Update about blogCa

Who knew all this would happen afterwards! Flat Creek in November, 2024. Much changed by the force of the hurricane floods in Sept. 2024. The deck of the bridge is now under that pile of debris.

Friday, February 18, 2022

Those really old cars!

 Really old means "before my time" though I did ride in a few in the 40s probably, just don't remember them!

Sepia Saturday this week features an old American car with a young man, pretty pleased with himself. American because the steering wheel is on the left side of the car.

I have some old photos to share again, since my family of origin always (as long as the company existed) had Studebaker cars.

Early years with cars...

1937, my father stands by open window of car being driven by his younger brother, Jimmy, while his mother (Ada Rogers) sits as passenger.

 Dallas Texas, 1942.  My grandmother (Ada Rogers) and father (George Rogers Jr.) and grandfather (George Rogers Sr.) standing in front of a car (not sure if it's my father's or the grandparents.  The grandparents were living in San Antonio at that time, but visited as there was a child soon to be born (me!)  I would guess it's a Studebaker, since that's the only brand my Rogers family would own for the longest time...probably till it went out of business.

 My mother (Mataley Rogers) sits on the running board (YES, that's what they were called) while my granparents work on the Victory Garden.  In 1942 the US had only been at war less than a year.

There I was (left girl) about to turn 8 years old (1950) with little sis.  Why my father got the car into the pic is probably saying a lot about his values! I would imagine this is one of the Studebakers he owned. We moved to St. Louis Aug. 1950 in time for my birthday.


Below...here I am with sis again (different dresses I think) which means it was probably Easter, 1951. On the campus of Principia Upper and Lower School.  It's a different car already...just look at the grill work and a one piece windshield in the second scene.

I don't know the location of McGlung's Drugstore.  I probably got this old photo from Appalachian Coal Fields on Facebook.  But as I was looking for old cars, this one caught my eye, not because of the store front.  Not because of the various clothes the men and boys are wearing.  But what caught my eye was the back wheel with chains on it.

When we lived in St. Louis, there were a couple of winters that my father put chains on his Studebaker so we could get around on snowy days.  But his wheels were much different by then (50s and 60s).

Below are family members around the new Studebaker.  This one is sporty, a two tone blue, with white wall tires. Pictured (L-R) Poppy (grandfather), sis Mary Beth, and myself just behind the door.


On the right above you can see me pretending to drive, with at least my mom, grandmotehr and sister also in the car (not running of course.) 

Perhaps these photos of old cars will have something in common with the prompt photo from Sepia Saturday this week.  Come on over and see (or contribute your own) selections that others who have a collection of old photos are sharing this week!

Today's quote:
There are those who say to you -- we are rushing this issue of civil rights. I say we are 172 years late. -Hubert Humphrey, US Vice President (27 May 1911-1978)



31 comments:

  1. Hello,
    Great sepia images and vintage cars. I like the photo of you and your sis.
    Take care, have a good day and a happy weekend!

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    1. Thanks...we were posed in front of cars many times...then somehow we didn't any more.

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  2. ...you sure have a wonderful collection of family pictures!

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    1. I try to share these every other year, it seems. Or maybe a bit longer - but old cars do run in my family I guess.

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  3. I think my friend’s family had a Studebaker in the early 60s, and I also think I rode in it. It didn’t mean much to me at the time, so I am not completely sure. But pretty sure.

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    1. Ha ha, the early 60s meant a few were still rolling about. By the end of that decade they became really rare! Good for you for sort of remembering it.

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  4. You really do have a great collection of old photos. So cool, Barbara.

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    1. I'm so pleased to have a chance to share these again...I try to wait a few years now before doing it again.

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  5. Those photos are priceless and I do enjoy seeing them. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You're completely welcome, so glad you had joy from them. The older ones give me that kick, where my Dad actually made notes on the black paper album.

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    1. Thanks William...I'm glad I saved these into my digital files.

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  7. I remember quite a few of these--some very dimly. I remember running boards. And I remember my grandfather's Model T with a rumble seat.

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    1. I wonder if you got to ride in the rumble seat. I don't think I ever did, but I love the idea...better than a convertible and definitely not safe like modern cars.

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  8. My great grandfather's first 'car' was a Studebaker. It looked more like a ute and was used on the farm, so didnt picture it in my blog. My grandmother always referred to it as "They Studey"

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    1. Not sue what a "ute" would look like I like the Studey as a way of referring to it!

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  9. Great photos to bring back memories. :)

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    1. Thanks Monica...I'm glad to have these old photos to share.

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  10. Wonderful old photos. How far transportation has come from the early vehicles!

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    1. I enjoy watching a 1960-70's cop show where they didn't have seatbelts for the first chase scenes, but the did for the latter ones.

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  11. A great collection of family memories and their cars. My favourite is the first one of you and your sister - I had a dress like that with a big peter pan collar.

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    1. My grandmother (mom's mom) made those dresses. I am not sure if she embroidered flowers on the collars or maybe my mother did that. Grandmother was a pro seamstress, lived many miles from us. So each holiday our measurements were sent to her, and then the dresses always fit!

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  12. I have really enjoyed these!

    As to Cagle's Mill in my photos, it is probably about an hour north of Bloomington. Not too far at all. Maybe not even that.

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    1. Ah, that was the direction I never went. I drove several times to Bloomington from NC, where I live. And once took a bus from Indianapolis. Loved seeing the cuts of rock along that highway...really looked like geologists dreams.

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  13. Those dresses you and your sister are wearing look so familiar. I even have a photo of me and my younger standing in front of my uncles car, which I didn't picture but was some sort of little foreign car. You moved to St. Louis the year before we moved to Detroit from Springfield, MA.

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    1. Ah...looking for the better life, our families were...I guess. My family wanted me and my sis to go to the private school for Christian Scientists. My parents ended up both working there. Oh yes, I bet most little girls all had dresses like that in those days!

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  14. A nice collection of cars and the folks who owned and drove them - or posed in front of them in cute little dresses! :)

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    1. Yes, we were the excuse my father had to take photos of his cars. Of course the photos went back to the seamstress who made the dresses, my mother's mother. She lived in San Antonio while we lived in St. Louis.

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  15. Super photos! It's interesting to see this weekend how families often adopted a automobile brand and stuck with it. My grandfather liked Packards and I can still recognize one whenever I happen upon a classic car show. Despite the coincidence with my surname, our family never went in for Studebaker cars. My dad always liked the European cars, and went through a series of Volkswagens, Peugeots, Mercedes, and Volvos.

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  16. Cars do add to the background and show an era in family photos. I also love the one with you and your sister. They're all wonderful though.

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  17. What a wonderful collection of family car photos. I love how families so often posed with their vehicles -- my own included. They seem to have been a new symbol of success and freedom.

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There is today, more than ever, the need for a compassionate regenerative world civilization.