In my opinion, the best quality automobiles used in Taxi Service by the Yellow Cab company were the 1946-48 DeSoto sedans, made by the Chrysler Corporation, who also produced Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, and Imperial autos.
What?? No Checker?? It's been 37 years since the last Checker Cab rolled off the line at the Pitcher Street factory on Kalamazoo's north side. The brawny and sturdy beasts once roamed American cities like the buffalo on the great plains. Now, a couple of generations of Americans have only experienced them in movies, like "Taxi-Driver." But from 1922 to 1982, Kalamazoo produced thousands and thousands of Checker cabs and trailers. Along with Gibson guitars, Checker really put the city on the map. Read More: July 12, 1982: The Last Checker Cab Made in Kalamazoo | https://wbckfm.com/july-12-1982-the...mazoo/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Checker Marathons: Memories of my four years of pushing a hack for Yellow Cab, in Chicago, so I could afford college. Exciting times, tons of cab stories. I drove night shift, 4 PM until 8 AM: The guy who had me cruise for hookers on Christmas Eve, the robber whom I talked out of robbing me, the guy who paid me to bring my Afghan Hound up to meet his wife, watching my Afghan Hound wake up, look in the back seat, and then savagely try to tear through the partition to destroy three scum bags who told me to turn down a dark alley where they were going to rob me, I'm sure (they jumped out of my cab, one guy left his wallet with $30 in it, and his drivers license.... yeah, it was one of the three), the Mafia guy who tipped me $20 on an $8 fare because I got him to O'Hare in record time, taking Telly Savalas to the wrong place, talking to Cat Steven's guitar player before a show, selling record albums, on Rush Street, from a guy who jumped his fare, and making three times that fare, grabbing loads off the radio, in the suburbs, high-flagging fares to sweeten my night, and on and on and....... Great job, but I had a bullet-proof partition, when I drove. I'd do it again, maybe, if those partitions were still around. Can't forget my original tune: Take me out to O'Hare field, Get me out of the Loop. Give me a guy who ain't no schmo, Tips 40% 'cuz he's loaded with dough. And it's book, book, book sixty dollars, Make eighteen in tips, you're OK. And then high stick a couple of guys, For a perfect day! (©️ 1971)
Pictures of your afghan, @Trevalius Guyus ? I love afghan hounds, this picture is my first one, taken around 1966, when I was 21. Stanley was actually Longlesson’s Constantine, from their Champion, Longlesson’s Sundowner; but he had been abused by someone who was helping care for the dogs in the kennel, and was terrified of people, and could not be shown. It took him over a year before he actually realized that he was a dog, and enjoyed life, and then he was a joyful dog; but would still cower if someone picked up a broom. http://longlessonhounds.com/afghans/afghans.htm
We had 2 Afghan Hounds, without titles. Our first was blonde "Countess" like Yvonne's, and the second was black "Duchess". Countess won first prize in a canine obedience contest. Like other tall breeds, Afghans are "sight hounds" as opposed to "scent hounds". Yvonne herself was (and probably still is) a nice-looking girl. Harry
I can't imagine. I've never worked a job like that. I gotta think that doing it in Chicago and NYC adds a special "flavor." But I gotta ask: what does "high stick" mean? I think I get the gist of it, but can find no reference to that term in the web. If I had to guess, I'd say someone doesn't reset the meter from the prior fare...that they leave the flag up and keep on going. But that's just a guess.
High Sticking or High Flagging refers to not throwing the meter activating lever. The customer pays a fare agreed on, before the trip. In my driving days, drivers got 42.5% of their total metered charges. The company paid for gas and insurance. The union provided lawyers in ticket/ accident cases So, when you high flagged someone, you got 100% of the fare, not 42.5%. If you got caught driving with a passenger, your For Hire sign still lit (it went off when the flag/stick was thrown), you were fired when you got back to your garage. Vehicle Men were the cab cops. They were a joke. I got caught with my dog in the cab. Nothing. I got caught wearing cutoffs and a T-shirt. Nothing. When I high-sticked, those fares never originated in The Loop or Gold Coast areas of downtown Chicago. That's where the Vehicle Men cruised, in unmarked cars. I did so three times, in four years, and there were extenuating circumstances involved.