HMN SHOW COVERAGE
Times may change, but
Hershey will always
remain the same
BY DANIEL STROHL
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HEMMINGS STAFF
They say that when the nuclear bombs fall and obliterate humanity, only the cockroaches will be left. If so, then the cockroaches will be going to Hershey, an event that
seems unfazed by any obstacle or circumstance. Mud? What-
ever. War? Doesn’t matter. Recession? We’re still buying old
cars and old car parts.
Old-car pundits often use Hershey as a barometer for the
health of the old-car hobby in general, but they also often fail
to see that Hershey is a hobby and an event unto itself. It’s
the one time of the year when Pierce-Arrow fenders lie out
on wet parking lot spaces next to Model A heads, down the
row a ways from that perennial Ford wire wheel with the tree
44 HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS • FEBRUARY 2010
trunk grown through it. It’s the one time of the year to see
that one dealer who you know will have that elusive piece of
tin to complete your run of post-war Alaskan license plates.
It’s the one time of the year to see a guy riding a fiberglass
horse atop a 1923 Buick chassis through the swap meet, and
repeat the mantra, “Only at Hershey.”
It’s the one time of the year to cruise through the car cor-
ral, shaking your head at the asking prices (“He wants how
much for that?” “Aw, that’s a steal!”), carry canvas paper-
boy bags with your hometown newspaper’s logo printed on
’em, wear sandwich board signs made from cardboard look-
ing for Wills Sainte Claire parts, eat elephant ears and crab
