Today’s gallery portrays a series of images I promised were coming. I had already done two posts on cars and trailers crisscrossing the States in much better weather (Here and here), and the snowy collection was bound to come. After all, the need for traveling and hauling stuff doesn’t stop with winter. Sometimes it actually propels it. One of these images had the caption ‘leaving to Florida,’ and I know of some pals and acquaintances taking off to warmer climates right now.
But whatever the case, traveling, in any season is a must. And taking your stuff along is a need that’s been around since humans learned of property, tools and goodies.
Hope some folks know where some of these pics were taken. The “lead in”, one sure makes me think “PA turnpike”.
The color coordinated “Olds/trailer” is awesome. All are fun to peruse.
Pic 1 looks like one of the Turnpike stops in CT like those on the Merrit Parkway, iirc they were stone buildings just like that one. I can’t recall who the food vendors there were, they might have been “Hot Shoppes”, as was found on the NY Thruway and NJ Tpk? back then.
Notice that the turnpike rest area cars all lack a front license plate, so it looks like PA to me.
Great photos! I like em all but really liked the one with what appeared to be a Dodge 2 door pulling that yellow cargo trailer, the Dodge very likely had a six cylinder in it…probally a pretty good load for that car…again great photos, thanks for posting them…
That pic looks scary. Heavy rig headed downhill toward that Oldsmobile, no chains. California plate on the trailer, but the scene may not be in CA, which has pretty strict chain requirements for snow/ice conditions.
Indeed, that Dodge only came with one engine which is the 1932 flathead six at 98 to 101 horsepower. My Mom pulled a trailer with one of these for one of our trips.
This first photo has appeared on CC before, and the location was identified as the Midway rest stop on the PA Turnpike, eastbound side near Bedford. Here’s a Google Streetview photo from Sept. 2023; the original stone building still stands.
Ah ok! Been there dozens and dozens of times..
Pretty sure that’s the PA Turnpike, but not Midway. Probably on the eastern extension beyond Carlisle judging from the topography.
That could be the rest stop right before the Carlisle exit. It’s located on the eastbound side of the Turnpike.
Great pics, back to a simpler time.. Love it.
A simpler time in some senses, yes. But, I recall frequently hearing about my grandparent’s adventures on such trips, with multiple flat tires,vehicular breakdowns,etc. Definitely not stress-free travelling, but considered par for the course in some respects it seemed. Due to their relative rarity in modern times, such events might be even more stressful to today’s traveller…
In 1965, my mother, grandmother, aunt and I visited relatives in the Cleveland area, which meant a trip on the Turnpike. My mother handled all of the driving, as my grandmother didn’t like to drive, and my aunt was not old enough for a driver’s license. Around the Bedford, Pennsylvania interchange, our 1959 Rambler station wagon completely lost its brakes!
In 1969, the four of us took a trip to Columbus, Ohio, and then Lorain, Ohio, in our 1965 Chevrolet Bel Air wagon. Near Columbus, the Chevrolet developed a suspension problem. We made it to the cousin’s house in suburban Columbus, and the Chevrolet was immediately taken to a garage for repairs.
Looking back on those trips, my mother said, “Those things just happened in those days. That’s why the new cars are much better!”
Those photos are the best. The first one is so perfect. With the arctic blast through our state, the icy impassable roads and the snow, made my wife and I admit how much we miss it, living as we do now in Central Illinois. The smell of sub-zero air, the dryness, how your breath hangs in the air and how your beard gets all icy and frosted. Brings back a lot of happy childhood memories of growing up in Chitown. We picked up our daughter at O’Hare and it was a sub-zero nightmare. Just like we remembered it growing up. Batteries sapped, door pulls brittle, fingers numb even while wearing gloves.
Our kids are such whiners. It’s NINE BELOW? They can’t even fathom wearing anything but the same clothing they put on the rest of the year. It is so strange how two parents prepared since birth for Antartica every winter, have kids that don’t understand winter at all.
These tow vehicles were cold. They had jumper cables in them. They often had an emergency tool box as well. They had their spare tires ready to be sprung out upon notice and flares. No one in those cars didn’t know how to change a tire. Everyone in those cars were appreciative of their car’s heating and defrost. All of them were prepared for any time that the car failed along the way.
Rear drive towing on icy, snowy, roads. This is about as close to crossing on the Oregon Trail we had growing up, right?
“This is about as close to crossing on the Oregon Trail…”
I totally get and agree with your point. Although I suspect that those ancestors who had to deal with the dying oxen and/or cholera might say the same about our generation.
Looks to me that the first image with the station wagon pulling an airstream-type travel trailer is on a rest stop along the PA Turnpike / I 76.
I think all of the original rest stop buildings had that architecture. can anyone confirm?
Sure looks like the Pennsylvania Turnpike to me too.
Correct, see my comment above.
Thanks!
One of those buildings is within walking distance from the house near the Harrison City maintenance area at MP 63.6 WB. It is now no longer functional, just a building along the side of the road with a pull-off /on-ramp.
Yeah, kind of amazes me that building never came down. Always wonder how much the roof leaks.
