Photos by author.
Merriam-Webster defines a gadget as, “an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty.” I’ll admit it. I’m a gadget nut.
Though I’m a sucker for late-night infomercials that promise wrenching Nirvana attainable right there in your very own garage for just three easy payments of $39.95, I derive even more satisfaction from finding vintage items that fit into my own definition of a useful gadget.
Case in point is this old, Goodyear-branded (I have also seen other blue ones and even black ones without the Goodyear brand name) tire tread depth indicator that I just bought for less than $6 including shipping. I think it’s a great little tool for its time. For the person who owned one, it offered a very quick and easy way to determine how much the tires had worn; if they had worn evenly; if they had too much or too little air pressure; or if there were front end alignment or suspension issues that required attention.
I know that you can get the same information from any tire tread depth checker that you’d buy at the auto parts store, today or back then. I also know that you can glean that knowledge with a small ruler and a straight edge or to a lesser extent, even using the old upside down penny trick. But none of those methods are as much fun as using this bright blue, plastic, mag wheel and tire-shaped, multi-colored readout tire tread depth indicator from Goodyear (that’s the gadget aspect).
Even if the car owner wasn’t well versed in measuring tire tread wear in 32nds of an inch, it was no problem, because this gauge also has simple color-coded warnings that let the owner know if the tire wear is good—green, fair—yellow or bad—red. Could it be any easier?
For Goodyear, it was marketing genius. By offering these indicators, it was educating its customers and reminding them to regularly check their tires for all the possible maladies listed above, so that they could correct them before the tires wore prematurely and the owner got the incorrect impression that, “they just weren’t good tires.”
Through the proper use of this simple indicator, the probability was increased that a new set of tires would replace the old ones at the proper time. As a result, the car owner wasn’t driving on worn and potentially dangerous tires over extended periods. Safety was increased and Goodyear could sell replacement tires more often.
Those are substantial benefits for the customer and the company via a simple plastic tread wear indicator—as long as it was accurate and as long as the car owner actually used it.
Today it’s a thought-provoking vintage gadget that will look good on a shelf or possibly become an eclectic addition to the tool box.
If you have purchased interesting automotive gadgets over the years, tell us about them, why you had to have them and if they lived up to your expectations.
More gadget review in www.mamaktalk.com
