Car Talk with Ed Smith

 Now in my 60s, I've experienced cleaning out the homes of two of our parents. It has certainly taught me a lesson or two about what should be kept and what should be tossed! But in going through my dad's voluminous papers, some things of historical interest have come to light.

No doubt, Ed was a car guy. But it is clear that he came by it honestly:

Left, above: Ed's father, Edd (with two “d”s) on the right and his brother Bernard on the left on the running board of Edd's Model A. Right, above: Ed's Aunt Agnes, Edd & Bernard's baby sister. On the back is written "Sept 16, 1958, Agnes in her new caddy"

As he would have been 18 in 1953, this is probably not his first driver’s license, especially since he registered this 1947 Ford a few days earlier. If you look closely at the license plate on the picture below you can see that this is the tan Ford Club Coupe. It’s parked in front of his parents’ home at 14 Robert Ave, in Whitman, MA. It must have been a challenge to drive that in the snow, as Robert Ave was on a steep hill!

 

In 1953, he paid $695 to Jesse James Motors in Whitman and then paid $3.50 to the State of Massachusetts to register it. 

   

Other than the three registrations below, I have not located any paperwork on the vehicle shown above, but it’s probably his “Hawaiian Bronze” 1951 Ford Victoria Coupe. My  Uncle Kevin recalls: “I remember when and where this was taken...the ‘scenic’ highway from the Sagamore bridge to the Bourne bridge, there's a place you can pull off the road to take pictures etc... if you look closely, that's Gramie and me (Kevin) in the back seat.  You can't really make me out, but it must be since I remember being there.” Standing on the left is my Grampa Edd Smith and on the right is Johnny “Doc” Bucken, a family friend.

Next came a 1946 Willys Jeep Pickup, purchased in June of 1956 for $375.00.

    

Clearly, a Jeep for all seasons! The receipt indicates that it came with a snow plow. 

    

Saquish Beach at Plymouth. My Uncle Shawn, my Mom, my Gramie and Ginger, the Irish setter with her face in the grass. Those must have been some great times!

 

That's my Mom in the passenger seat.

It was about this time that Ed enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to Germany. My mother joined him, and before you know it, here I am! Check out my first wheels:

My Dad on the left, his Army buddy "Malliew" on the right,
so dubbed because apparently he did everything backwards. 

I have no paperwork on the next two vehicles, but thanks to the internet, research suggests the first is a 1951 Borgward Hansa 1500, parked here overlooking the scenic beauty of Germany. Looks like I'm ready to go!

The pictures below appear to be a Mercedes-Benz Typ 230 (W153) 1938-1943. I know they took several road trips during their time in Germany, they went to France and Holland that I knew of. 

Me & Ed. Note the suicide doors. 

My stylin' Mom.

I think this was in the back of our apartment.

Still ready to go!

Now back in the States, Ed has to scratch that itch—this time with a 1954 Ford Victoria Hard Top Convertible, bought in September of 1960 for $425. At the time, they were living on Taylor street in Pembroke, MA.

 

Now living on Fullerton Ave in Whitman, Ed bought a 1959 Peugeot 403 from Flanagan & Seaton Motors in Brookline. At some point, Flanagan & Seaton moved to Jamaica Plain and were still in existence until 2015 when a fire wiped out the building, which had apparently already been slated for demolition. 

Ed was infamous throughout the family
(and likely the corporate world)
for his prodigious letter writing.

I have a very vague memory of being in the back seat of a small dark car. Still have the rabbit.

I remember going to parades a lot, as well as the fireworks displays at Studley’s Pond on 123 in Rockland.

 

He must have hung on to the Peugot for awhile, because this is the driveway to the house at 82 Linden Street in Whitman, with my little brother Michael. 

Now we come to Ed’s first car bought new, and financed: a 1965 VW Bug. Looks like it’s parked in front of 14 Robert Ave.

 

Once the VW was paid for, the Jeep itch needed to be scratched, especially to go down to the beach! In 1967 he paid $1,100 for this 1961 Willys Jeep 4WD. The photo was taken at Duxbury Beach-first place I remember the feeling of sunburn. I can also hear in my mind the rumble of the wheels over the wooden Powder Point Bridge. Ed built the wooden box atop the Jeep to keep our gear in.

 

We spent a lot of weekends on the beach and had some fun times!

 
Here's how Ed paid for that fun: He drove a truck through the streets and alleyways of Boston. 

According to my Uncle Shawn, they did a lot of fishing at Monponsett. He said: “Before we went out in the boat, your grandfather would always say, ‘did we remember the walnut’.  To which we would answer, ‘what?’ He'd say, ‘you know, the pee-can’” Then there was the occasion when the boat came off the trailer on the way home, I think coming down the long hill on 27 coming in to Whitman.

Now we come to the infamous Volkswagen Bus. I didn’t find a receipt for it, but I did find a LOT of receipts for maintenance and repairs at Myron Oberg’s! It’s the car I learned to drive a stick shift in, as well as the one I burned up one day coming back from seeing the Tall Ships in Boston Harbor on a hot day in July of 1976. The fan belt broke (I knew I heard a thump!) and when smoke started billowing up to the front of the bus, I pulled over. My mother had drilled into my head not to let it run out of oil, so I tried to check it and burned my fingers pretty good on the metal dipstick. Well, that was the end of the VW Bus, and my brothers have hated me ever since because our mother would never let them drive her cars because of what I had done. Sorry, guys...

 

Still a Jeep guy. 1980s.

He also had a nice Audi, but I haven’t found a picture of it. I do have lots of memories of driving up to “Cow” Hampshire to visit with his friend Marshall Hatch on the weekends. Uncle Kevin relates: “the story goes about the Audi, with which he had numerous problems, was purchased at Reitzel Audi in Norwell.  One day he taped a large banner on the side of the car in front of the agency which read, "you don't have to go to a fruit store to buy a lemon, I bought one here."  

Pretty sure he bought this just to be able to take Wolfgang, a 98-pound German Shepherd, around with him—when he wasn’t walking Wolfgang by the Bridgewater State College president’s house so Wolfgang could leave a “package.” You just had to know Ed...

He also had this little two-seater Nissan Pulsar that our boys were entranced with, parked here at my Gramie’s on Robert Ave.

His last vehicle. Before the end, he had plastered it with signs and bumper stickers, some of which I had to cover up before I drove it to the Temple so I could, with a clear conscience, park in the lot. Somewhere I have a photo of that, but this is a family blog...

P.S. I spent DAYS trying to set this post up in an orderly way with the photos and the captions, and Blooger has just done fruit basket upset with them. So this is my rant: I hate working with Blogger and pictures. But none of my kids would ever read a lot of text without photos. So there.