| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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COMPARING NEW CAR MODELS TO OLD ONES
I saw a list of the ten highest ranked new cars in a magazine lately and it reminded me of the cars of my childhood. I doubt there were ten new models a year then.
The cars parked around the Stephenville square in this picture must have been made in the '20's. Those were a little before my memory, but my dad had the one pictured here with Mary Fitzgerald, my mother, and sister Nell, still a few months before my time, four to be exact. This Model T could. Mother, dad, my two sisters, and Aunt Betty made a very memorable trip on a vacation in August of 1924. They went to Colorado, over Wolf Creek Pass, before the roads were paved, in this car.
Carrying bedding, groceries, camping equipment, clothes and the adventurous passangers the car huffed and puffed, drank water at every stream, and made a trip that even modern cars might dread. I know because mother wrote a piece for the Stephenville Empire Tribune when they returned, telling about camping out on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. She told of curious Indians watching from a hill to see what the family was up to, and how scared Nell was of the Indians.
I do remember Fords of the late thirties. When we went some where in the winter, we took quilts and blankets to cover with because the cars had no heaters. Cold wind came up through the floor boards and through around the doors. But going somewhere was quite a treat. We wouldn't have missed the opportunity to squeeze in for the trip just because of a little cold.
My sister and her husband, Byrd and Bill Ham, had a car in the late thirties, a coupe with a good sized trunk, that brought us eager kids much fun. They were kind enough to take a load of us to town to the movies whenever we had the ten cents for the ticket. J Ed would ride against the back window behind the seat, Lorene Lucke and I crowded in with Bill and Byrd on the seat, Bill's brothers, Samuel, Paul and Virgil would ride in the trunk with the lid proped up. Eight of us rode in a car built for two.
Now cars come equipped with radios, tape decks, air conditioners, power windows and seats, everything but a periscope. That periscope might have been handy in those days when everyone piled in until the driver could barely see out. Now, with car seats and seat belts and many safety precautions, vision obstructions are eliminated. I hope the fun and uniqueness of the experience hasn't worn too thin.