Badge, Identification
Object number2022.99.9
Date1998
MediumPlastic; Fabric; Metal; Paper; Adhesive; Ink
Credit LineGift of Tod Treganowan
DescriptionIdentification tag attached to a blue fabric and metal lanyard. Front of card features a dark blue background, with white text throughout. Back of tag features a white background with blue text. Sticker adhered to right side of card depicting a humanoid-shaped character that appears to be consisted of white tires stacked on top of one another. Blue lanyard has two twigs of leaves with text in between, next to the same human-shaped tire character and white text repeatedly printed throughout in white. DimensionsLength x Width x Depth: 20.25 x 3.375 x 0.75 in. (51.4 x 8.6 x 1.9 cm)InscriptionsOn front of card, text on left side reads: "1998 / North American / International / Auto Show / January 10-19 / Detroit". Text on right side reads: "Lucille / Treganowan / Corporate".
Text on back, some of which is covered by the sticker, reads: "1998 Valid Dates & Times: / 12/8 - 1/4 8:am - [covered] / 1/5 7 am - [covered] / 1/6 & 1/7 7 am - [covered] / 1/8 7 am - [covered] / 1/9 7 am - [covered] / 1/10 - 1/18 8 am - 10 [covered] / 1/19 8 am - 7 p[covered] / move out be [covered] pm / 1/20 - 1/23 8 am - 4:30 p[covered] / This badge is not valid for Charity Preview / Not valid for Press Kits or Michelin Media Center".
Text on lanyard reads: "1998 / BIB" within the laurel leaves, and "MICHELIN" printed to the right of the character.
Historical NotesLucille Treganowan was a business owner, television presenter, author and transmission specialist active in Pittsburgh between 1960 and 2007. Treganowan, a native of Iola, Kansas, moved to Pittsburgh with her husband and three children in the 1950s. After her marriage ended in divorce in 1960, she made the decision to remain in Pittsburgh and find work supporting herself and her family. She soon found a clerical position at a transmission shop in Penn Hills but knew little about cars and their operation. Treganowan later lamented having to respond to customer’s queries with, “I don’t know,” a regret that motivated her to understand the transmission business. After taking the time to study mechanics, she found a love of transmissions and helped to diagnose cars at the shop. She began offering “powder puff mechanic” courses for women at the local YWCA and received considerable attention in the press as an approachable and novel source of instruction. In 1973, Treganowan left to open her own business, Transmissions by Lucille, after becoming the first woman in Western Pennsylvania to receive a Small Business Administration loan. She operated the business for over thirty years before retiring in the early 2000s. In the 1990s, Treganowan’s knack for relating the principles of car mechanics in a simple, straightforward manner led to her own television show, Lucille’s Car Care Clinic on HGTV. She later made a guest appearance on an episode of Home Improvement and was interviewed on many notable television and radio programs, including Late Night with David Letterman, the Jon Stewart Show, Fresh Air with Terry Gross and after the release of her book, Car Care: Everything You Need to Know From Under the Hood in 1996.
Previous owner
Lucille Treganowan
(1930 - 2022)
Related institution
Michelin Manufacturing Company
Related institution
Transmissions by Lucille
On View
Not on view
c. 1860
2000-2004
