Road Trip

[Subdeacon Joe]

All Packed Up and Ready to Leave.  Somewhere in the U.S.  Images taken 1912-1916.   Travel by automobile used to be barely above traveling by covered wagon.  Early roads did not have hotels and eating establishments were few and far between.  These two images show a group of people bidding farewell to some travelers and how the travelers packed.  Today it's Holiday Inn Express, with free breakfast!

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Family having a picnic on the side of the dirt road, 1915.

 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Cost of a few nights in a Holiday Inn Express would have bought that Model T!

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

Some of my Aunts and Uncles told of a siblings trip they made from Ottawa, Ontario, crossing the border into the US by ferry, in the early to mid '20s

Tires were pretty bad as were the tubes in those days and while they had the spare tires and tools to change tires and make repairs, they ran out of patching material to fix tubes and were stuck.

Until they realized they were stopped beside a farmer's field of corn.

They removed the tires from the rims and filled the cavity with corn cobs and continued on their way.

 

[Pat Riot]

2 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

Some of my Aunts and Uncles told of a siblings trip they made from Ottawa, Ontario, crossing the border into the US by ferry, in the early to mid '20s

Tires were pretty bad as were the tubes in those days and while they had the spare tires and tools to change tires and make repairs, they ran out of patching material to fix tubes and were stuck.

Until they realized they were stopped beside a farmer's field of corn.

They removed the tires from the rims and filled the cavity with corn cobs and continued on their way.

 

Now that’s using your noodle! 

 

I recall my grandmother telling of similar things where the car would over heat or tires were forever going flat. There were no service stations to rely on. She was from the mountains in PA and a trip down the mountain wasn’t a thing to be taken lightly. Preparations needed to be made. 
She told me that often if your car broke down you would have to rely on the generosity of strangers for a bed for the night and food. I remember being amazed that they would just knock on a farmer’s door and ask for a place to stay the night and they nearly always were happily accommodated. 
Imagine trying that now. 

 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

The family picnicking by the dirt road, reminded me of childhood trips from Napa, CA to Los Angeles to visit relatives.  There were places along the highway with a sort of grass and great Weeping Willow trees.  My Mom would pull off and park under the trees and we should break out the Macaroni Salad, Sandwiches and Lemonade.  Simpler times indeed.

[Subdeacon Joe]

12 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

Some of my Aunts and Uncles told of a siblings trip they made from Ottawa, Ontario, crossing the border into the US by ferry, in the early to mid '20s

Tires were pretty bad as were the tubes in those days and while they had the spare tires and tools to change tires and make repairs, they ran out of patching material to fix tubes and were stuck.

Until they realized they were stopped beside a farmer's field of corn.

They removed the tires from the rims and filled the cavity with corn cobs and continued on their way.

 

 

Improvise, adapt, and overcome.

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

22 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

I remember being amazed that they would just knock on a farmer’s door and ask for a place to stay the night and they nearly always were happily accommodated. 
Imagine trying that now. 

Where do you think all those "farmers daughter" jokes came from?

[bgavin]

This was taken in 1912 on the road from Boise to Idaho City, a distance of 40 miles.
It was an all day trip, and then the differential broke while there.
My grandfather had a ring gear shipped in from Boise, but proceeded to install it backward.
Dad told me he drove the whole 40 miles back to Boise in reverse.

 

 

[bgavin]

This was taken in 1917 on a camping trip somewhere in Idaho.
My grandmother is standing on the right.
She was age 32 at the time and my Dad was a year old.

 

 

[Pat Riot]

34 minutes ago, bgavin said:

This was taken in 1917 on a camping trip somewhere in Idaho.
My grandmother is standing on the right.
She was age 32 at the time and my Dad was a year old.

 

 

So who’s the scowling man in the photo? He doesn’t look real happy about getting his picture taken. 

[bgavin]

I dunno any of them.
Mebbe he just found out my gramma was married with a 1 year old...

[Alpo]

I enjoyed looking at the way people are dressed in old pictures.

 

Two of those women are wearing them wearing long white aprons to protect their clothing while they do "women's work". But the third one is not. Wonder why?

 

The guy with the scowl is wearing logger boots, which protect his lower pant legs (also his lower people legs). The other guy in the front has got leggings of some sort on, which again would protect the lower leg. But the guy with the hat, in the back row, has no lower leg protection. Again, wonder why?

 

I wonder if the two guys in the back row are twins, or if that's just my mind trying to force too similar-appearing people to look more like than they really do?

 

Twins or not, they certainly appear to be brothers.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Some fancy "weekending" at Silver Lake, Washington in 1920.