People and Old Cars - Page 3.
Photographs, featuring not just old vehicles but also - in many cases - their owners, continue to turn up. Sadly in many, the individuals shown aren't named, nor are the locations given. The cars, often just appearing by chance in the background of such photos, almost never get a mention in notes penned on the photos' reverse side either.
|
|
What the images do give though is a snapshot into worlds long-gone, where fashions and the vehicles in evidence, are well-removed from those seen nowadays in most day-to-day lives. Many of us though keep the spirit of these far-off days alive, by running ancient vehicles and, in some instances, dressing in a period to match them. Not that I'd ever do the latter, of course...
|
|
This is the third page in the series of photographs simply headed "People and old cars", following on from Page 2 in the set.
|
1. Cerrig-y-drudion, Wales, in the 1920s.
Photograph #1 is the first of a pair, taken of a group stood outside a pub in Wales called the White Lion. The location, spelt phonetically, is given as Curig-y-Druidion. Chances are they meant Cerrigydrudion, or Cerrig-y-drudion, a small village situated in North Wales. The fact that there is still a pub called the White Lion in the village to this day, tends to confirm this. Date-wise the photograph probably dates to the late 1920s, or early 1930s.
|
| (Please click the thumbnail to view the full-size image.) |
|
|
|
The Google Streetview shows the same corner of the building, as it is today:
|
|
|
|
The second of the two photographs, shows the roof of the low outbuilding behind the main premises. The car is a Morris Cowley four-door saloon.
|
|
|
2. Pickup picnic picture.
Ink-written notes advise that the next shot was taken in Canada, in 1950. The individuals, enjoying a modest picnic at the time, are named as Mr. McGowan, Stan, Delores, Myself, and My Uncle. Four American vehicles are visible, two cars and two pickups, the nearest being a 1939 Chevrolet.
|
|
|
3. A chap and his car, 1942.
Remaining on the far side of the Atlantic, we have a 1942 snapshot of an unidentified chap, stood nonchalantly alongside his automobile. The date of the print is December 6th 1942, just one day short of a year following the attack on the US fleet at Pearl Harbour by the Japanese.
|
|
|
4. More tea vicar?
The car below looks to be of American manufacture, dating to the 1920s, with wooden spoke wheels, detachable rims, and external rear brake linings. A four-door four-seat tourer, with internal door handles only, the maker of this vehicle isn't clear. A man of the cloth is stood to the right, while three ladies of mixed vintage, plus hound, pose within the car for the photographer. The lady over yonder, stood in the entrance of the building behind, looks on with a less-than-cheery expression on her face. Maybe she needed to have an urgent word with the vicar, and was growing impatient of the photographer and his or her subjects?
|
|
|
5. Happiness is a Hillman.
A Hillman Minx of the late 1930s is the spacious, if a little under-powered, vehicle evident in the following picture. Pre-war examples have a flat and sloping rear body profile, with a plain bootlid hinged at the lower edge. The immediate post-war Minx relied heavily on the pre-war version for its styling, but had a humped rear body, with a larger boot and top-mounted hinges. Shown below is the earlier version, confirmed by the year 1938 being written on this photo's reverse.
|
|
Two ladies, both capably suppressing their enjoyment of the moment, perch upon the Hillman's derriere, one clasping a refreshing cup of something soothing.
|
|
|
6. A solitary figure, with a line of cars.
Presumably the date is sometime in the 1950s. A solitary lady, dressed in smart attire, stands poised to enter a 1950's saloon - an E-Series Vauxhall by the look of it. Behind is quite an unusual-looking two-door Vauxhall, while beyond is a Ford Prefect, E493A variety.
|
|
|
7. Vintage taxi, with passengers.
I'd hazard a guess that the location shown next is a boarding school, and stood alongside the taxi are a group of residing children. Just visible behind the leftmost child's shoulder is a glimpse of an AA badge, fitted to the taxi's radiator cap. As for the taxi, it reminds me of others I've seen based on the Ford Model T, although I'm not sure about the shape and depth of the radiator.
|
|
|
8. Dandy gents.
Had this been a colour photo, the full impact of the three gents' eye-catching attire below could be experienced to its best effect. As it is, we're left wondering just how vividly coloured these dandy gents' clothing really is. One lady stands with the three chaps, while another sits a respectable distance away, on a blanket. Would anyone like to hazard a guess as to the make and model of car shown? It's a four-door, six-light saloon, with rear-hinged back doors, probably dating to the early/mid 1930s. Well-shod tyres adorn its spoked wheels.
|
|
|
9. Unusual sidecar.
I think this is an earlier photo than that shown previously, from the 1920s most likely. There are a number of interesting details to pick out in this picture, before looking at the motorised contraption on the right. Note the ornate iron fencing for example, behind the people in the photo, and also fitted ahead of the windows of the building behind them. The top half of the (open) door, visible behind the mustachioed gent, is also very attractively designed.
|
|
I'd like to learn more about the parked machine. Clearly there's a motorcycle, with something akin to a sidecar bolted to the side of it. But rather than being fitted with a standard sidecar body, it would appear to have a comfortable chair fitted to it. Or, is it a motorised tricycle, perhaps designed for a disabled user? The registration* is also quite unusual - 2694-Y8, with a very stylised "2".
|
|
|
|
* Peter, from the OCC forum, adds: "Letter Y. 1922 - 1928 (numbering system changed in 1928), Rouen area of France. The digit 8, is the district within Rouen."
|
|
Return to Page 19 in the photographic archive, or visit the main index here. Page 4 in this series, People and Old Cars, may now be found here.
|
