MTFCA Forum

Picture 4 is reversed. That is an American flag and the license number is reversed. The steering wheel is on the wrong side because the picture is reversed.
I am always surprised when I look at the pictures to see how many women are drivers. In our family my grandmother did not drive and my mother didn't learn to drive until she was about 36. Her sister was about the same age. Now most women drive.
Norm

How right you are Norm.

My money says the 9th picture from the top with ‘1906’ on the seat is a 2 cylinder Maxwell. Fantastic pics ! Thank you Tom

The even folding windshield indicates the car was manufactured early 1917 model year, maybe late calendar 1916.
California license plates 1916 through 1919 were porcelain, blue over white, with replaceable tabs for each year. In the photo, I can't tell if that is the 1916 bear, or the 1917 poppy. The bear was dark red, the poppy sort of an orange/brown, and the shape was sort of similar such that in this photo I am not sure which it is.
1916 and 1917 were kind of a transition in American politics. Americans were mixed on which side of the European War the USA should favor. Our nation as a whole was almost vehemently neutral. There was a strong "America first" attitude in this country, and many people began adorning their cars with flags.
Without getting into politics or the right or wrong of issues and beliefs, as the war raged in Europe, and the German forces and navy attacked American ships and people, the feelings in the USA shifted. As 1917 drew to a close, "Americans" more and more favored getting into the war and putting an end to European aggression. Flags on cars began meaning "America get in there and do what needs to be done!"
During this timeframe, there was a large decal sold that many people place on their car windshields. I see them in several era photos of model Ts.
When I see photos like this one? I often wonder what the people were thinking? Where were they at that moment in the shifting of the sands of time?

In the 10th picture down from the top, with the girl standing on the running board of a well worn 1926-27 T Coupe in the early 1930’s, proves that kids had to talk on their cellphone’s all the time back then too, just like they do today.

Sorry George H. The "going strong since 1906" is a Ford model R or S. It also is most likely a 1907 model, not a 1906, although it may have been an early production model R.
The model R was an upgrade of the model N, with better fenders, running boards instead of step plates, and larger wheels. It also had a slightly better body with slightly larger turtle deck/trunk. The model S was a slight downgrade from the R with a return to the smaller wheels and smaller trunk, but keeping the better fenders and running boards.
Even the best experts often have trouble telling the R and S apart in era photographs. Differences are slight enough that from many angles they really cannot be seen.

I am fairly sure this is a model R, the wheels appear to be the 30X3, not the smaller 28 inch wheels. However, clearly the car is some years old, and it is always possible that the wheels were changed at some point. That is often a problem with the N/R/S cars. Over the years, a lot of parts and cars have been mixed up.

There was an additional model that followed these. The "model S roadster" of 1908. It is quite different in overall appearance. Being quite sporty in style, with different fenders and shorter running boards, a "rumble seat", and low cowl on the firewall, it is quite distinctive!

In number 10 photo, they're arguing. They're saying, " it's your turn to ride on the trailer, let your sister in to ride up front for awhile"!

The cowboy with the horse trailer I imagine is headed for a remote camp to check on cattle or ride fence for repair work. Looks like a tent riding on top of the rear seat.

Sixth photo down shows an Australian New South Wales registered car. It has a unique windscreen fitted by body builders in that state. Looks to be converted into a pickup with a fixed roof. Is that a new Blockley diamond tread tyre on the front left wheel?

Allan from down under.

The girl on the running board in #10 just looks so exhausted and ready to be done with traveling through the depression.......

CatGuy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:26 am

The girl on the running board in #10 just looks so exhausted and ready to be done with traveling through the depression.......

Kinda my thoughts too Scott...she looks so sad, hot 'n tired, and of course dirt poor...that pic kinda broke my heart. We really don't know how tough it was back then, only an idea based on media and hollywood. And we know how that goes.

TWrenn wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:06 am

CatGuy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:26 am

The girl on the running board in #10 just looks so exhausted and ready to be done with traveling through the depression.......

Kinda my thoughts too Scott...she looks so sad, hot 'n tired, and of course dirt poor...that pic kinda broke my heart. We really don't know how tough it was back then, only an idea based on media and hollywood. And we know how that goes.

It reminded me of a Dorothea Lange photo. Maybe it is one. Her subjects were fairly well documented and their lives after the photos are sometimes known. It's amazing their resiliency, and how some of them "rose from the ashes", so to speak. As I've stated many times, "The Greatest Generation" was not great because they had it easy, but instead because they were forged in the fire of hardship, epidemics, the Depression, and a couple World Wars.

I did a little checking. It is a Lange photo. Entitled, "Date: June 1937, "Child of Texas migrant family who followed the cotton crop.""

Good eye Jerry! A google reverse image search shows that is a Dorothea Lange photo:

https://www.shorpy.com/node/15484?size=_original

One wonders what became of her (the girl not Dorothea...)

TWrenn wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:06 am

CatGuy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:26 am

The girl on the running board in #10 just looks so exhausted and ready to be done with traveling through the depression.......

Kinda my thoughts too Scott...she looks so sad, hot 'n tired, and of course dirt poor...that pic kinda broke my heart. We really don't know how tough it was back then, only an idea based on media and hollywood. And we know how that goes.

The image of that poor girl should humble us and make us thankful for the many blessings we enjoy. Sorry for preaching...

Don't apologize Jerry. My sentiments exactly.

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:50 am

TWrenn wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:06 am

CatGuy wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:26 am

The girl on the running board in #10 just looks so exhausted and ready to be done with traveling through the depression.......

Kinda my thoughts too Scott...she looks so sad, hot 'n tired, and of course dirt poor...that pic kinda broke my heart. We really don't know how tough it was back then, only an idea based on media and hollywood. And we know how that goes.

The image of that poor girl should humble us and make us thankful for the many blessings we enjoy. Sorry for preaching...

My Mother, who was born in 1922, had similarly hard existence in her early childhood that included time living in an orphanage in Torrington Wyoming. As an adult, she was determined to have a better life for her children. She married a flyboy from the army air corps, and raised six kids in a middle class suburban home. But, she never missed an opportunity to tell us how good we have it compared to her childhood. "Eat your green beans. When I was your age, I was thankful to have a piece of cold, raw, potato!" We are not all Warren Buffets, but by world standards, Americans live VERY WELL. You are right Jerry, a little more humility would make the world a better place for everyone. Now I'll quit preaching.