Amazing how so many of the older trailers matched the color scheme of the cars that towed them.
Hey guys, I need to get hold of Curtis Perry.
Search says he is connected to this site.
I wound up with an old 1980 BMW 733i from my brother Lee Mealer (now deceased but e sold it to me decades ago) I found the old title signed off to 3 buyers including me but the sale date was altered and now I need the original owner to either get a new title and sign it to me or releae it to me. It’s not running and full of rat-shit here in the Show Low, Arizona area. Anyhow, that’s the story. Please help.
I have no contact info for CP. He gave us permission to use some of his photos from his Flickr page, but that was some years back. It appeared that he stopped posting to Flickr quite a while ago.
The third picture was taken in Arlington, Virginia. Amazingly, there’s still a business there called Old Dominion Cleaners (in the background).
The photo was taken at the multi-way intersection of Lee Highway, Quincy St., and Military Rd… everything’s been reworked around there over the decades, and the buildings have been refaced, but they’re all still there. The most easily identifiable structure between then and now is the church building in the far background (visible behind the right-turn sign in the recent photo).
Then and now comparison below — Google StreetView link here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/W927HAbxktiL3Y1D8
I was thinking it was/could be the “Cherrydale” neighborhood. The “Old Dominion Cleaners” moniker could have been about “anywhere in VA” though.
This shot is interesting as it’s long before “I 66” ever came on the scene.
Also it’s curious in that “not one car” appears to have anyone inside.
Will pass by there in about an hour on way to work.
They fought over extending I-66 inside the Beltway for many years if not decades. It should have been 8 lanes at least.
It’s odd to see pilasters on a cleaner’s building, but maybe it’s come down in the world.
I lived outdoors while attending university in Colorado. When I backpacked and skiied in the Rockies, I was prepared for everything. No cell phones. No nearby facilities. You were driving at 12,000 feet in a remote wilderness far from civilization. My car was prepared for anything. Sleeping bag, water, food, camp stove, emergency car tools, jumper cables, tow rope, duct tape, extra car battery, notebook/pencil, disable vehicle flags, lighters, matches, extra clothing and boots – everything.
When you are in the Rockies, during Winter, you instinctively know that nature wants you dead and that the starving coyotes, cougars, bears and wolves see you as meat to survive. More than once I cheated the grim reaper by using my wits to rummage a rescue to vehicular issues keeping me from safety. When you meet another human in these parts, you don’t ignore them because you know that you might need to carry them out physically from problems they weren’t prepared to handle, or that they may need to do the same for you. I’ve been carried out twice. I’ve had to do the same for others as well.
Today’s rides rock you into complacency. That Tesla is not going to save your corpse when it is out of juice. There’s no heat. There’s no wifi in many parts of the world. You better be prepared to face winter without a Door Dash delivery of Starbucks. Today’s rides lull you into complacency even when crossing dangerous terrain.
The folks in these photos knew this. There wasn’t a McDonalds every mile. They knew that they were on their own. We need a lot more of that in today’s youth, in my opinion.
Oustanding photo restorations, makes you feel like you are part of the picture.
The GMC Suburban and its trailer are color coordinated too – just not as colorful as the Olds.
Two more giveaways that first pic was taken along the PA Turnpike, and not the Merritt Parkway, are the general spaciousness of the landscape and the shallow pitch of the nearest building’s roof. The Merritt right-of-way is narrow and the buildings are very close to the road, as well as being quite small with steep roofs. When I was young, the Pennsylvania rest stops had pay toilets. A guy I knew in college in the 70s founded CEPTIA, the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America, to agitate against them. They even had a drinking song: “Oh CEPTIA!…” This, or more likely the irritation of the governor at being confronted with having to use one, was the beginning of the end for the pay toilets.
They were gone ((the paying part that is)) by the time I started using them.
The first pic of the Ford wagon pulling an Airstream in the snow….that had to be a scary trip!
Nice pictures, at first I smiled then I remembered going places, multi state trips in the sleet and snow, never much fun, always cold & wet and a few times the car stopped….
I wonder if the trailers matching their tow rigs is due to colorizing B & W pictures ? .
Agreed, today’s children need more adventure and broader horizons so they’ll be able to cope when they leave the nest .
I have much fear for one of our 17 yer old foster boys, my Sweet says the *instant* he graduates high school he either gets a job and pays rent or out he goes into the snow .
-Nate
Excellent photos. I have to wonder if all of these folks were headed to Florida or the Southwest. E.g., the photo from Arlington, VA. I love the laced-down fabric roof of that trailer. But, bicycles? They were either moving, or were headed somewhere for vacation far from NoVA in the winter.
Love the V6 GMC Suburban and matching trailer. An expensive ring in its day.
Makes me wonder what kind of braking considerations were involved on those cars pulling seemingly big trailers back then – I bet in some of the hilly areas of the nation those 50’s-60’s rigs would have been somehow scary to haul to a stop compared to modern braking equipment.
Maybe lots of those trailers would have had the self-contained hydraulic surge brakes?
🤔