Want to go for a ride, where should we drive to? In this day, with a good automobile, there are thousands of places one can go. But let us back up to many years ago before we start this outing.
If you are an old timer, you can remember way back when you were a kid and if you were one of the lucky ones, your father had a car, You have to remember that cars were not as available back then and many could not afford one, Some people lived in a town their whole lives and never got to go anywhere.
But if you were one of the lucky ones, remember when you drove to places like Parks, Ball games, Out door Band Concert or picnics and fishing and boating. Others would drive to places where they had never been and to see special sites they had never seen. There really wasn’t many sites to see, so it was just a drive in the country. The road were usually dirt or gravel roads and you had to eat a lot of dust. of course, no one went driving when it rained or snowed, so it was mostly done in the summer months, when it was hot and dry. The windows had to be rolled down because of it being so hot and your face would get dirty and make you feel terrible. Not to say, what the dust was doing to your lungs. Before my time or maybe even after, People wore long light coat and hats or caps, to keep the dirt and dust off of themselves.
People that were close to each other, always drove to visit Grandparents, and other family and relatives and it seemed that all grandparents lived on a farm in the country. Those were really special days and we all have memories of those times.
But we all enjoyed getting out and away, no matter what it was. Can you remember what the price of gas was back then? There were very few mechanics or repair shops around. Parts had to be ordered from the factory and you had to do the work by yourself. Every one would try to tell you how to do the work, but few knew what they were talking about. A farmer usually knew more about those things as he was always working around farm machinery. Places where you could buy gas and oil alone, also work on automobiles, but gas was mostly found at the general store. Remember the big glass container at the top of the pump filled with gas, that had numbers to mark the gallons of gas? The price of a gallon of gasoline was seventeen cents, as I first remembered it.
Can you remember, that some early tires were hard rubber? Then when air pressured tires came out you had to have a liner and inner-tubs to go in them? One thing you would never go anywhere without was a jack, a block of wood, a tire patching kit and a tire pump.
My father first drove a Star automobile, it had a canvas top and no side windows, only the wind shield was glass. Then he got a car called a Durant, It had four doors all with glass windows. Spare tires places built into the front fenders and a removable trunk on the back with a fold down rack for hauling other things. Then he bought a 1936 ford, it had suicide doors in the back and that was no car for people with kids,
One day a back door came open and my younger brother almost got pulled out of the car, and my Grand-father got a hold of him just in time! So his next car was a brand new 1941 ford that came out just before the second world war. It was a shinny black in color with finder skirts and look like a space vehicle. When world war two started, jobs were lost and payments could no longer be made. The bank took the car. He lost his job, as workers were being assigned to do defense work in all parts of the nation.
He was always strict about what we kids could do inside a car, there were no seat belts but we were glued to the seats, No eating of anything in the car was allowed and we got pit stops when ever they were requested. Sometimes he would let me ride on the running board for short distances. There was always a discussion as to who could ride in the front seat with Dad when mother wasn’t along or if she chose to ride in the back.
After being in the service and discharged, I married and bought my father in-laws car as he rarely ever drove it. One of our first Sunday drive was over into the state of Wyoming. They had really good high ways. We was driving down this road going no place in particular. When the road ended, just as if someone had taken a knife and cut it off, with a fence across it. And there was a big cross with Christ on it that stood fourteen or fifteen feet high, that was painted a bright yellow and red. It was on a stretch of road around nine or ten miles long with no other roads going off of it.
We got turned around and started back, when a sign with a very large “T” that said 9 miles. Then the next sign said “T” 8 miles and every mile after, there was another sign with the number being reduced by one mile. At the end of the ten miles going back, there were cross roads. No signs, no nothing saying where the roads went to or how far. We had been led down a path, going no where, for a unknown reason. I told other people about this and they went to see for them selves, No one ever said that they were there or had seen it.
To day, there are so many different cars, of all sizes, with so many gadgets buttons to push for automatic things, it takes a year or more to learn what they are for. Back in the olden days. You could buy a new car for $ 500. or 600 dollars, Today it takes more than a person can earn in a year or more. There seems to be no limit to amount you can pay. One never had to have insurance that I knew of. Not many of us people can even afford to have it now. Don’t know how a younger person can afford to have insurance and own a car right now. Drivers license, up keep on a car, the insurance that is required and gas and oil that keep going up to who knows where? It is beyond most peoples ability to pay. Some people do not know the rules for driving and your life is threatened more than you know, when you are out in a car.
A trip down memory lane is fun at times but it is hard to do it and relax anymore. Hey. I ‘m tired, do you want to drive for a while? Lets stop for a time if you can find a place to get off of this busy interstate high way. Watch out, you almost hit that car and stop looking at them girls and pay attention to what you are doing.
