The Family Cars ca 1931

T H E   C O L L E C T I O N  — This great pair of old photographs shows the Sanborn's family cars, circa 1931. Notice that instead of just walking around and shooting the cars from the opposite side, they moved the cars. My relative taking the photos, probably my grandmother, the photographer of many of my pieces, obviously wanted to keep the lighting optimal, hence moving the cars and not herself. 

The cars, from left to right in both photos: (1) unidentified—i think it's a '31 Dodge, but not sure. I've googled and googles, and not come up with a definitive car, except that's it's definitely a '30 or later. (2)—Model A Ford, probably a '29, (3 and 4)—Buicks, a '24 and a '26 from what i can tell, and from what i remember my family telling me about them. I have a couple of glass flower vases from these coupes. They were 6 cylinders with overhead valves, very powerful and innovative for the period.

I love the clarity of these 70 year old photos.

The earlier Buick, probably a '23 or '24, seen from the side with various family members having a great time inside.

This is the newer Buick, the '25 or '26, with great-uncle Art at the wheel. Buick coupes adhered to the norms of the time as far as interior layout goes. Instead of 2 more or less equal bucket seats in the front and a bench seat in the rear, big Buicks had a main drivers seat in the front, and a rear seat. The front passenger seat was a pullout jump seat, much like the ones in the backs of limos. Passengers were expected to ride in the back except when the car was full. Not sure of the rationale for it, but the practice didn't last past the mid '20s.

B T W :

A R T ' S   U P   A   T R E E.   A G A I N.  My great-uncle Art, in the driver's seat of the last photo above, died when I was only 6 so I didn't really know him that well. He had a small newspaper/candy/soda beach store on the property, and would give me nickels out of his pocket, so I could 'buy' candy from him later. He never married, collected antiques, and pressed flowers in books. I have many antique books with neatly ID'ed indigenous flowers pressed in their leaves, courtesy of Art. 

He was also a bit of a freespirit-they tended to flourish in my family, lol. At times in his youth, he would run away from home, to another area of the family's hundreds of acres, and live in the trees. I have diaries with entries noting organized search parties to go find Art again. I also have 25 copies of a 1920 Patent magazine. Art had a collapsible boat oar patented, and must have bought the entire connecticut coast's copies of the issue his patent was printed in. 

Restless spirit that died in the family home he was born in.