Our Old Dodge

When I was nine or ten years old, soon after we came back to Coronado after WWII, my parents were blessed to receive a 1938 Dodge from my grandfather. It was a black beauty that had the misfortune of being crashed into as it was parked next to my grandparent's house in the middle of the night. Third street did not have much traffic in those days, especially in the wee hours of the night, so this was big news in our neighborhood.

In the morning when I got up I heard about all the commotion that had gone on while I was sleeping. Granddad's car had been hit by a young man as he drove down the street next to our family home on third street. The old Dodge now needed repair and a new paint job. Since Granddad did not do much driving anymore he decided to give the car to my parents as they needed it. They had not had a car during the war and were so glad to accept our grandfather's generosity. Since the car needed to be painted they chose to have it painted green. It was more common for cars to be black in those days so our car stood out with the new paint job and the rack they had installed on top of the car.

Mom and Dad began painting houses together around this period of time. Originally Dad was the main painter, but it was not long before they were a team. Mom did the driving as Dad did not see good enough to drive anymore. Dad used to drive for a living when Mom and Dad first knew each other, but things had changed over the years. Now Mom was at the wheel and Dad navigated. He was good at this. He was a very good painter and soon had Mom doing detail work. The car with the rack on top gave them a way to carry paint supplies and ladders to their jobs.

There was plenty of room in the old Dodge for my two sisters and me when we needed to go someplace in the car. I mainly remember walking most places I went since we were mostly in Coronado at this time. I do remember going down the Silver Strand on occasion with my parents. The Strand was just one lane each way in those days. It was widened later in the fifties. I remember going to Imperial Beach where Mom and Dad were painting some houses that were being built then. They also painted one or two houses for the same contractor out near Spring Valley or Lemon Grove. They mostly painted in Coronado for different homeowners.

In the spring of 1949 we decided to travel to Washington state in our old green Dodge. My sister Donna had been there since the previous summer so it was just Betty and me in the back seat along with our pets and many belongings. Mom and Dad were in the front seat along with a friend of the family. I guess this way Mom had someone else who could help drive. Dad was still the navigator. The trunk was full and the rack on top had a large wardrobe with things packed inside. The pets Betty and I were sharing space with were my little turtle, Mac, and our little red hen, Susie Q. Yes, we shared space with a chicken. We had her in a crate for her own safety. This is probably my most told story, with variations each time. I should have a picture for posterity.

I may forget other old cars Mom and Dad probably had after this, but how can I forget our old green Dodge? There are other memories associated with it too. I remember our family going to Tijuana in the car. I remember that one time we went to the horse races south of the border in our Dodge. That is the only time I ever went to the races. I was still a child then.

We sometimes visited my Aunt Clara and her family at their home in Spring Valley. It was still country then. There was a little stream that went along their road that I remember playing in. There was a large California pepper tree in the yard next to the old two story house. I remember climbing this tree as a child. In 1950 we stayed in my aunt's house for a quarter of the school year after we came back from Washington. Some of my cousins were with us then. Mom and Dad had to commute to Coronado from the house in the country so they could continue painting houses in the city. It was a long ways to go in their old green Dodge each day. I took a school bus to school in La Mesa. My sisters went to a nearby school in Spring Valley.

In Washington we also went to the country school by bus. We lived on our grandparents farm then. Mom and Dad helped my mother's parents with their farm at that time. Dad came back to California earlier to find a place for us to live. That is when he made arrangements with his sister for us to live in her Spring Valley house.

Dad's brother came to Washington after Christmas to help us move back to California. This was 1949, just before a new decade. I had just turned thirteen. The reason my uncle came to help us is because his two children were with us then. They had been on the farm with us since summer. They got lessons in a completely different lifestyle than they were used to. They were city kids with no farm experience. I mean old fashioned farm, including outhouse. We left Susie Q on the farm. I hope she survived the blizzard that hit a day or so after we left. We were back in our old Dodge with more kids than before and I still had my turtle. We added a kitten to the mix. We were pulling a small trailer for our belongings on this trip. There was Mom and Uncle Elliot with at least one child in the front seat. No seat belts in those days. The children and teenagers in the car were my two cousins Malcolm and Geraldine plus my two sisters and me. A full car.

So our old car that Granddad gave us after the war was part of our family history. These stories are a significant part of my growing up years and I never get tired of telling them. If it weren't for the time my cousins were with us on the farm and in Spring Valley I would only have childhood pictures to know them by. I barely saw them any other time in my life. When I was very young there are pictures of us on the porch of our grandparents home on third and F in Coronado. These are cute pictures of us playing with Grandma's pots and pans. And since I am back to the place this story began I guess it is a good place to close.