Walter Hallberg, at 83, probably has more parts in his head than just about anybody around. They’re automotive part numbers: he’s been in the business since he was 13 and delivered parts around town on his bicycle.

That was about the time the U.S. became involved in World War II, and he remembers “They took everybody into service except the owner of the auto supply company and the lady bookkeeper.”

The owner was Walter’s father — too old for the armed forces — and the store was Waggener’s Auto Parts, which was located across the street from the downtown post office and next door to the telephone office. It was in an ancient building with the basement having a dirt floor.

The Hallbergs moved to Vicksburg from Fitler after a terrible flood. Walter was born here and attended St. Michael’s School on south Washington Street, then Speed Street, Bowmar, and graduated from Carr Central in 1947. The family tried the orchard business before buying the auto parts store.

“I’ve been in this business ever since then,” he said. He’ll be 84 in November but thinks that “Time is only how you feel.”

Keeping up with automotive parts isn’t as simple as it once was.

“I used to remember part numbers, but my mind doesn’t do as good as it used to,” he said.

For over 20 years he lived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where he was mainly involved with industrial parts, and when he moved back to Vicksburg in the 1970s things were real simple.

“General Motors used the same part numbers for all their vehicles,” he said. “So did Ford, though there were different numbers for six cylinder and V8 engines.” The numbers became an indelible part of one’s mind. Ninety percent of the business was filters and ignition parts, and they still comprise a great extent — along with tune up items — of the business.

But it isn’t so simple parts-wise anymore. “No, goodness, no,” he said. “You can’t do anything unless you go to the computer and hope you give somebody the right part.”

One product that helped bring about the changes was the introduction of the Volkswagen to the American market. It was the first popular, affordable foreign car with its motor in the rear held down by four bolts, only 36 horsepower, “and nobody ever heard of an air-cooled engine, but there was a many of ’em that ran many a mile. It revolutionized auto history.”

Hallberg went to work in 1948 for an Oldsmobile dealer on the Coast ­— then three years later was hired by the shipyard in Pascagoula where he was still in the parts business, but parts for machinery rather than automobiles.

When he moved back to Vicksburg about 1970 he had a wife, two sons and a daughter. He bought Waggener’s from his father and operated it until about 12 years ago. Though the business had several owners including the Hallbergs, who bought it from R.J. Barnett, it was started in 1925 by Charlie Waggener. In 1946 it was moved to South Madison Street.

Cars are much more reliable today, Hallberg believes, because of better oil and filters. Fifty years ago, if a car had 100,000 miles on the speedometer, it was shot. Today many last two or three times that long.

Old cars are still around though, mainly being restored by someone with a lot of determination, time, deep pockets, “and it helps to know what you’re doing. It’s unbelievable what it costs. You can buy a new car for a lot less.”

He’s spent a lot of time finding parts for someone restoring an old car, Hallberg said. You can still get parts for a few, such as a Nash, but there aren’t any for cars such as a Hudson.

In restoration, he said, “You can spend just as much money as you can get a hold of,” but when you see an old car for sale, such as a DeSoto, “The best thing to do is just leave it there.”

Hallberg’s first car was a 1939 Ford two door “with a big space behind the front seat. That’s where my children rode when we came to Vicksburg.”

His best car, he said — and he’s had quite a few — was a Chrysler minivan. They took the place of the earlier station wagons and panel trucks and he feels they were more practical. There have been many changes. He remembers when Oldsmobile station wagons in 1948 had wooden panels.

Today, he said, there are very few American-made parts “and I’ll tell you 60 or 70 percent come from China. It just scares me to death. They’re eating our lunch. One day one of their diplomats is going to come over here with a bunch of notes and bonds and say, ‘We own the United States.’ It’s partially our own fault with people demanding more money for less work.”

When Hallberg closed Waggener’s about 12 years ago, he and his daughter, Ava were the only two running it, and he decided he was getting too old to have to be there six days a week.

Hallberg says he feels good, and “In the last 50 years I haven’t set an alarm clock. I just wake up at the same time every morning.”

His wife is deceased. His son Mark is in the restaurant business on the Coast, Ava works for George Carr, and Walter Jr. is parts manager at Atwood Chevrolet.

It would be hard to guess his age. He has no wrinkles and very little gray hair but said, “That’s because there isn’t much to turn gray.”

He used to cook a lot, but not much anymore, adding with a twinkle in his eye that “Mrs. Callender helps me some. She has good stuff — one of the best chicken pot pies — put that joker in the oven and you can smell it before it gets ready.”

And shrimp? It’s a good thing you have to peel them, he said. That slows you down or otherwise you might choke — “You couldn’t digest ’em fast enough.”

When he closed his store he didn’t retire, he just slowed down a little. Purvis Hoben bought part of his inventory and offered him a part- time job telling him he could go home after lunch, but Hallberg often stays longer because “I can have as much fun here as I can anywhere.”

You’ll find him most days at Parts Supply on South Frontage Road. He not only has a vast knowledge of parts, but he and others there know how to help people with auto problems. The store is locally owned by Tommy Hoben.

“I just need a place to go,” Hallberg said. “I hope I’m going to work here forever.”

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Gordon Cotton is an author and historian who lives in Vicksburg.