On the Road: 1936

With Model T and Model A Fords, it was no big deal if the driver's door didn't open. The first Ts had a "dummy" door (looked like a door, but didn't open), and the driver just slid over (the front seat pair was very narrow, anyhow, only about 44"). In sedans, the front seats could be tilted forward to allow entry to the rear.

All five passengers could easily have entered and exited this car through the passenger-side door, leaving the driver's side running board free to carry luggage.

Note the absence of hood sides on this car, must have made maintenance quicker and easier, even if it left the hood to flap in the wind.

Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon for people to use the passenger side door to enter/exit vehicles more often than not. If you were the driver you would enter on the passenger side, since it was the side adjacent to the curb, and then just slide over on the bench seat to get behind the wheel. It was considered "unsafe" enter/exit a vehicle from the street side where all the traffic was. That's why you'll see stuff blocking the driver's side door in old traveling photos.

I had a 1950 Ford F1 Pickup for years, and it only had a keyhole for unlocking the door on the passenger side, because that's the door you would enter/exit from.

was a lot of hard driving in a Model T Ford. As durable as these cars were, I’m sure these folks made it to their destination. This particular car looks like a 1923-1925 model.

Took me a little while to find our Vernon because his first name is Clarence. His wife is Flora. By 1940 he was working for the railroad and they had a daughter Ester Violet. He died in North Dakota 20 April 1998. Flora must have returned to Lemmon South Dakota where she died 23 Sept 2008.

Don't believe I've ever seen a square one made of wood.

They look really young in this picture, much younger than in the previously-posted picture, even though the pictures were all taken in the same session. It would be interesting to read a day-to-day journal of what happened in that Model T between SD and OR.

It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like the suitcase is resting on the running board, and tied with a wire to the door handle. Once it's affixed like that, how would the driver open the door to get out without interfering with the wire?

I thought Vernon's hair in the previous shot might have been caught with a gust of prairie wind, but this makes it seem more like a style choice!