VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Radios, Tools, Accessories Whitwall tires.

Can someone give us the history of whitwall tires; when were they invented (I'm talking Whitewall tires, not the original white colored tires), who developed them, sizes or pictures of early tires? Whos has a picture of the oldest whitewall? Thanks.
ron

In looking thru my Dusenburg history book I see what appears to be white walls in 1921.Prior to that the white tires.The white walls didn't look to be too common on the big cars till about 1930.Gained popularity during the '30's and 1939-or 1940 was the first year that they became an option for Chevrolet.Prior to that they were "dealer installed" on new cars.By the time they needed replacing owners generally opted for the cheaper black wall.
1941 was the first year that whites were commonly seen on lower priced new cars.Some of the early '42's had them and then they were gone again til mid 1947.Disappeared in mid 1951 and came back in late 1952.
The pre-war whitewall was pure natural rubber (which is white) and they weathered and cracked in short order.The tires were white on both sidewalls up to 1939-and in 1940-41 on some premeium tires were also double.Rubber is made black by adding carbon black.
Prior to good w/w cleaners such as Bleachwhite, they were a bear to clean.When I was in high school (1948)I washed cars at a filling station on week ends.The stiff brush and kitchen cleanser never removed the curb scuffs from the then wide whites.

I'm sure your observations are quite correct. I was interested in some substantive sources of manufacturers, product statistics, dates, etc. Maybe company history records are the direction to go in.

Thanks for the whitewall history. Fascinating to me. My dad worked in a service station until about 1958 and he talked about washing whitewalls with a steel brush and gasoline. When I get mine going, my goal is to just paint the whitewalls on, as he did in his younger, poorer days. I did finally find someone who makes the paint. Old whitewalls were tougher than one might imagine. This summer, my dad and I pulled a cotton trailer out of the shed and were able to inflate three of the four really wide whitewalls that came off my great-grandparents 1950 Buick, which was sold in the early 1960's.