Aunt Lennie on the Redwood Hi-Way, near Mill Valley Junction, California.
For anyone whose lived through a long rainy winter in Northwest Washington, the allure of California is strong. My family made the trip to SoCal in ’71 and ’76, once in a Rambler Classic and once in a Mercury Marquis Brougham. I bet you can’t guess which one was rock solid on the Grapevine and which one imploded in a steaming tangle of shredded V-belts and coolant, with just enough inertia to coast into a Las Vegas service station. Yes indeed, it was the big Broughaminator. But I digress.
Lennie and Harry at the Southside Community Club, 1978. Our Brougham is off to the left.
The California Dreamin’ in this story belongs to some of my mom’s older relatives, who drove south to California in the ’40s and ’50s. Luckily for us, they took a lot of pictures. The main players here are my great aunt and uncle, Lennie and Harry; her aunt and uncle, Maude and Vic; and Harry’s new-ish 1950 DeSoto. Vic and Maude were colorful veterans of the Alaska Gold Rush, and they lived in West Sacramento, Calif. More on them later.
Aunt Lennie enjoying a scenic overlook, 1949. The rear bumper may signify a 1936 Ford.
Aunt Lennie and Uncle Harry were fixtures in my life, maybe because they never had kids of their own. They were “old” by the time I was born, and treated my mom like royalty. Harry loved his cars and he loved photography. But there was one big caveat: for every photo he took of a car, there were ten more of a featureless landscape, a blooming rose bush, or a mystery birthday cake. In the trove of photos he left behind, I could piece together California trips from 1949, 1953, and 1956. It was truly a golden age in the Golden State.
Vic and his 1941 Chrysler.
Harry worked as a maintenance man for the Bellingham School District, and Vic was a pianist with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra. Neither men made the tall green, but their pride in owning a new-ish car was apparent. Maude’s handwriting on the back of this photo reads “Vic and the Chrysler Fluid Drive Car, 1949. We could go fishing in this bus, it will get us there.” Chrysler introduced Fluid Drive in 1939, and then a semi-automatic drive system in 1941. Whatever drive option Vic had, it held rank over “Windsor” or “Highlander.” Fluid Drive is what really mattered.
With this DeSoto, Harry was coming up in the world.
By the summer of 1953, Harry was driving a 1950 DeSoto. This would have been a huge step up from the old Ford, which would have been at least 15 years old by then.
Lennie, and the hood ornament depicting Hernando de Soto, 1953.
Lennie never got her driving license, but she did tell me the story of once steering “a Maxwell car” back in the teens or twenties. Harry was a rock-hound and Lennie accompanied him on his many trips to “carnelian country.” Every time I went to their house, the first thing I checked was the rock tumbler.
Driving through the Chandelier Tree in Underwood Park.
Though it took a lot to make Harry smile, he was not averse to some good family fun. Not only did he and Lennie hit the redwoods in northern California, they drove their precious DeSoto through the base of the Chandelier Tree in Underwood Park. This big sequoia was in Leggett, Calif., but it’s apparent by the “bumper sticker” that they’d already been to see the Trees of Mystery.
See the amazing trees. Trees that defy description.
Trees of Mystery was a roadside attraction in Klamath, Calif. on the Redwood Highway. This route was also known as Highway 101. Either way, Paul Bunyan was there to “guide you through a huge hollow entrance log to see the many oddities of Mother Nature.” There was also a connection to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Who among you could resist this spectacle?
Babe the Blue Ox, looking rather pale.
At 34 feet tall, Babe the Blue Ox was said to “nod his head and tail to the many visitors at the Trees of Mystery.” An AI Overview of these folk figures states that “Paul, a giant lumberjack, and Babe, an equally immense blue ox, are symbols of strength, ingenuity, and the spirit of the American frontier.” I’ll buy that.
A lot of mid-century makes and models here.
