the history of the Jeep, described some of the interesting features like the decontaminator, tool and spare parts kits, etc. and the use of pigeons during the war for communications. The kids were well behaved, attentive (for the most part), and asked some good questions. I quizzed them a bit on what they were learning, and was pleased to hear they had a lot of the basic facts down. None had ever seen any artifacts from the war years, or knew that the original Jeeps were not built by Jeep, but in fact the company took its name from the vehicle. I was a bit surprised to hear none had ever talked to somebody from the war years, so I urged them to find a relative or friend who was alive then and ask to talk with them because soon there won't be any left to talk to.

Some of the questions were great: where's the gas tank, you sat on it; would the body stop a bullet, no; were they air conditioned? Yes, do you see any windows?; How do you get in and out? climb; what's the brown thing on the side? a rifle holster. The teachers asked some good things as well. All were polite and respectful, but several seemed genuinely interested and hung around after the talk. All-in-all, a very pleasant experience which I hope to repeat next year.
Malvern, PA
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car


Mike Wright
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Location: Owasso, OK

Re: 1942 MB goes back to school

Post by Mike Wright » Fri May 18, 2018 7:18 am

Good on ya :!:
It's good to know that at least some of the kids were interested in history :!:
Mike
Mike Wright
SEEKING MOTOR # GPW 2636
MVPA# 4341
GPW 2636, DOD 28 FEB 42, Reg# 2055811 (est)
GPW 104331 DOD 31 MAR 43, Reg# 20369321 (est)
MB-101008 DOD 27 NOV 41, Reg# W-2032462 (Original)
MB 438075, DOD 1 MAY 45, Reg# 20704591 (Original)
Converto ABN Dump 0886168
M2-HB gun trailer

Mark Jesic
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Re: 1942 MB goes back to school

Post by Mark Jesic » Fri May 18, 2018 12:09 pm

I have done this in the past, and always found it thoroughly enjoyable. I think the jeep kept the class quieter than what the teacher could. Its nice to get the full attention of the class. One question i ALWAYS get asked is "How much is it worth" ?.

42swing
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Re: 1942 MB goes back to school

Post by 42swing » Sat May 19, 2018 6:41 am

I brought my Model Ts and As to the same school and class last Fall when they were doing the early 20th century and industrial innovation. Lots of questions about what they were worth today, but not for the Jeep. Another good one was: "what do you do if it rains? get wet; what do you do if it snows? get wet and cold"...
Malvern, PA
1942 MB 180635
1943 Willys MBT
1940 Elgin male bicycle
1940 Columbia female bicycle
1943 M3A4 Hand Cart
1943 Harley Davidson WLA with side car


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