I wish I’d kept a list of all the cars I’ve owned since I started driving (illegally) 42 years ago.
The last few are easy to remember. A precious few really stand out in my mind.
Like the multi-shades-of-orange-manual-transmission Pinto. And the clunker I bought for $50 at a garage sale. To open the trunk, you simply unhooked the bungee cord that kept it closed.
None of the cars I owned would make the cut for today’s celebration.
For on this day in 1908, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the first Model T. And that makes this the perfect day to share one of my favorite pictures with you:
Harriette, Earl and Oliver Tolf circa 1920
I guessed at the date this picture was taken based on the children’s approximate ages. My maternal grandmother Harriette Tolf was born in July of 1909. Younger brother Earl was born in September of 1911. Ollie, the baby of the family, was born in July of 1915.
I’d love to know the make, model and year of this car! If you have an idea, I hope you’ll share your thoughts in the comments below.
In the meantime, I think I’ll take a spin down Main Street for old times’ sake.
where2look4ancestors 
I love this! I think I had the cousin to your $50 car … a 1971 Datsun (yes, back in the day before Nissan) pickup, turquoise blue, manual transmission, with nothing but an AM radio (that only worked if you pounded on the dash). Both doors had huge dents in them – like it had been sandwiched between two semis – and one of them would never stay locked, so you couldn’t keep anything valuable in it. Considering it was 1985 before I started driving, the car was already 14 years old by the time I got it. I had the oldest (and ugliest) car in my high school, but everyone knew it was me. 🙂
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What a hoot! Everyone should have one of these clown cars in their life story. Keeps us humble. 🙂
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Oh, and re the cars! Pintos are such a blast from the past! I wish I had kept track, too. Now it would mean trying to piece it together from . . . maybe . . . photos.
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I don’t think I’ll ever remember them all. We take pictures by the cars now so we’ll remember and encourage the kids to do the same. So funny to think of some of the crazy cars my friends and I owned!
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You don’t have any Chicago ancestors named Lena Johansen, do you? I saw an antique photo in an antique store and saw the name was Scandinavian and thought of you :).
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Ha ha – I have a few Lenas, but none with that surname. Glad to hear I came to mind though – funny how that info sticks with us!
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OH well. But I was thinking, oh wouldn’t that be cool!
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