[Doug Houston]

Right you are, Chuck. I bought my 42-400 Philco from friends who were the original owners. I bought it in 1948, and the original push buttons were already shriveling up. I went to Philco Distributors in Detroit and got a new set. They had only the wine colored types, so I bought them and they looked good. Can't recall when, but these dried up also, so I found another set of PBs, this time in the original color. They are now getting grungy, so here we go, again....I have another new set of them to install.

Tenite I was a plastic by Tennessee Eastman, in Kingsport, Tennessee. Back in the late thirties, we'd read about the beautiful things that could be made from plastics, the miracle stuff. It was all Tenite I, of course. The car manufacturers went ballistic on using the stuff, and it looked beautiful for a while. Steering wheels were done in it, and cracked into several segments by the end of WWII. After about 1943, there wasn't a '39 Buick with a good steering wheel The center dash grille on the '38 Cadillacs was Tenite I, along with the steering wheel and control knobs. Those items are searched for by anyone restoring those cars today. I have two '38 Cdaillacs, and the plastic work on one is still original (I'm the second owner), and I can't explain why.

There are services that will re-moild steering wheels for about $400 each, and I've seen beautiful results. I have four 1941 Cadillac wheels that I'm going to have done. As good as the interior might be, a crumby steering wheel spoils it all.