In the late 1950's and 1960's practically every gas station in the Northeast
had a jeep or WCxx or M37 parked in the back. Used for towing, hold welding
equipment etc etc or just sat there. There were also plenty of 6x6 and few
DUKWs around. There was still a very popular feeling about WWII and what
these trucks had meant to Victory It was very cool to have an "Army Truck"
even if it was painted school bus yellow. Many of them also had a coat of OD
applied with no attention to original markings etc. Right into the seventies
and even the 80s it was still common to find a military vehicles with the
numbers crossed out (which was the surplus sale practice at the time) parked in
someone's driveway or yard.
There were also fleets of MVs in use by Forest Service, state and local highway
depts, fire depts, Red Cross, Civil Defense and Boy Scouts all of whom had
access to the surplus sales
The more serious attention to authentic markings and other details also started
in the 50s but on a very small scale compared to today. But there were
several clubs in the US, regional or national, before MVCC. Maybe someone
else has more detail on that.
best to all,
chuck
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Re your finds, likely you stumbled across a old collectors "collection", a
lot of which didn't get restored. The hobby is now over 20 years old, and a
lot of people have gotten in and out of it. Nelson Dionne MVCC #411