Category: In The Wild

Door Honker!

Thank you Bill! An inspiration!

Hi John,
Attached are two photos showing the new “door honker” installed. It is quite effective! This is only possible in rural settings as the honking would be a problem in suburban or urban neighborhoods. The squeeze horn makes an ideal “door bell” when other alternatives don’t work including wireless doorbells (can’t transmit through metal doors and siding), iron door knockers (not loud enough), or banging one’s hand against the door. A compressed air powered horn doesn’t have any charm. The squeeze horn is perfect! The rubber bulb is “holstered” in a 6″ round float that has been cut out to receive the bulb and protect it from the sun. The horn is tethered to the post using a brass chain.
Regards,
Bill

Horns Attached!

Shout out to Jan who hipped me to a neat piece of kit readily available at most hardware stores. A ‘plumbing grounding saddle’ or ‘ground clamp’ served to get Jan’s horn firmly attached to their golf cart…


Here’s some close ups of a Pro Connex branded clamp I found locally. All the threads are 1/4″ course, so there are a ton of available screw types and sizes available for whatever application you might have. I’d also apply a little threadlocker on the screw that screws into the clamp.
In the photos I have the horn mounted at both the bulb and stem. The clamp itself has teeth, so I did notice some scuffing on the stem. Probably the best bet would be to sheath the stem with a rubber or plastic shim first.

Jan’s Golf Cart

Jan sent along a few shot’s of their golf cart outfitted with a 16″ Big Bell horn.  When you’re coming up behind someone on an electric vehicle you need a loud horn to let them know you’re coming from far enough away that they can get out of the way!
Jan attached their horn with a ‘plumbing grounding saddle’ and it looks solid. I’ll be taking a trip to the hardware store soon to check these out. I see a lot of different models available.
People who have been following along will know I’ve tried all sorts of hardware to get horns attached securely. This really looks the ticket.
Thanks Jan!

Janus Motorcycle

Mike sent along a photo of his beautiful Janus Halcyon 250.
“…it’s a copy of a feather bed Norton made all by hand by the Amish out of Goshen Indiana. Funny they can produce the motorbike but not ride them, even the machinery to fabricate the motorbike has to be generator power because the Amish can not be connected to the main power grid.”
You can find out more here: https://www.janusmotorcycles.com/
(Or check out their YouTube channel… this ‘How our fenders are made‘ video, for instance. Wow!)
But I think you’ll agree the horn makes an awesome finishing touch.
Thank You Mike!

Harpo Speaks!

Finally found a used copy of Harpo’s autobiography. A fun romp through early, poverty-stricken but full of get up and go New York Marx family childhood stories (Harpo was born in 1888!). Followed by years and years of pounding the pavement scratching out a living on the Vaudeville circuit. Finally a few breaks and steady theater success, and then Hollywood and the big time.
Here he details the birth of his trademark squeeze horn ( taxi horn). The show ‘Home Again’ puts this at around 1914.

A comment from Rachel Renban on another post, a poem deserves a spot on Harpo’s page.

Rachael Wenban

Since I see you’re a fellow fan of Harpo Marx, I will share with you a poem a wrote about him.

ANGEL OF MIRTH

prince of chaos
pied piper
of pandemonium

curly haired muppet
speaks with hand jive
strumming dummy
sleeves spewing knives

fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me

grins like a cat
climbs like a goat
rumpled top hat
and magical raincoat

piano destroyer
a honking disguise
don’t give him the scissors
he’s got insane eyes

fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me

bobble-headed trickster
never says please
If he lies with your dog
he will give him fleas

chasing the chickens
all over the ballroom
wouldn’t know what the pluck
to do if he caught one

fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me

slip you a leg
for a handshake
while he’s pocketing
your green

cut your ties and tail off
most innocent thief I’ve seen

he’ll plop right down
on upon your lap
and slap you in the face

confessing his love to a horse
and the whole human race

fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me

blowing bubbles
free of troubles
he is our favorite clown

master of mischief
top of the props
he’ll steal the toupee
right off of a cop

silly
jolly
full of folly
i dare you not to laugh

the fastest fork
of the five brothers
always himself
not like the others

fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me

the train came chugging
down the track
and at a break neck speed

with jockey harpo
on its back
his nose was in the lead

rag-tag
mad man
peter pan
i’ll ride in your sidecar

you probably ate the gas tank
so I know we won’t get far

fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistles
come play with me

a blowtorch
to light a candle
burning at both ends

i promise when you get here
we’ll be the best of friends

i can make a gookie
I can climb a tree
I’d like to be adopted
into the family

fold your wings harpo
come back down to earth
harp, horns and whistle
come play with me

my dear friend harpo –
i’ve planned our day, chock full of love happy with plenty of monkey business. first, after a day at the the races and a night at the opera, we’ll don horse feathers and go west, stopping at the big store for cocoanuts. spending a night in casablanca, we’ll order duck soup with animal crackers from room service.
sincerely,
professor pinky p. pinello