Could this be just a really sharp used car? Is the Ford really new?

I wonder if the boy on the left has just been given this car by his Congressman father since he would be taller than the car if he stood straight up. He also looks old enough to drive (and we have certainly seen younger drivers here on Shorpy).

The tires on the left side of the Ford, despite adequate tread, do not look new. The sides of the tires look worn and scuffed. The rim on the front left has quite a few marks on it and there is at least one mark near the top of the left rear rim. Additionally, the area under the fender of the left front tire appears to have a lot of scuffs, stone chips, and paint loss.

I agree that the Ford shown is either a 1928 or 1929 Model A (the shorter radiator on an early Model A is the most obvious clue).

This could easily be a year other than 1928 since District of Columbia license plates from 1928, 1930, 1932, and 1934 are virtually the same except for the year. In '28, '30, '32 the license plates were black lettering on a deep yellow background. In '34 the plate was black on an yellow-orange background. Unfortunately, the horn is hiding the year on the license plate.

This is a 1928 Ford Model A Sport Coupe, the top
was fabric covered like a convertible, but was stationary
and not foldable. The visor on the front is the giveaway, a cabriolet (convertible) won't have one.

Doesn't much matter what year, or what country, it's "Our New Car." This could be my brother and I standing in front of our brand new 1955 Monarch, or kids standing in front of a new 1964 Pontiac or a red 2008 Ford Escort. Happened every year over the decades in front of numerous homes!

Are the bee's knees, the elephant's elbows, the antelope's ankles. They look like something out of Dr. Seuss. Wow.

That is a 1928 Model A Ford, by the looks of the headlights. The flutes all the way up and down tell me it was one of the first ones. All model A's had black fenders and running board aprons regardless of the color of the body (which could have been black also). There was never a time when black was only Ford color, it was just that Henry developed a black paint that dried real fast so there tended to be more black cars than colored. (Love this site Dave!!)

It looks like the fenders of the car are black but the rest of the body is a color. Would this have been an after-market treatment, or was Ford offering factory colors at this point? What year is the car?

[The first Model A's were offered in four colors, but not black. So says Wikipedia. This is a 1928-ish Ford. - Dave]

I think that 1928 was a waning time for knickerbockers....most teenage boys wanted to graduate to long pants as soon as they could, and my father told me that at anywhere from 14 to 16 boys would put on long pants as a rite of passage to adulthood.

I LOVE their socks! Absolutely.