Lost in the '50s, Sandpoint. 1) Older Cars

For the past 35 years (excluding the two year hiatus caused by CoVid), Lost in the ‘50s has been held in the small city of Sandpoint, Idaho.

What is Los in the 50s? A celebration of Americana -- hundreds of classic cars and trucks descend on the community and an admixture of car-gawking, dancing and music make for a fun time.. The event was founded and is still organized by a local businesswoman (and proud owner of a classic car), Carolyn Gleason.

Lost in the ‘50s is held during the third weekend in May (coinciding with Canada's Victoria Day holiday, and a week before the Memorial Day holiday). There's a parade of old cars on Friday night, followed by a street dance. On Saturday morning and early afternoon the streets of the historic downtown region are closed off and classic cars are on display for all to see and enjoy (and photograph!). Music of the early Rock-n-Roll era fills the street, and the atmosphere is festive. There are also 50s related musical events held at the Bonner County Fairground at the edge of town, for example, this year featuring the Righteous Brothers.

We at this website are huge fans of the beautiful cars of that bygone era. It was raining on Friday night, so we skipped the parade, but my wife and I and my brother and his wife, spent several hours Saturday strolling through downtown to see some of the many classic cars and trucks filling the streets. The owners of many of the cars are sitting there and you have a chance to interact with them and ask questions about the car if that interests you. Almost everyone of these vehicles has an interesting story behind it.

By some estimates there were around 700 vehicles that participated this year, most from Northern Idaho or eastern Washington state, but some from Canada and other states as well. I took hundreds of photos, far too many really, and I've decided to spread my favorites out over a few posts in the coming weeks. It was impossible to see all the vehicles, much less share photos of them all.

Today we are going to look at some of the older cars at Lost in the 50's. Next week we'll see some of the newer cars (mostly 60s and 70s), and in a few weeks some of the many very cool trucks that participated.