Not satisfied with their postcard, Lennie and Harry snapped a shot from the parking lot. Trees of Mystery is still going strong in northern California, with a Sky Trail gondola ride and a forest cafe. My wife and I stopped there in 2000, and I brought home a souvenir burl that almost lived.
Harry finally smiles.
Elsewhere in redwood country, the pair were pictured near a brass-era runabout. This was in front of a “Redwood Burl Gift Shop,” possibly in Crescent City, Calif. Lamps, bowls, and other household items were apparently fashioned from burlwood. Some of these items still turn up in antique malls along the west coast. Or Goodwill.
Aunt Helen, on vacation from her cannery job in Ballard, Wash.
Here’s my Aunt Helen and a better look at the sign. I think there are about eight more variations of this photo, variously noted on the back as either a “Cadillac” or a “Rolls Royce.”
Damn!
Somewhere along the line, Harry posed the DeSoto in front of what I think is the Grand Coulee Dam, on the Columbia River in eastern Washington.
Are you getting this? Tell me you’re getting this!
Now we know the real reason for those versatile wing windows. Feeding wildlife. The ribs showing on that deer must mean he’s really hungry. Notice how Harry played it safe and turned his spotlight away from the thundering herd.
How Vic wedged himself into this little train I’ll never know.
In 1956, Lennie and Harry met up with Vic and Maude in Reno, Nevada, “The Biggest Little City In The World.” Having been a performer all his life, Vic was never shy about hamming it up. On this trip Harry took a whole mess of color photos, which must have been an extravagance for him.
Vic the vaudevillian, playing the “Maple Leaf Rag.”
Vic and Maude made their home in West Sacramento, in the old town. Above is Vic entertaining the whole gang with his piano virtuosity. There are other pictures of Maude dancing, but not Lennie and Harry. No way.
The happy couple in their back yard, West Sacramento, 1956.
Vic and Maude found their place in the sun and enjoyed sharing it with their relatives. My mom always said they were true characters and a lot of fun.
And then there’s Maude.
Vic and Maude were old-time show people, and I did everything possible to find mention of them in “Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush.” The family lore was that Maude met Vic in Fairbanks, Alaska, when she was a madam and he was a piano player. Maude was my great-great aunt, born in Kansas in 1883. She was the right age for the gold rush and I’d like to believe that all of it is true. Vic and Maude visited me and my family in Hawaii when I was a toddler, so I have a personal connection with them.
A younger Harry, probably in the Seattle area. Can anyone ID the automobile?
Vic and Maude both passed away in the late ’60s. Lennie and Harry followed suit about 20 years later, with all of their photos coming down to me. And lest you think I’ve forgotten this is a car site, here is one last shot of Harry when he was younger.
I thoroughly enjoyed your piece. The photos brought back many of my own memories of family. My favorite is the close-up of Maude’s face. Her personality is evident.
This is supposed to be a car site? You pulled me in immediately and I forgot about any cars.
Thank you for the journey. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I agree with James – the picture of Maude is outstanding.
Ok, what’s the “Auto Court”?
It’s either an early motel, or where you go to pay your parking tickets!
Enjoyed the article!
If you’ve seen It Happened One Night, with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, the auto court was where were hung the Walls of Jericho.
Absolutely! +1
Fantastic article and photos! Long-distance travel back then was fascinating, and it’s a treat to see not only these pictures, but to know the story and people behind them as well. Thanks!
Childless couples really stood out back then, at least all the ones I was acquainted with. They traveled a lot, had interesting hobbies, could afford nice cars and second homes, and just seemed more relaxed and able to enjoy life more. Hmm…
We’ve been rolling by the Trees of Mystery for quite a few decades and yes, it’s still going strong. And no, we’ve never given them our money.
I don’t like sticking my neck out on car IDs because I’m often wrong, but here goes. The last car looks like an Essex, from about 1921 to 1925. Essex was Hudson’s low-cost companion make and sold well in the Twenties.
Yes, the angular radiator was the Essex trademark.
