MTFCA Forum

Can anyone tell whether the license plate is California? In 1926 my grandfather and my uncle drove from Los Angeles on the "new" route 66 and the Lincoln highway to Plymouth rock. Then they went to northern New York and to Sterling Ontario, Canada and back. Somewhere along the way they went off the road. People came around and helped them get back on the road. Another place they broke the crankshaft and got towed into a Ford Dealer who replaced it overnight. And they were along there way. They carried a tent on the running board and slept by the side of the road wherever they were when it got dark. I have their tent in the rafters of my garage. We used to use it ourselves when I was much younger around the 1960's.
Norm

Norman Kling wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 24, 2025 11:26 am

Can anyone tell whether the license plate is California? In 1926 my grandfather and my uncle drove from Los Angeles on the "new" route 66 and the Lincoln highway to Plymouth rock. Then they went to northern New York and to Sterling Ontario, Canada and back. Somewhere along the way they went off the road. People came around and helped them get back on the road. Another place they broke the crankshaft and got towed into a Ford Dealer who replaced it overnight. And they were along there way. They carried a tent on the running board and slept by the side of the road wherever they were when it got dark. I have their tent in the rafters of my garage. We used to use it ourselves when I was much younger around the 1960's.
Norm

I assume you are referring to the off the road photo. Its not a California Plate. One of the photo has a California 1918 plate with the 1919 validation star

The thing I notice about the last couple of batches of these wonderful photos is how cheerful everyone looks. I see a lot of smiles, some quite captivating rather than the often glum look so often seen in period photos.

Paul

The 10th picture from the top is very interesting!

The abandoned house and 17-21 Model T Touring show the effects of weather, being just let go and forgotten. Could be from the 40’s I think.

The fireplace that’s crumbling and the farm house that’s deteriorating must have been in that state for many years before it was torn down and the T was thrown in a ditch or sold for junk.

You don’t see many original pictures like this that were taken of old cars and farm houses found in untouched condition.
I wonder where it was taken. Maybe it’s a dust bowl days photo or a mountain and forest area but wherever it was taken the old house and Model T have a story to tell! Thanks for a neat untouched historical photo!
It looks like the base of a kerosene lamp laying behind the T besides the chicken on the porch that’s still hanging around!

#10 It looks to me like a small child standing in the open doorway, probably wondering where his next meal is coming from. Jim

Maybe the house is being used for a chicken coop, appears to be a young child in the doorway of the log portion of the house.

I was wondering if it was child too and now that you mention the house being used as a chicken coop it looks like there is another chicken sitting on the fence on the right side.

In picture 3, the five big boys behind the skinny tree, are in/on a Torpedo.

Re: The chicken house...
The construction of the chimney doesn't match the construction of the house. I wonder if a "proper" house once stood there, and perhaps burned down, to be replaced by the log shanty. (Or is it made from railroad ties?) Not a few families who prospered in the 1920s were flat broke in the early 1930s.

picture number 3 is off a 1910 Touring, not a torpedo. There is a BIG difference beween the two.

I look forward to Wayne Shelton's comments on picture 11. A lot going on.