1937.……Visiting Grandpa & Grandma and his new CAR
That’s me on the far right...the youngest of 5 girls sitting on Grandpa‘s running board. We had come from Plainfield, New Jersey, to visit my Mother’s parents in West Brattleboro, Vermont.
My Grandpa was one of the first car owners in that small town and he was proud as a peacock to be so. I’ve seen many photographs of him and he always displays a big grin when he is near or in his car. In most other pictures he is dapper and pleasant, but very reserved.
He worked for the Estey Organ Company and would travel all over New England for them. I believe he sold the organs as well as doing repair work on them. I can just imagine him on the open road. He’d be wearing his roadster cap at a jaunty angle and I’ll bet he’d have the windows open wide. At 40 miles per hour you didn’t have to worry too much about the breeze!
My Grandma loved to ride in the car too. She would dress in her Sunday best (complete with hat and gloves) and would always sit in the back seat...even when it was just the two of them! I imagine it would make her feel like she was being squired around town.
I was barely four years old then so I don’t remember being there...but we have many pictures to prove that we were. I wonder if it was all for show...or if we actually got to RIDE in Grandpa’s prized possession? Somehow I doubt it…
posted by Ginnie at 5:33 PM
17 Comments:
We have a 1938 Chevy 2 door coupe that we just love. It's not original, it has air conditioning and electric everything, but still it's a very cool car.
Oh my goodness, I just love that picture, what lovely healthy kids you all were. So lucky to have had a Grandpa with a car then. :)
Loved the photo Ginnie. As usual, you all look so excited about the photo event. LOL
Laurie: you've caught my attention. I want to know more about your 1938 Chevy...it would be a good subject for a blog entry.
Cazzie & Alan: thanks for the comments. Yes, Alan, a trip to the Vt. grandparents always included staged photos and we were less than happy about it!
My dad had this picture of him when he was youn standing in the street next to his house. He asked me to look and see what was unusual. I couldn't really come up with much. He said, "There are no cars!"
Riding in cars back then was an activity!
The car looks dated but all you girls look as cute as those of today or any day.
Another great picture Ginnie. Very few people owned cars when I was a kid. The first time I remember riding in a car was during WW2 when one of my uncles transferred from the British Army to the 8th US Army Air Force as a driver and came home driving a big American car with a white star on the side. When the 'yanks' arrived in Britain they needed experienced drivers. I believe that my uncle was General Spaatz's driver.
I used to hate car rides when I was a kid. I got car sick and always felt that going anywhere lasted forever. My father never wanted to stop.
That brought back a vague memory of me riding in a bumper seat once when I was very young.
What a great photo! I loved running boards (that's odd, isn't it?) and I wish my current van had them. I dated a guy who owned a 1928 Pontiac touring car, and we drove in it to school everyday. I really wish I had a picture of that!
More coinsidences, Ginnie. My Uncle used to live in Plainfield, NJ, and my husband's Aunt worked at the Estey organ co.
Love the photo!
Ginnie I had that same haircut as yours when I was small.
What a wonderful photo! With grandma and grandpa looking through the window at their five girls.
Loved those cars and those running boards. Thanks for sharing this.
Ginny, I don't know anything about the family that named Moore Co., but I suppose you could do some research on it. They appear to have been a prominent family.
I know I left a comment the other day about this post. I am growing more and more frustrated with blogger/Google by the hour!
Ginnie, you can see a few pictures here: http://dmmgmfm.blogspot.com/2006/09/drum-roll-please.html
What do you want to know about it?
Oops, I see I was anonymous at 8:24am. I wonder why that happened???
Hi everybody. When I went to Blogger I couldn't get in without changing to the new Google thing. It is really annoying because it brought up a lot of comments from Anonymous...who I know are you guys. I hope this doesn't continue because I'll have no idea who's writing. Maybe it would be a good idea to add your name at the end of the comment.
GRRRRRRR...it's frustrating.
Hi Ginnie,
I've missed reading you for these past two weeks. You have such wonderful photos. They mean even more when you attach a narration. Your grandparents are people from another age, a radically different, but not-so-distant past.
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