Maybe we need to drean on and not have to face real life?
By; Ben R.
If you are an old timer, you can remember way back when you were a kid and if you were one of the lucky ones, your father had a car, You have to remember that cars were not as available back then and many could not afford one, Some people lived in a town their whole lives and never got to go anywhere.
But if you were one of the lucky ones, remember when you drove to places like Parks, Ball games, Out door Band Concert or picnics and fishing and boating. Others would drive to places where they had never been and to see special sites they had never seen. There really wasn’t many sites to see, so it was just a drive in the country. The road were usually dirt or gravel roads and you had to eat a lot of dust. of course, no one went driving when it rained or snowed, so it was mostly done in the summer months, when it was hot and dry. The windows had to be rolled down because of it being so hot and your face would get dirty and make you feel terrible. Not to say, what the dust was doing to your lungs. Before my time or maybe even after, People wore long light coat and hats or caps, to keep the dirt and dust off of themselves.
People that were close to each other, always drove to visit Grandparents, and other family and relatives and it seemed that all grandparents lived on a farm in the country. Those were really special days and we all have memories of those times.
But we all enjoyed getting out and away, no matter what it was. Can you remember what the price of gas was back then? There were very few mechanics or repair shops around. Parts had to be ordered from the factory and you had to do the work by yourself. Every one would try to tell you how to do the work, but few knew what they were talking about. A farmer usually knew more about those things as he was always working around farm machinery. Places where you could buy gas and oil alone, also work on automobiles, but gas was mostly found at the general store. Remember the big glass container at the top of the pump filled with gas, that had numbers to mark the gallons of gas? The price of a gallon of gasoline was seventeen cents, as I first remembered it.
Can you remember, that some early tires were hard rubber? Then when air pressured tires came out you had to have a liner and inner-tubs to go in them? One thing you would never go anywhere without was a jack, a block of wood, a tire patching kit and a tire pump.
My father first drove a Star automobile, it had a canvas top and no side windows, only the wind shield was glass. Then he got a car called a Durant, It had four doors all with glass windows. Spare tires places built into the front fenders and a removable trunk on the back with a fold down rack for hauling other things. Then he bought a 1936 ford, it had suicide doors in the back and that was no car for people with kids,
One day a back door came open and my younger brother almost got pulled out of the car, and my Grand-father got a hold of him just in time! So his next car was a brand new 1941 ford that came out just before the second world war. It was a shinny black in color with finder skirts and look like a space vehicle. When world war two started, jobs were lost and payments could no longer be made. The bank took the car. He lost his job, as workers were being assigned to do defense work in all parts of the nation.
He was always strict about what we kids could do inside a car, there were no seat belts but we were glued to the seats, No eating of anything in the car was allowed and we got pit stops when ever they were requested. Sometimes he would let me ride on the running board for short distances. There was always a discussion as to who could ride in the front seat with Dad when mother wasn’t along or if she chose to ride in the back.
After being in the service and discharged, I married and bought my father in-laws car as he rarely ever drove it. One of our first Sunday drive was over into the state of Wyoming. They had really good high ways. We was driving down this road going no place in particular. When the road ended, just as if someone had taken a knife and cut it off, with a fence across it. And there was a big cross with Christ on it that stood fourteen or fifteen feet high, that was painted a bright yellow and red. It was on a stretch of road around nine or ten miles long with no other roads going off of it.
We got turned around and started back, when a sign with a very large “T” that said 9 miles. Then the next sign said “T” 8 miles and every mile after, there was another sign with the number being reduced by one mile. At the end of the ten miles going back, there were cross roads. No signs, no nothing saying where the roads went to or how far. We had been led down a path, going no where, for a unknown reason. I told other people about this and they went to see for them selves, No one ever said that they were there or had seen it.
To day, there are so many different cars, of all sizes, with so many gadgets buttons to push for automatic things, it takes a year or more to learn what they are for. Back in the olden days. You could buy a new car for $ 500. or 600 dollars, Today it takes more than a person can earn in a year or more. There seems to be no limit to amount you can pay. One never had to have insurance that I knew of. Not many of us people can even afford to have it now. Don’t know how a younger person can afford to have insurance and own a car right now. Drivers license, up keep on a car, the insurance that is required and gas and oil that keep going up to who knows where? It is beyond most peoples ability to pay. Some people do not know the rules for driving and your life is threatened more than you know, when you are out in a car.
A trip down memory lane is fun at times but it is hard to do it and relax anymore. Hey. I ‘m tired, do you want to drive for a while? Lets stop for a time if you can find a place to get off of this busy interstate high way. Watch out, you almost hit that car and stop looking at them girls and pay attention to what you are doing.
Maybe we need to drean on and not have to face real life?
By; Ben R.
10-28-2010
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