What a great collection of photos and a great story to go along with them! When we’re younger it’s easy to see older people out and about, and just dismiss them as old farts. But if we actually knew those people, we might learn that they have led quite interesting lives. As was mentioned, DINKS have the extra money and lack of child rearing responsibilities that gave them the opportunity to travel and enjoy the good life. Kudos to your relatives for including other members of the family in their activities. These folks are often the favorite Aunt and Uncle as they are fun to be around and do interesting things.
I always encourage people to go through their photo stash and ID the people, places, and times of the pictured events. Even if the exact info about the photo is kinda hazy, at least you have some idea about it. Our kids and grandkids will have no idea about what the photo represents.
I had passed the Trees of Mystery once before on a trip, so on the return leg of a cross country tour I stopped by. Ol’ Paul Bunyon and Babe have been on the job for decades by then but they still looked to be in fine fettle. Nothing but a bunch of twisted trees but worth the stop. On another trip in ’78 I stopped at the Drive Through tree. It’s worth stopping at some of those roadside attractions.
I thought we had a photo of Trees of Mystery from a trip we took in 1963 to Seattle and back. I’m sure I remember Paul Bunyan. But here is a T Rex at Prehistoric Gardens in Oregon; since this is a car site there’s a 1958 (?) Ford in the background, and further back is the sleek tail of our family Volvo 544. The cute kid in the foreground is a young dman.
A great article, cars, people, families and the stories that bind them together .
-Nate
Just to underscore what others have said, this is a great article. I always want to particularly appreciate those posts that are able to accurately identify the actual people in the photos and provide details as to their backstories. Otherwise, it’s just more flotsam and jetsam.
Harry had an excellent eye. The picture of Lennie on the bumper of the DeSoto is terrific.
After looking closely at the photo of Paul Bunyan, I have to note that the caption needs correction. They are not trees that defy description; according to the sign on the right they defy “desciption”. I thought the sign painters would be more careful at such an important attraction.
Love the old photo’s as something to keep/ care for! The “lil deer” eating at the vet window is my fav!!
Lost a trove of pic.s in “2000-1ish”.
Apt flooded when the one above burst a pressure pipe.
Major yuck!!
Condo’s can suck..lol
Anyway, quite a few were my mom’s cross country foray in “49”. Wetern PA, to bay area “CA”. ((Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh, as she termed it))
Dad was stationed in bay area, she was not long out of service, going to college, sister was “2”. All before any thought of me.
Growing up in Seattle me and my parents always went down to Disneyland in our camper and always stopped at the trees of mystery and one thing that was not mentioned was there was usually a person up in Paul B’s head talking to people down below pretty funny and great memories
The first road trip I remember was a drive from Rothesay, New Brunswick to Toronto in the summer of 1958, in our 1954 Nash Canadian Statesman. The fastest route was via the two-lane highways of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, connecting with the NY State Thruway in Albany.
The Thruway should have been the highlight for a small-town kid in the 1950’s, but it’s the drive through New Hampshire and Vermont that sticks in my memory. It was still an era of auto courts and Burma-Shave signs which were starting to look a little ‘historic’ even then, but mostly it was just the sense of never knowing what might be around the next corner or what the next town would be like. Freeways become boring pretty quickly.
As an aside, it was a time when crossing the Canada-US border was a non-issue for the most part. But my mother had to be careful since, although being English, she had been born in Hong Kong where her father worked for an English oil company – something that could sow doubt and confusion with some border officials. The standard question ‘Where were you born?’ was always answered with ‘England’. My mother’s attitude was summed up by the comment ‘If a cat has kittens in a fish shop, are they kittens or kippers?’.
‘If a cat has kittens in a fish shop, are they kittens or kippers?’. I love that and wish I’d known it for the past 60 years. A lifetime of answering questions as to why I’m British despite being born in Germany. Answer – because that’s where my father was working for the army.
Thank you for sharing. Brings back my family road trips while growing up.