During the summer of 1953, I was working at Howard Motor, the Chevrolet and Buick dealer in my hometown, Augusta, Kansas. I was just a high school kid trying to make and save a buck so I could buy a car the following year.

1953 was a big year for Buick in that it was the company’s 50^th anniversary. To celebrate they had come up with design changes to enhance both the looks and performance of their cars. One large change was the creation of a two-door hardtop model which, I believe, was the first car known as the Riviera. One distinction was the paint job. The tops of the cars were painted an ivory color, and the bottoms were bright and sassy.

One of the first proud owners in our town was Junior Ewart. I don’t remember Junior’s real first name, but he always went by “Junior” anyhow. I can tell you that Junior was married to Connie Howard, the daughter of Ray Howard who owned the Buick dealership. Junior’s new Buick was the sharpest car in town. It was painted ivory on top and fire engine red on the bottom. Wow!

One day, I was washing a car on the wash rack which was near the back of the garage when I heard Service Manager, Kenneth Markley, call my name. I came out of the wash rack and saw Kenny beckoning me to the front of the shop.  Just inside the front door, I saw Junior Ewart’s car surrounded by a bunch of guys. Kenny was standing with Junior and Ray Howard, and, along with them, were the Body Shop Foreman and an insurance guy.  When I got there, I was told the shop had brought them together. Junior had gone to the golf course that morning and, upon arrival, had parked by a fence. While Junior was playing golf, a city employee was spray painting that fence with silver paint. Naturally, there was a breeze which resulted in Junior’s car having a serious case of the silver measles. There were hundreds-if not thousands- of little silver specks all over the car. Junior probably cried a little before coming to the shop for help. This group of guys was trying to decide the best way to take care of the problem. The insurance guy didn’t want to spend much for a new paint job. The Body Shop foreman warned that a repair never looks as good as a factory job. Ray was there as kind of a final authority, and Junior just wanted his pretty car back.

I had been detailing cars on our used car lot and was waxing for customers. I had become pretty good at it.  Kenny asked me if I could take care of the problem without hurting the paint job. I knew you couldn’t buff those silver spots away without thinning the paint job. I didn’t want to hurt the paint, so I decided to experiment with some of my skills on the windshield and chrome. Using my thumbnail, I found that I could cause the specks to pop off with very little effort. I told the group I could remove the silver spots and then wax the car by hand rather than buffing, and there would be no damage. After a discussion, Kenny told me that I had the job and wouldn’t be working on anything else until it was done.

I went to the drugstore and bought a pack of single-edged razor blades and then got to work. The razor blades were perfect. You could slip the blade under the edge of the spot, and it would pop right off without leaving a mark. This was the good news. The bad news was that there were ten jillion of the little devils.

I tore into it, and in two days had all the spots removed. The third day, I waxed the car by hand. A few times, I found some of those little specks that I had missed. The end result was that the beautiful fire-engine red was restored.

Everyone was happy and made it a point to tell me so and shake my hand. I ended up with a lot of brownie points and a $35 bonus as well as my regular wages.

Dave Thomas

1/29/2026