We had a 1939 Dodge 4 door car and our ages were 13 (nearly 14), 10 (just), 9 (just) and 6.5. Mother was 38 and father 37 at the time of the trip. Haven't really thought about it before but they were quite young - guess that's why they coped so well.
There were no such things as air mattresses or sleeping bags at this time.......well, there may have been but we sure didn't have them. Mother packed all the sheets and blankets for the 6 of us along the back seat and the 3 big kids sat on them. I, being the youngest and smallest, got to sit in the front between mother and father. One of the back doors didn't close properly so there was a rope tied from one door to the other - not sure how that impacted the seating, no one has ever mentioned it. Maybe the rope went from the door to the bottom of one of the seats........I just remember being told the door needed to be kept closed with a rope.
My memory is that we broke down in Burns Lake and had to be pushed, by a lot of people, to a garage or somewhere. I remember people on a porch looking at us. Seems to me one of my siblings says this happened on our way home........ I don't know what went wrong but obviously it got fixed as the car continued to run. Wish I had a picture of it. I don't even remember ever seeing one. I've been to many 'classic' car shows over the years and each time I hunt for a '39 Dodge and have NEVER found one! I have seen a '39 Chrysler - it is on display in Las Vegas and belonged to Johnny Carson's father. He (Johnny) learned to drive in it and in later years hunted it down and bought it. Same shape as ours but a bit more luxurious.
I think we were gone at least a month........there were no campgrounds in those days - at least we didn't stay in them, if there were. We'd find a nice, grassy place near the highway and pitch our tent there, hopefully beside a creek. We had a big white tent - with a pole down the centre of the roof - (when I mentioned camping in 1957, in Calgary, I said we had a white tent but now I remember it was a new, modern one - brown, with a high piece in the middle of the roof - probably had a pole from the pointed roof to the floor.......might even have had a floor in it. I'll have to correct that post....) When I asked mother what we did when we couldn't find water to camp near, she said we just all piled into the car in the morning and drove until we found water then we'd stop and brush our teeth and wash. My god, can you imagine how we must have smelled? Yuck!
All the food and tent etc was packed into the trunk, along with clothes etc. Mother cooked all our meals - have no idea if we stopped for lunch at a restaurant now and then or if she made lunches in the morning and we ate on the run........can't remember and no one has mentioned how that worked.
That year we went to Trail to visit our cousins - mother's 2 sisters, Fanny and Sophia, both lived there. I think that year we went to Beda's wedding. Somewhere there's a picture of some of us all dressed up. I remember my dress well - white with little blue flowers and a little bolero jacket that went with it. We stayed at Auntie Sophia and Uncle Chuck's house and for some reason I've never forgotten the address......1467 2nd Avenue.........when I saw it decades later I was amazed that they could even raise 2 kids there it was so small. How the heck all 6 of us ever fit, I'll never know!
We also went to Victoria and Nanaimo. In Victoria we went somewhere that had hedges all cut in the shape of animals, a couch and stuff like that. Again, somewhere there are pictures. When I find all these pictures I'll come back and post them. Bruthie sent me some of his 1959 Chev - my, it was a beautiful car. He worked in a body shop when he had it (I think) and painted it a really neat burgundy/plum colour. It was a very cool car. Note the fender skirts.....
Also in Victoria we went to somewhere that had an electric car display.......I wonder if it was a dealership.....anyway, these cars were just toys and they were going round in a circle. I must have spent quite a bit of time looking because the guy gave me one. It was pale yellow and in my memory, everything worked - the doors opened, hood opened etc. I just loved that car and have no idea what happened to it.
Our arrival in Nanaimo, at my father's sister's house - Auntie Bessie and Uncle Ralph - must have been something to see. Father wanted to surprise her and we pulled into her driveway and she came to the door to see all 6 of us pile out. Mother said she just collapsed on the front step when she saw us. Have no idea how long we stayed there or what we did.
That's all I can remember now. cheerio,
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