Throughout the 1930s, many school bus body manufacturers, Wayne Works
included,
made major changes in their designs. Wood gave way to strong, durable
steel. Curtains used to protect passengers gave way to glass windows.
Ironically,
although Wayne Works was one of the earliest school bus companies to
offer
the glass option long before many "school" bus companies did in the
early
1930s, Wayne drivers in the 1970s often complained of difficulties
aligning windows properly to stay opened and closed. Notice that to
lower
the odds to keep students' arms and legs from being dangled outside the
vehicle,
companies placed either small metal rods in the windows. In 1939,
school
bus yellow was born as the standard in many states, although it is hard
to tell the color in this picture. Photo from a 1980s Wayne brochure
courtesy Charles Sarjeant, webmaster of
Bus Explorer
