Old Missouri Truck (but not mule) Identification

March 21, 2010 4:34 PM

What kind of truck/bus/car is this? I'm guessing it was pretty old when the picture was taken in 1952.
posted by scruss to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

This is a shot in the dark, but my guess is a Lincoln L-Series, which was produced between 1920 and 1930. This image seems to match up fairly well with the original.

However, it looks like the car in the image has an extended body, and I'm not sure if that was offered in Lincolns of the time. Regardless, I can say with near-certainty that the car was made between 1920 and 1930.
posted by Turkey Glue at 4:42 PM on March 21, 2010

The flare of the fender looks like a late 20's to Late 30's Ford. Might be a Model B, but it looks long.
posted by Mayor Curley at 4:50 PM on March 21, 2010

According to the production numbers from this page, it looks like quite a few 7 passenger Lincolns were built. The car in the image appears to have space for at least 7 people spread across 3 rows.

However, there is no definite identifying material on this car (note the lack of hood ornament,) so I can't say positively that it's a Lincoln.
posted by Turkey Glue at 4:53 PM on March 21, 2010

Best answer: It looks a lot like the Paige. Notice the 12 wooden spokes, the radiator and roof lines, and the three side windows of about equal size. The Lincoln has smaller rear windows and wire spokes. The headlights are a bit different on the Paige, but that could be the year.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 6:19 PM on March 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

The slogans on the car remind me of the description of the high schooler's cars in the book Cheaper by the Dozen - The book was written in 1948, and these scenes describe the early 1920s when the oldest children are in high school.

It was the day of the flapper and the sheik...[listing of other pop culture trends among teens of the day] The college boy was a national hero... The accepted mode of transportation was the stripped-down Model T Ford, preferably inscribed with such witticisms as 'Chicken, Here's Your Roost', 'Four Wheels No Brakes', and 'The Mayflower -- Many a Little Puritan Has Come Across In It.'

In a later scene, the oldest daughter, Anne, has arranged to go to a school dance with a boy in her class, but her father insists on coming along.

“Shall I tell him we'll go in his car, or ours?” Anne asked.

“His car? I haven't seen it, but I can imagine it. No doors, no fenders, no top, and a lot of writing about in case of fire throw this in. I wouldn't be seen dead in it, even if the dance was a masquerade and I was going as a cheerleader. No sir. We'll go in Foolish Carriage [the family's Pierce Arrow].”...

On the night of Anne's first date, we stationed ourselves at strategic windows so we could watch Joe Scales arrive. It wasn't every day that a cheerleader came to call.

As Dad had predicted, Anne's friend drove up to the house in an ancient Model T, with writing on it. We could hear the car several blocks before it actually hove into sight, because it was equipped with an exhaust whistle that was allowed to function as a matter of routine. When the car proceeded at a moderate speed, which was hardly ever, the whistle sounded no worse than a hellish roar. But when young Mister Scales stepped on the gas, the roar became high pitched, deafening, and insane.

As the Model T bumped down Eagle Rock Way, heads popped out of the windows of neighboring houses, dogs raced into the woods with their tails between their legs, and babies started to scream.

The exhaust whistle, coupled with the natural engine noise, precluded the necessity of Mister Scales' giving any further notice about the car's arrival at its destination. But etiquette of the day was rigid, and he followed it to the letter. First he turned off the engine, which automatically and mercifully silenced the whistle. Then, while lounging in the driver's seat he tooted and re-tooted the horn until Anne finally came to the front door.

Dad was peeking at the arrival from behind a curtain in his office. [...] “My God, Lillie. I mean, Great Caesar's ghost. Come here and look at him. It's Joe College in the flesh. And he just about comes up to Anne's shoulder.” [...]

“Hush” Mother warned him, coming over to peek at the curtain “He'll hear you. Actually, he's kind of cute, in a sort of vest-pocket way.”

“Cute?” said Dad. “He looks like what might happen if a pigmy married a barber pole. And look at that car. What's that written on the side? 'Jump in sardine, here's your tin.'”

posted by LobsterMitten at 8:25 PM on March 21, 2010

Sorry, the point of the quotes is to say, your car has similar slogans on it. So either painting these slogans on cars continued to be a cool teenage thing to do, or else your car is part of a "retro" event, decorated to evoke 1920s youth culture, just as high schoolers today might have an '80s day. (Not sure if that gives us any clues about the car or not)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:38 PM on March 21, 2010

Best answer: This is (was) a hearse
posted by Raybun at 4:23 AM on March 22, 2010

It would make sense if it was a hearse, given the slogans written on the sides.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:58 PM on March 22, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks - I'm pretty sure it must be a Graham-Paige; there are a bunch of similar cards in this gallery.

I'm guessing the kids of La Plata high school were in for a tough game on October 3, 1952. Sadly, the dude on the front - aka my late father-in-law - has no living family around who'd remember.
posted by scruss at 7:36 PM on March 23, 2010