Bet Cha’ Didn’t Know
By Barbara Ferdinand and Theresa Knowles,
January 26, 2012, page 16.....

Betcha Didn't Know

Barbara Ferdinand thought this e-mail exchange might be an item of interest about the early days of Charlotte. She had forwarded to Theresa Knowles this current article on winter car care called “Betcha Didn’t Know,” and was delighted with Theresa’s response. 

Betcha’ didn’t know… how to ice- proof your car windows. Expecting frost overnight? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water and spray on your car windows at night. In the morning they should be clear of the icy mess. How does it work? Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water; and prevents water from freezing. What to do if you wake up to an already frozen car? Just spray the mixture on your window and watch it melt.

Betcha’ didn’t know…how to prevent your car doors from freezing shut. Use cooking spray. Spray it on the rubber seals around car doors and rub it in with a paper towel. “Doors freeze when snow melts into the seals during the day and then freezes at night,” says Robert Sinclair, Jr. of AAA. The oils in the cooking spray prevent water from melting into the rubber in the first place.

Betcha’ didn’t know…this trick for de-icing your frozen car door lock. Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key and the lock to solve the problem. Why does this work? Because hand sanitizers contain alcohol, the main ingredient in most commercial de-icers. Just make sure to use a hand sanitizer that’s 60 percent alcohol. Sanitizers with less alcohol than that won’t work. Guess what…with less than 60 percent alcohol they won’t sanitize your hands, either!”

Theresa’s Response

Oh, Barbara, how I chuckled. Betcha’ didn’t know. Betcha’ I do...

I don’t want to brag, but I grew up in the days before cars had defrosters. When it’s 20-30 degrees below, water and vinegar does not work. My mother would make a little bag out of cotton and fill it with salt, then use the vinegar, to wet the salt bag. Then you rubbed the frost off and it would return. No matter how long the trip, you had a job. We never went out just to go for a ride. There had to be a good reason…Church!

Rubber seals, who ever heard of cooking spray? We used lard.

Frozen door locks? No hand sanitizer. Daddy packed them with lard.

I grew up in Fairfield, and it was mighty cold in those hills. “Of God’s Country” it was called.

Oh my gosh! I almost forgot an important part...
Betcha’ didn’t know how to start a cold car… a pail of hot embers.
Daddy would take a pail of hot embers out of the furnace... carry them to the car, put them in a flat pan, and slide it under the transmission. The embers warmed the oil, and our car always started.

Those were the days... life was simple.

I don’t remember how old I was when we got a car with a heater, but I am sure it must have been a great day.

No more hot bricks for mother and me… Whoop de doooooooo!

Now you have heard my story. Hope you enjoyed...