Pop's Model T

It was 1925 when Pop rode the train to St. Louis. A ticket was only three or four dollars but he may have gone as a hobo. He knew how. That's how he came from Idaho in 1917.

He brought back one of the first trucks. It was a Model T Ford -- or at least the motor, chassis and wheels of one.

With scraps of tin and boards he made a cab and truck bed. It was funny looking, actually it was awful looking. He took it all apart to clean and oil it every Sunday.

Cars were not the standard mode of transportation in those days. Mr. Tipton rode a horse past our house three times a week. It was four or five miles to Grandin. Sometimes he brought us a letter with a two cent stamp on it. A post card cost a penny.

It took nearly two days and a night for Mom, baby Ruth and me to ride the train to St. Louis two years later (1927). It was the first time we had seen black people as well as indoor bathrooms. We had to spend one night in Williamsville (located just in the next county).

The last automobile Pop owned was a 1936 Chevy Coupe. He drove that little black car to the post office, the grocery store and to visit his grown children living in Grandin.

Still an ingenius innovator, he converted that car into a truck as well. By removing the trunk lid, he built an extended floor with side rails.

This illustration is to give you an idea of what his customization looked like

Pop never stopped learning. When my son-in-law visited in 1975 driving a Mazda with a "Rotary" engine, Pop was very interested in learning more. "I've been hearing about a new kind of engine, but didn't think I would ever get to see one."

Pop inspects the new rotary engine