My Daddy started driving when he was nine years old.And he wasn't breaking the law.
... Because there were no traffic laws in 1914!
It seems like every time I talk to my 101 year old Daddy about anything that happened a long time ago, he dates it by remembering which car he was driving at the time, so I thought I'd try to get him to remember all his old cars, and see where the stories lead him.
Daddy learned how to drive in a 1914 Hudson cloth top open touring car, and he drove it all over the rutty paths that passed for roads around Bessemer, McCalla, and Birmingham, Alabama.
It's hard to imagine a nine year old bouncing along, tightly gripping the wheel, fighting to keep the hard tires in the deep ruts. It wasn't at all unusual to have to stop and get a nearby farmer to use his mules to help pull the car out of a ditch or muddy rut.
These early automobiles didn't go but about 15 miles an hour. They were hard fought, but thrilling miles, for a young country boy, used to riding a mule or walking everywhere.
nostalgia, childhood memories, vintage automobiles, Hudson automobile
2 comments:
That is a really interesting story. I never thought about driving laws back then, but it makes sense. Thanks for an entertaining post.
Thanks, for stopping by, Mr. Complimenter!
I'll have to remember to ask him how old he was and where he was living when he was first required to get a driver's license.
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