In one of my many envelopes, I recently found this photo, which I can't recall having made its way into any of the family albums:
This is the car my parents had in my early childhood. The photo is from my paternal grandparents' yard, and was probably snapped by my grandfather Gustaf when we were about to leave after a weekend visit. My grandmother is leaning into the back - probably saying goodbye to little me.
Another photo of the same car, on an icy winter road. Sweden had left-hand traffic back in those days (until 1967). Whether my dad stopped on purpose just to take this photo, or the car stopped by itself, I don't know. I'm probably in the back seat here too. We lived around 100 km away from both sets of grandparents, and did quite frequently drive to visit them on weekends.
In summer, my paternal grandparents Sally and Gustaf liked to go for a drive and have a simple picnic outdoors.
Before my parents bought the Volvo - probably in connection with little me coming into the picture - they (or my dad) had an older car, which they called Patrick.
In this very blurry photo he's doing something with it in his parents' yard.
This I think is my parents setting off on their honeymoon, in 1954.
A couple of years before they got married (I think they had just about started "dating"), my mum was a teacher in a small countryside school, for a small number of pupils of varying age. There weren't many books for the youngest, and my mum then made some of her own (with her own illustrations). One of them is about a young troll getting a lift by an old car called Patrick (with a tendency to sometimes stop "for no apparent reason").
Linking to Sepia Saturday 782
How glad I was to see you also went with old cars (is this a Sepia Saturday post?) Well, I loved the story with Patrick the car. And wonder if your parents named their other cars. I have named most of mine.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, I can't recall that my parents named any of their later cars, except that in my upper teens we had two (one big Volvo and one small Renault) and then referred to as "the big one" and "the little one" (Swedish: "Storen" and "Lillen"). The little one was my mum's but also used by me after I got my driving licence. I never had a car of my own.
DeletePatrick is definitely of pre-WW2 design. If it was still around in 1954, it must have been at least 20 years old. Speaking of product quality! And I admire your mother for making school books for her pupils!
ReplyDeletePeter, I know my grandparents did not own a car until after WW2 so whether Patrick was bought by them or my dad, its pre-war life was with someone else.
DeleteMy Grandma Louise named her 1953 two-tone aqua & white Chevy 'Bel-Air' "Betsy". I remember riding with her one time when she took a curve a little too fast. The car slid off the road into gravel and she patted the dashboard saying "Slow down Betsy!" and I remember thinking "Slow down BETSY?!!" When I was growing up I remember our family taking "Sunday drives" on the weekends in good weather and having a picnic along the way. I don't know how my younger brother & sisters felt about those times, but I loved driving out in the country and still do. I've known every backroad in the areas where my own family has lived over the years. :) As for your Mum creating her own stories/books for her younger students, kudos to her! And she's a fair artist as well.
ReplyDeleteGail, she made a couple of picture books for me in my early childhood too, but later she turned her artistic talent mainly to sewing, knitting and embroidery.
DeleteWhat great silhouettes on those old cars! Few modern cars rival them.
ReplyDeleteSusan